It Started With a Husky

05/21/2026

Do you want your dogs to check in with you at walks? REWARD THEM!!

Reward your dog EVERY time they choose to stop what they're doing and come running back to you!

Here I have two of my dogs, Meelo and Sozin off leash on our hike. Playing a little game of "count how many times my dog checks in with me on our walk in a minute"

At the beginning of our walk it was approximately 3 check ins per minute. At the end of our hour long walk it was approximately 6 check ins per minute. Rewarding your dogs check ins MATTER!

05/19/2026

Find It Games!

One of my dogs is currently on bed rest, poor Iroh had a run in with a porcupine and he can't have much movement, so one way that we've been keeping him entertained is by doing treat searches!

I will take a handful of treats and strategically hide them around and then release him to go find the tastey hot dogs!
If you have a dog who needs more mental enrichment, this is definitely a game I recommend! No required training, just start off easy and slowly increase the difficulty of the hides.
My master finder Sokka can find a treat just about anywhere now!

05/19/2026

When you're adorable but you also gotta show off your sassy side.

05/19/2026

Back up!! Wonderful party trick, great for aging dogs who need to work thier body, wonderful for hind end awareness and just a fun trick to teach

This is a new to me technique for "back up" something my mentee has taught me and some of our clients!

So proud of the 'student became the master' moment!!

05/15/2026

Mr. Moose Man showing that anything is possible!!

You may think this is just another picture of one of the many dogs I train but this is so much more!!

This is greeting guest protocol success story!! This man that Mr. Moose is shaking hands with is his neighbor. A man that he has once before broken out of a barrier to react to (luckily no bites, we will like to keep it that way).

Seeing 150lbs coming at you barking and lunging can be very scary we were so greatful he gave Moose another shot at a proper greeting! 🐾

Now they are best buddies and will hopefully be able to see each other more! 🧡

05/15/2026

Fun Food Play Game: Toss and Run

Take a few treats and throw them on the ground. As your dog is sniffing them you could run off in the other direction, your dog should chase you and you can then toss a few treats on the ground again and repeat!

I have found this game to be very fun to play with my dogs throughout our walks. It builds engagement, gets both us and our dogs moving, creates excitement and builds value for us, improves our relationship and it's just FUN.

05/14/2026

Real World use of Pattern Games.

Me and my boys were chilling at the park, Sozin off leash as usual, when in the distance we watch a well behaved off leash dog Walk around us on the trail. Now Sozin is great when he sees off leash dogs, but he is still a excitable puppy who has just entered his teenage phase! So we continue to play Pattern Games to remind him what he should be doing. Which is NOT charging the other dog (He has never charged another strange dog! Which is very nice)

We start by playing engaged disengage, he looks at the other dog and I mark and reward him for it. We move onto Ping Pong and LAT (which he thought was dumb lol)
And then the dog is out of sight! He did do one little attempted rush over, which he recalled from immediately and got rewarded for with his ball.

If you have a new puppy ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS play pattern games and mega reward whenever you see another dog or potential trigger on your walks. Especially if your dog is not reacting. This is so you will create a dog who automatically come back to you whenever they see a trigger.

05/13/2026

Our next AKC Community Canine Class is starting May 27th at 5pm!

This class is for dogs who have completed their CGC. We will travel to various locations and work on the items on the CGCA and CGCU test. We will hold a test at the end of the last class to receive your title.

Register online today ⤵️
Www.PawsitiveCanineCare.com

05/12/2026

How long should a training session last?
This is a question I hear often! And this is my answer.

NOT LONG. This was a 5-minute unedited session with my Malinois mix Sozin. Look at all that stuff we accomplished! We practiced toy play, down stay, sit and Hold! I usually recommend 3 to 5 minute long sessions
But 10 seconds makes a difference too!

Often times a 30 or hour-long session with your dog can exhaust them mentally; Nobody learns well if they are exhausted. If you keep training light, fun and in short burst throughout the day then you will have a dog who learns MUCH more quickly then repeating the same exercise over and over again. Training in short burst also keeps energy high, which can create more flashy behavior from your dog.
Something else that we did during the session was sandwich our training. Play Sandwich! That will be a post on its own but it is incredibly important for having successful training sessions.

Training can be as short as 30 seconds! Especially if you are a busy parent or worker, Take 30 seconds out of your day to train your dog all throughout and I promise you'll see results!

05/12/2026

123 walk with me! One of my favorite pattern games. You can expand and play around with it greatly

This has been a client favorite for my reactive cases!

This cue crates predictable and give the dogs a coping strategy when things seem out of control!