Pawsitive Training NL

Pawsitive Training NL Group dog obedience classes or private consultations to help you build a better relationship with your companion animal. Duration: 1 hour per week for 7 weeks.

Christine Doucet (owner), Adam Gaudet (instructor), and Jenna Mosher (assistant)

All classes focus on positive reinforcement for helping your dog be a calm and confident member of your family. Puppy Play Sessions - for socialization and play time with puppies of a similar age, size, and temperament. Puppies are dropped off at scheduled day time and have the ability to free play with other puppi

es. Great exercise and stimulation for all puppies and exposes puppies to other dogs during critical development periods. Duration: 30 minutes as scheduled weekday late afternoons. Puppy Classes - for socialization, communication, and building a strong foundation for a dog who can be a member of your family wherever you go. Exposure to puppies, people, sights, sounds and textures in a positive environment. Introduction of the basic commands and discussion and tips on how to work with problematic puppy behaviours such as housetraining, chewing, nipping, barking etc. Large Breed under 6 months, Small Breed under 1 year. Basic Obedience Classes - focus on the basic commands and learning to listen and respond even when there is distraction. Build a strong recall, learn to walk nicely on a loose leash, leave it, drop it, stay and much more. Positive reinforcement creates a strong bond and a dog who wants to work with you and behaves in a way that gives you the confidence to take your dog wherever you go. Discussion and training for problematic behaviours such as jumping up, going nuts when people come to the door, counter surfing etc. Large or Small breed 4 months - 20 years. Advanced Obedience Classes - focus on advanced commands and behaviours for dog/handler teams who might be interested in therapy or emotional support work. Sit, down at a distance, walking nicely through a crowd and greeting other people and dogs indoors and outside. Exposure to crowds, noise, people with assistive devices, body handling and grooming by friendly strangers, advanced recall, stay, leave it and focus on the handler. Duration: 1 hour per week for 9 weeks. Large or Small Breed 10 months and older. Reactive Dog Classes - focus on helping dogs learn how to be calm in the presence of other dogs and/or new people. On leash, for dogs who either bark/growl/lunge when seeing other dogs or people or who are overly excited and bark/whine/jump/pull when seeing other dogs or people. Work to create calm and a dog who learns to focus on the handler when encountering something new and scary or exciting. This class is only offered in the summer and is mostly outdoors. Duration: 2 hours per week for 4 weeks. Large or Small Breed 6 months and older. Agility and Nosework classes for beginners and beyond. Introduction to clicker training and noise desensitization classes. Done the basic obedience and would like to try something new and fun with your dog? I have a class for that. Private Consultations - One-on-one sessions to work on problematic behaviours. Can be done in your home or at the training facility. Tips and information to help your dog understand how you want him to behave in particular situations. Duration: 30-45 minutes as scheduled, daytimes, evening or weekends. Dogs of any age, breed. Message me for next available classes and pricing

09/06/2026

Ronan (aka Roni) has found his forever home with Emma. Ronan was the first dog to come into our Pawd for rehoming. Emma was thrilled to be able to adopt Ronan and sent this message about her experience with ElderDog.

"Adopting a dog out of province can easily feel overwhelming, but the ElderDog team(s) made this entire process a smooth (and exciting!) transition. From our initial discussions and the home assessment to Roni’s travel arrangements – was handled with utmost professionalism, organization, and care. Roni has transitioned into our home effortlessly, it genuinely feels like he has been with us forever. He has also stepped naturally into his new role as big brother to Goose, completing our basset duo. ElderDogs commitment to dogs and their people is a testament to the importance of no one being left behind. We are so grateful to the Corner Brook ElderDog pawd (shout-out to an amazing volunteer – Jeff!) for their dedication to finding a perfect home for Roni and for making our family complete!"

We are so happy that Ronan has found his forever home and he will always be an ElderDog. Thank you Emma.

If you are interested in volunteering or adopting from ElderDog, or if you are a senior that could use some help to keep your dog with you or plan for the future check out www.ElderDog.ca or message us for more information.

09/03/2026

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨RIDE FOUND THANK YOU EVERYONE 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

09/02/2026

Surviving Adolescence: The Period That Can Shape the Dog You Live With for Life

Adolescence is probably one of the most misunderstood stages in a dog’s life.

Your lovely, engaged puppy suddenly seems to have forgotten everything you’ve taught them. Recall disappears. Other dogs become more interesting. They’re more easily distracted, more emotional, sometimes more reactive, and seemingly far more opinionated about the world.

And this is often the point where people panic.

But adolescence isn’t your dog suddenly becoming a different dog. It’s a developmental stage — and how we navigate it can have a huge impact on the adult dog that eventually emerges.

I’ve experienced this myself with my own dogs, including Tai and Strut. Dogs I knew incredibly well suddenly presented behaviours, reactions or challenges that weren’t necessarily there before.

And that’s where I think we need to understand the difference between management and avoidance.

