A Million Dreams Dog Training

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10/24/2026

Fun day at Dog’s Day at the Farm at Eddy’s Farm in Chesterland! Beautiful weather, beautiful foliage, BEAUTIFUL doggo 😍😍

Xo, Steph
🍎

10/22/2026

Happy 5th gotcha day bestie 💞

If you’re lucky enough, one day you may accidentally meet a dog at the end of your volunteer shift that changes your life forever. It’s very important that you take that dog home with you and make them your whole world. 🌎 🤍

I have a million amazing things I can say about this dog, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Xo,
Steph and Barney 💜

Only fitting we celebrate with a hike

Mom always needing pics of me ugh 😒

The day we met ft. me trying to PAWN him off to someone else??? Crazy

Taken the day I signed the papers 😭😭 still just as handsome today 💞

Shelter mugshot versus…

Today 🎃

Favorite hangout spot

11/10 cuddler 🥰🥰🥰

I forget how baby you were 🥹

The face of AMD

This is what best friends look like

Enough said ❤️‍🔥

10/05/2026

Stop scaring your dog.

I see it all the time. Owners (and even trainers) correcting dogs to the point of the dog literally running away when they hear the word “no”. It’s 2026, let’s leave this in the past where it belongs.

Imagine a teacher who screams at students anytime they get an answer wrong. Odds are those kids aren’t going to perform better, they’re just going to be afraid of answering questions incorrectly.

Now imagine a teacher that not only shows her students where they made the mistake, but also teaches them how to find the right answer on their own. Not only will those kids perform better, but they’ll be more confident in problem solving and decision making.

I’m not anti-punishment in dog training, I’m anti-taking-punishment-too-far.

In my recall example, I have used the LOWEST level of stimulation possible on the ecollar in the past when Barney didn’t respond to the verbal cue, and I ALWAYS reward him when he gets back to me. Now I have a dog with VERY high prey drive who happily runs back to me when I call him, even when he’s chasing a squirrel. And I’m SO dang proud of that.

Want to learn more about how to use punishment the right way? Follow along for more content like this!

xo, Steph 🫶🏻

10/02/2026

Fear free training has always seemed a little backwards to me.

Our dogs can be afraid of anything — even positive things like experiences in nature, being scratched on the belly, being handed a treat by strangers… so why would we want to avoid fear in our training when we could just as easily work them through it? Logistically, what will make our dogs MORE confident and MORE capable?

There are only a few things I WANT my dog to be afraid of: running into the street, playing with a snake, chasing the neighbors cat, walking on grates (I’m scared of them too, okay?)… and all for good reasons. As for everything else, there is NO benefit in reinforcing unnecessary fear.

What silly things is your dog afraid of that youre working through?

Xo, Steph

09/30/2026

Ok fine quote me on it 🤭

It blows my mind that we live in a world where you walk into an average vet office and tell them your dog has symptoms of anxiety, and they’re more likely to send you to a behaviorist who will prescribe your dog brain altering medication than they are to ask you the most important question of all: “is your dog truly fulfilled?”

And yet me and my peers are the ones constantly being accused of abusing dogs because we use electric collars in order to provide dogs with off leash opportunities to live out in nature and explore the world safely.

Make that make sense.

it’s time we start demanding a world where our dogs well-being are put before big Pharma’s bank account.

Xo, Steph

09/22/2026

I’m a trainer, not a drill Sargent in the army 😂

It’s fair to assume that a dog trainer has a very well-behaved dog, but nobody is perfect! Anyone who leads you to believe that their dog is perfect is just a liar 🤪

This is obviously just a funny video and the behavior itself isn’t necessarily that bad. But Barney also has a strong parade drive that I have to be careful about and LOVES to bark and protect the house (shoutout GSD & catahoula genes!). Those are the “problems” we have worked through, but I can’t say we have ever or will regularly encounter this situation so I’m not too pressed on training him through it 😂

Xo Steph

09/10/2026

Prey drive isn’t a behavioral issue, it’s a NATURAL INSTINCT.

It’s silly for us to try to extinguish prey drive and, often times, in trying to do so we set ourselves up for disaster when management fails.

Instead, we should teach our dogs how to SAFELY and APPROPRIATELY engage with prey.

Being able to say “sorry friend, not right now” or “alright pal, enough chasing” is not only critical in keeping our dogs and other animals safe, but it’s also the most fulfilling thing we can do for our dogs.

E-collar study for anyone interested: Comparison of the Efficacy and Welfare of Different Training Methods in Stopping Chasing Behavior in Dogs. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11428818/
If you do read it, remember that stress responses are natural when a brain is building a new neural pathway 🫶

Xo, Steph

09/09/2026

Prepare for the worst, so you can do your best ✨

A lot of people opt out of muzzle training, crate/place training, and even just general exposure to stressful situations because they don’t think they need it.

But I don’t want you to learn the hard way that these aren’t an optional party trick—they’re essential to your dog’s success and safety.

You never know when life is going to throw you a curveball 🫠 Barney is okay and recovering well, and I am always reminded in these moments how useful it is to expose him and prepare him for the stressful moments.

How?

By practicing every opportunity you get.

He can be afraid of the vet/uncomfortable being touched by strangers. So, we practiced wearing a muzzle and various handling techniques at home, outside, in a pet store, etc. so the situation doesn’t feel so foreign at the vet☝🏼(ps vets PREFER you muzzle your dog even if you don’t think you need to, rather than the opposite 🥴)

I let him on furniture (& I’m not ashamed one bit). So, I crate trained him so they he is safe & doesn’t panic when i need to put couch & bed snuggles on pause 💔

Follow me to see how we prepare for the stressful situations so we can walk through them with ease, power, and CONFIDENCE

Comment or like if you want to see exactly how we prepare for these situations & I’ll make a part 2/3!

Xo, Steph
anxiousdog

09/08/2026

Never had one lesson

Brian for real said “teach, don’t preach, sister!”

But seriously, we need to normalize SHOWING our dogs how to rest among chaos so they can naturally reduce their anxiety and get proper rest throughout the day.

Comment which move was ur fav!

Xo, Steph

Address

Arlington, VA

Website

http://amddogs.com/

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