Complete K9 Care

10/13/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DSyRawwx4/

✂️🥜🐶 WHAT IF WHEN YOU SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG MATTERS JUST AS MUCH AS WHETHER YOU DO IT?

Preventing unwanted litters matters. But is it time to rethink HOW we sterilize dogs? Hormone-sparing procedures, including hysterectomy and vasectomy, can prevent reproduction while preserving natural s*x hormones.

🔬 NEW 2026 PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH

Over 10 years, researchers reviewed records from 56,254 veterinary patients, including 313 dogs with mast cell tumors and 638 tumor-free comparison dogs. The study was accepted for publication in The Veterinary Journal.

🤯 1. TIMING MATTERS!

Dogs spayed or neutered before age 2 had 343% higher odds of a mast cell tumor diagnosis compared with intact dogs. Dogs sterilized after age 2 showed no statistically significant increase.

🐕 2. SIZE MATTERS!

Compared with small dogs, medium dogs had 2.6 times the odds and large dogs 5.2 times the odds.

⚖️ 3. WEIGHT MATTERS!

Overweight dogs had 80% higher odds than dogs at an ideal weight.

🧬 4. BREED MATTERS!

Compared with mixed-breed dogs, American Pit Bull Terriers had 7.5 times the odds and Boxers 3.9 times. Some breed groups were small.

❤️ 5. WHAT ABOUT SURVIVAL?

Neutering status wasn’t significantly associated with survival after surgery. Tumor grade and size were more important predictors.

🔬 WHY MIGHT HORMONES MATTER?

S*x hormones influence immune function and development. Researchers propose that early hormone removal and changes in luteinizing hormone (LH) may play a role, but this remains unproven.

🐾 THE BIG TAKEAWAY

Preventing unwanted litters doesn’t always mean removing hormone-producing organs. It’s time for individualized conversations with veterinarians about WHEN and HOW we sterilize dogs.

📄 Download the FREE PDF with the latest research surrounding Spay & Neuter Syndrome. Link in comments!

10/12/2026

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 🆂🅰🅻🅴!

This is a 6 week foundation program designed to help puppies and their handlers build clear communication, confidence and a strong working relationship from the beginning.

Puppyhood is about more than teaching basic commands. It is the ideal time to establish the habits, communication and understanding that will shape your dog’s behaviour as they grow. Through structured, progressive training, we help puppies learn how to focus on their handler, respond to communication, build confidence and remain engaged as distractions and expectations increase.

Just as importantly, we teach you how to effectively communicate with and train your puppy so that the work continues long after class ends. Smart Start is designed to give you more than a well-behaved puppy in a training room. Our goal is to build the foundation for a dog who can learn, communicate and function successfully as they grow.

📍 4115 Elmhirst Rd, Keene ON
🗓️ Starts Oct 19th and runs every Monday until Nov 23rd
🕔 Starts at 5:30pm

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𝑷𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.

Learn more here: https://completek9care.ca/group-classes/

10/10/2026

🎃💀 HALLOWEEN BITE NIGHT 💀🎃

IGP. PSA. PPD. Bite sport people… this one's for you. 🔥

Bring your dogs, bring your gear and bring your best Halloween spirit 👻

Whether you're deep into your sport, working toward your next goal, or just looking for a fun night with fellow working-dog enthusiasts, come out and be part of the action.

💰 THE PRIZE GIVEAWAY

🏆 $250 PRIZE — BEST DOG
🎃 $100 PRIZE — BEST COSTUME

🔥 OCTOBER 30TH | 5:30 PM
📍 Complete K9 Care Training Building: 4115 Elmhirst Rd, Keene

Let's see what you've got. 🐺💀

$60 Per Dog
FREE to Audit

Register here: https://portal.busypaws.app/customers/complete-k9-care?booking_id=2180995

10/07/2026

Today was not the day we thought it was going to be.

Sadly, we had to make the incredibly difficult decision to let Sparrow cross the rainbow bridge at home and right by my side where he has been since I brought him home from Egypt many years ago. A rapid decline and loss of quality of life took him from us before we could even begin to fully wrap our heads around what was happening.

For those of you who have reached out through Messenger or email, I sincerely apologize for the delays in getting back to you. We’ve been trying to navigate an incredibly difficult time while still making sure our professional obligation (and pets that are in our care) are still taken care of.