Management is sensible. If your adolescent dog is struggling in a particular environment, you don’t continually throw them into the deep end and hope they learn to swim. You create distance, lower the difficulty, use reinforcement and prevent them endlessly rehearsing behaviour you don’t want.

But equally, we shouldn’t avoid everything that becomes difficult.

If your adolescent dog suddenly reacts to another dog and you decide they must never be around dogs again, that one moment can very quickly start defining their life.

Sometimes something happens.

It doesn’t necessarily mean this is who your dog is now.

The Rule of Three

One of the things I use when something unexpected happens is what I call my Rule of Three.

The first time, I notice it.

The second time, I pay very close attention.

The third time tells me I potentially have a pattern developing and I need to actively address it.

That doesn’t mean ignoring behaviour. It means not immediately turning one incident into your dog’s identity.

Because behaviour is complicated.

There may be hormones involved. There may be fear or uncertainty. There may be a reinforcement history developing. And there may simply be genetics beginning to show themselves more strongly as the dog matures.

A puppy’s genetics haven’t disappeared just because they were sociable at 14 weeks old.

Your herding dog may become more environmentally aware. Your guarding breed may become less interested in strangers. Your terrier may suddenly discover that hunting is considerably more exciting than you are.

That doesn’t mean socialisation has failed.

It means your dog is growing up.

Socialisation doesn’t mean everybody has to be your friend

This is particularly important during adolescence.

For me, socialisation isn’t about creating a dog who wants to interact with every dog and every person they meet.

It’s about creating a dog who can function comfortably in the world.

As dogs mature, their social preferences can change. Some become more selective. Some become less tolerant of rude behaviour from other dogs. Some simply stop wanting to interact.

That’s okay.

The goal shouldn’t necessarily be to make them love everyone. The goal is to teach them how to navigate those situations successfully.

That might mean passing another dog without interacting. Choosing to disengage. Returning to you. Being able to watch something without needing to become involved.

And sometimes it means recognising that your dog simply doesn’t enjoy certain interactions and advocating for them accordingly.

Prevention matters

Where adolescence can become problematic is when temporary behaviour gets rehearsed enough that it becomes established behaviour.

A dog who barks at another dog once isn’t necessarily reactive.

But if they bark, the other dog disappears, and they repeat that sequence another 50 times, they are learning something.

This is where reinforcement history matters.

We want to prevent rehearsal where we reasonably can, while simultaneously teaching the dog what we do want them to do.

That balance is incredibly important.

Protect them without wrapping them in cotton wool.

Challenge them without overwhelming them.

Give them opportunities to succeed without expecting perfection.

And remember that the dog standing in front of you at 12 or 18 months old is not necessarily the finished product.

One of the biggest lessons Tai, Strut and many of my other dogs have taught me is that maturity matters.

Sometimes the answer is training.

Sometimes it’s management.

Sometimes it’s changing the environment.

And sometimes the dog simply needs time to grow up.

The Takeaways

* Adolescence is a developmental stage, not your finished dog.
* Don’t turn one difficult moment into your dog’s identity.
* Use the Rule of Three to help distinguish an incident from an emerging pattern.
* Manage without avoiding the world completely.
* Remember that genetics, hormones and reinforcement history all influence behaviour.
* Socialisation is about teaching your dog to function confidently, not making them interact with everyone.
* Prevent unwanted behaviour being endlessly rehearsed while teaching the alternative you want.
* And perhaps most importantly: give them time to mature.

Adolescence can be frustrating, messy and occasionally make you question everything you thought your dog knew.

But it passes.

Navigate it thoughtfully, keep the bigger picture in mind, and the difficult adolescent standing in front of you today may become a very different dog once they reach maturity.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DVUYNAD5E/Let's find this sweet girl a home!
09/01/2026

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Let's find this sweet girl a home!

Meet Shadow! Could this little lady be your newest love bug? She's pretty special ♥️

Contact our Rehoming Coordinator at [email protected] for more information or to get an applocation to give Shadow her new forever home!

Congratulations to the puppies and their people who completed the Puppy Fundamentals Class tonight.  Great job everyone!...
08/31/2026

Congratulations to the puppies and their people who completed the Puppy Fundamentals Class tonight. Great job everyone! Keep having fun with your dogs!

08/28/2026

Meet Shadow! Could this little lady be your newest love bug? She's pretty special ♥️

Contact our Rehoming Coordinator at [email protected] for more information or to get an applocation to give Shadow her new forever home!

08/28/2026
Small dog (Monday 2-5pm) and big dog (Friday 2-5pm) playgroups will begin the week of September 14th.  These are drop of...
08/28/2026

Small dog (Monday 2-5pm) and big dog (Friday 2-5pm) playgroups will begin the week of September 14th. These are drop off sessions. Dogs must be up to date on vaccinations, including kennel cough (Bordetella) and males over 10 months must be neutered to join the group. Message me for more information or to sign up. Space is limited

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74 Broadway
Corner Brook, NL

Telephone

+17096321598

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