As much as we may be going through personally, the dogs and our family still need us, and we know you are waiting for answers, updates, bookings and replies. We are doing our best to keep everything moving while also taking a little time to process this loss.

Thank you for your patience, understanding and kindness.

Sparrow was deeply loved, and saying goodbye is one of the hardest things we’ll ever have to do.

Rest peacefully my good boy 💙

10/06/2026

I have a question for you all, and I’m genuinely curious to hear everyone’s take on this.

Yesterday, I did an in-home workshop with a lovely woman and her Mini Australian Shepherd. There was nothing particularly complicated about this dog. No serious behavioural concerns. No aggression. No extraordinary challenges.

Just the regular puppy stuff: Over-excitement. Jumping. Poor impulse control. Lack of follow-through. Difficulty self-regulating. In other words, the sort of foundational skills I would expect any competent trainer (regardless of training philosophy) to be able to work through.

While there I learned something interesting.
This dog had previously been enrolled in a puppy class with a local R+ trainer and had been dismissed from the program.

Why?

Because the puppy apparently had a complete meltdown when the trainer put a gentle lead on it.

Yes. The so-called gentle lead.

And apparently the Trainers solution was to remove the puppy from class rather than work through the puppy’s response to the equipment.

Now, I find this particularly fascinating because the R+/FF comunity is repeatedly crying about certain training tools that are inherently “aversive,” and that using them makes someone abusive, coercive, unethical, etc.

Yet here we have an R+ trainer’s chosen piece of equipment (the "gentle" one) producing an emotional response strong enough that the puppy had a complete meltdown and was no longer permitted to participate in the program.

So, apparently ALL equipment has the potential to be aversive. Who knew?

Maybe, perhaps the equipment itself isn't the moral issue we’ve been told it is. Perhaps the dog’s individual response to a stimulus matters more than the trainer’s ideological preference for that stimulus.

And that brings me to the part I actually want to discuss.

If I am charging someone to train their dog, I believe I have a responsibility to be competent enough to work with the dog in front of me.

Not the dog I wish had shown up.
Not the dog that fits neatly into my preferred methodology.

The actual dog.

That means understanding behaviour, learning theory, reinforcement, motivation, thresholds, arousal, communication, management. And, in my opinion, having enough practical competency across different tools and approaches to determine what is appropriate for the individual dog.

I’m not suggesting every trainer has to accept every dog, nor do I think anyone should be expected to work outside their competency or take on a genuinely unsafe case.

But this wasn't that.

This was a puppy struggling with a piece of equipment.

So here is my question:
Was it appropriate for the trainer to dismiss this puppy from class because the puppy had a strong negative response to the lead? Or was it the trainer’s responsibility to have the knowledge and skill to modify the approach, troubleshoot the problem, and teach the puppy to succeed?

And more importantly:
Where do you believe a trainer’s professional responsibility begins and ends when someone is paying them to train their dog?

Genuinely curious. I’d love to hear different perspectives, even from people who completely disagree with me.

Because if we're going to call ourselves professionals, I think we're allowed to ask what professional competency actually means.

10/05/2026

Persistence Is a Behaviour Too.

We often talk about the behaviours we want our dogs to stop.

Jumping. Barking. Pulling. Ignoring commands.

But there’s another behaviour that can quietly shape everything else:

Persistence.

Toby is a great example.

He is a lovely boy with a wonderful personality, but he can also be persistent when he wants something. He may test a boundary, continue trying for a particular outcome, or see whether there is another way to get what he wants.

And this is where things get interesting.

Dogs learn from outcomes.

If Toby asks for something and we say no, but he keeps trying… and eventually we give in, what has Toby learned?

He has learned that persistence worked.

So next time, he may try again.

And perhaps a little longer.

And if that works again, the behaviour becomes even stronger.

This is why consistency isn't about being harsh or constantly correcting your dog. It's about making sure the rules actually mean something.

If we've established an expectation, we need to calmly follow through with it.

Not because we need to "win" against our dog.

Because we don't want to accidentally teach them that ignoring the first answer is the way to get a different answer.

This applies to so many everyday situations.

If your dog has been given a direction they don't particularly feel like following, and if persistence eventually changes the outcome, then persistence has just been rewarded.

And rewarded behaviours tend to get repeated.

Toby doesn't need his personality changed. He doesn't need to be made less enthusiastic or less determined.

He needs to learn that cooperation gets him further than negotiation.

That's the difference between suppressing a dog's personality and teaching them how to make better choices.

Persistence is a behaviour too.

And just like every other behaviour, what happens immediately afterward helps determine whether your dog does it again.

10/03/2026

We were all so happy to learn that Jiggy found a foster home. He is a management case, but a relatively easy one. There was only 1 BIG NON-NEGOTIABLE rule for his placement.

No men. Absolutely none.

Well, today we told the fosters who came to pick him up that we aren't sending him home with them.

The result.

Well, verbally accosted is probably the best way to describe it.

And I'm OK with it because I made the right call.

The dogs wellbeing is our top priority and thankfully the Rescue agreed with our decision and the reasoning beind it.

Now, about Jiggy.

Every (female) member of our staff ADORES Jiggy. He's amazing when he trusts you. And his number one joy in life is sleeping in the warm sun. It's been repeatedly said by staff that if they didn't have spouses, they would take him in a heartbeat.

He's sweet, he's biddable, he's gentle, he can be handled, and he's low maintenance.

And now, he is trained.

Just. No. Men.

"But you said he was trained"

He is. But training does not mean we erase a dog’s boundaries, pretend their history doesn’t exist, or deliberately put them into situations we already know make them uncomfortable just to prove a point.

Training gives Jiggy more choices. It gives him more skills, more confidence, and more ability to navigate the world safely. It does not give us permission to ignore what he is telling us his limits are

Jiggy doesn’t need to love men. He doesn’t need to be everybody’s dog. He doesn’t need to prove anything. He needs people who understand him, respect his boundaries, manage him responsibly, and set him up to succeed.

It's called advocacy and that's a responsibility for all pet owners.

So now Jiggy is waiting for a place to go, but for now, he will remain with us.

10/03/2026

I didn't get to stick around for the whole thing, but it was nice to have John Bonello at the farm.

10/01/2026

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of PSD Gryphon.

We had the opportunity to work with Gryphon and PC Wentworth a few times, and those experiences gave us a small glimpse into something that is difficult to explain unless you have seen it firsthand.

The bond between a working dog and their handler is different.

It isn't simply the relationship between a person and their dog. It is built through countless hours of training, repetition, pressure, trust, communication and shared experiences. They learn to read one another in ways that most people never see. A handler learns every subtle change in their dog's body language, breathing and behaviour. The dog learns to trust their handler completely, even when the environment is challenging or the stakes are high.

And then there is the work.

When that dog goes to work, they aren't just following commands. They are working with their handler. They are a team.

We have seen that relationship between Gryphon and PC Wentworth firsthand. There was an obvious level of trust and understanding between them that went far beyond obedience. It was quiet, practiced and incredibly special.

People often see the end result. A successful track, a building search, a detection indication, an apprehension. But they don't always see the years of work behind that moment. The hours spent training, preparing, travelling, waiting, practicing and building that partnership.

For working dog handlers, their dog isn't simply part of the job.

That dog is with them for the job, the training, the long days, the quiet days and everything in between. They share a life together.

Gryphon made an incredible contribution to his community and the Peterborough Police Service. But perhaps his greatest legacy is the partnership he built with PC Wentworth.

We are grateful that we had the opportunity to work with this remarkable dog and handler team.

Rest easy, Gryphon. Your work and your life mattered, and you will not be forgotten. 🖤

10/01/2026

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 is a six-week foundation program designed to help puppies and their handlers build clear communication, confidence and a strong working relationship from the beginning.

Puppyhood is about more than teaching basic commands. It is the ideal time to establish the habits, communication and understanding that will shape your dog’s behaviour as they grow. Through structured, progressive training, we help puppies learn how to focus on their handler, respond to communication, build confidence and remain engaged as distractions and expectations increase.

Just as importantly, we teach you how to effectively communicate with and train your puppy so that the work continues long after class ends. Smart Start is designed to give you more than a well-behaved puppy in a training room. Our goal is to build the foundation for a dog who can learn, communicate and function successfully as they grow

××××××××××××××××××××××××

𝑷𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.

Learn more here: https://completek9care.ca/group-classes/