https://www.chasingtailsdogstraining.com/

Chasing Tails Dog Training, Bettendorf, IA (2026)

10/05/2026

Today, Wilma and I went for a very special hike. ❤️

We visited one of Toby’s favorite hiking spots in memory of him. It felt strange being there without him, but it also felt like exactly where we needed to be.

This was Wilma’s very first hike, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. She absolutely blew me away.

Her recall was beautiful. She explored, sniffed, ran ahead and checked back in. She was even able to be called off squirrels and some VERY interesting smells when I needed her to. 😂 She got to have freedom and make good choices, and I got to realize just how much I can trust this little dog.

As a trainer, those are the moments I love most—not perfect obedience, but building a relationship where your dog can enjoy being a dog while still choosing to listen when it matters.

And as Toby’s mom... it was pretty special watching Wilma explore trails that he loved so much. She’ll never fill his shoes (and hopefully she’ll never fill my house with quite as many p*e puddles 😅), but I think he’d approve of her carrying on the hiking tradition.

We finished the hike the only appropriate way: with a Pup Cup in Toby’s honor. ❤️

Good girl, Wilma.

And good boy, Toby. Always. 🌈🐾

10/05/2026

Yesterday, the Chasing Tails family lost a very important member. ❤️

If you've been around Chasing Tails for a while, there's a good chance you've heard me talk about Toby. Some of you met him. Some of your dogs worked with him. Others probably just knew him as the little old man who occasionally made an appearance on this page.

But Toby was so much more than just my dog.

For 12 years, he was my companion, my guinea pig, my coworker, and eventually, my trusted senior teacher dog.

Long before Chasing Tails existed, Toby was teaching me.

He challenged me. He frustrated me. He made me think. He forced me to become a better communicator and a better trainer. And as Chasing Tails grew, he stepped into a new role — helping other dogs learn, too.

Toby had a wonderful ability to just exist around other dogs. He helped me give dogs opportunities to practice being near another dog without pressure. He helped puppies learn. He helped nervous dogs build confidence. He helped me observe, teach, and problem-solve.

He was never a "perfectly trained dog."

In fact, anyone who knows me personally is probably laughing at the very idea. 😂

Toby was stubborn. He had opinions. He was an absolute pain in my ass. He spent his entire 12 years of life believing that p*eing in the house was a perfectly reasonable lifestyle choice.

And I think that's part of what made him such an important dog for me as a trainer.

Dogs don't have to be perfect to be good dogs.

Training doesn't create robots. Behavior is complicated. Dogs are individuals. Sometimes the dog who teaches you the most isn't the perfectly behaved one — it's the one who makes you keep learning.

Toby certainly made me keep learning.

Yesterday, I had to make the incredibly difficult decision to let my old man go.

Chasing Tails will continue. There will be more classes, more puppies, more behavior cases, and more dogs who need help.

But there will never be another Toby.

A piece of Chasing Tails left with him yesterday, because a piece of Chasing Tails was built because of him.

Thank you for everything you taught me, buddy.

Thank you for helping me teach so many others.

And thank you for 12 years of being an absolutely ridiculous pain in my ass.

Rest easy, Professor Toby. ❤️🐾

09/30/2026

🎓🐾 WEDNESDAY TRAINING TIP 🐾🎓

Your dog can't learn much when they're too busy trying to survive the situation.

When a dog is nervous, it's tempting to think:

"If we just stay here long enough, they'll realize everything is okay."

But sometimes staying in that situation doesn't build confidence — it just gives your dog more time to be overwhelmed.

Instead, watch what your dog is telling you.

Can they take treats?

Can they look away from whatever is worrying them?

Can they respond to a familiar cue?

Are they able to sniff, explore, or check in with you?

Is their body starting to relax?

Those are all clues that your dog may be in a place where they can actually *think and learn.*

If they can't eat, can't disengage, are desperately trying to leave, or are becoming increasingly reactive...

Give them some space. ❤️

Moving farther away isn't giving up.

You're finding the distance where your dog can say:

"Okay. This is weird... but I can handle it from here."

And THAT is where we can start building confidence. 🐾

09/29/2026

🐾 ENRICHMENT IDEA: THE NOVEL SURFACE CHALLENGE! 🐾

Want an easy confidence-building activity you can do at home?

Give your dog something "weird" to walk on. 😂

Dogs experience the world through their feet, too — and different surfaces can feel VERY strange when they've never encountered them before.

Try putting out something your dog doesn't normally walk across:

📦 A flattened cardboard box
🧺 A towel or blanket
🫧 Bubble wrap
🍂 A pile of crunchy leaves
🛋️ A couch cushion on the floor
🪵 A board laid flat on the ground

Then grab some treats and let your dog investigate!

Reward the little victories:

🐾 Sniffing it
🐾 Putting one paw on
🐾 Putting TWO paws on
🐾 Walking across
🐾 Or simply choosing to investigate the weird new thing

There's no need to pull, push, or place your dog onto it.

**Let them figure it out!**

Activities like this aren't really about teaching your dog to walk across a cardboard box.

They're giving your dog opportunities to encounter something unfamiliar, experiment, make choices, and discover:

**“Hey... I can do weird stuff!”** 💪🐶

What strange surface would YOUR dog immediately decide is absolutely unacceptable? 😂

09/28/2026

☀️🐾 GOOD MORNING TRAINING TIP! 🐾☀️

Don't forget to reward the recovery. ❤️

When we're working with a nervous or reactive dog, it's easy to focus on the BIG moment.

Your dog sees another dog.

Someone knocks on the door.

A strange noise happens outside.

They notice something that makes them nervous.

But one of the most important things to watch for is what happens *afterward.*

Did they look back at you? 👀

Take a breath?

Shake it off?

Start sniffing again?

Relax their body?

Choose to disengage and walk away?

****Those moments matter!****

When your dog starts settling back down, acknowledge it. A treat, some praise, or simply giving them the space they were asking for can help reinforce that recovery.

Our goal isn't necessarily to raise a dog who is never startled, worried, or overwhelmed.

We're also helping them learn:

“Something worried me... and then I was okay again.” ❤️🐾

Sometimes progress isn't about preventing the reaction entirely.

Sometimes it's going from needing 20 minutes to recover... to needing 2. 🥰

09/27/2026

💬🐾 **LET'S CHAT!** 🐾💬

What's something your dog has gotten **more confident about** over time? ❤️

Maybe they used to hide when visitors came over.

Maybe getting into the car was a whole production.

Maybe they were nervous around other dogs, hated having their paws touched, or thought the vacuum cleaner was obviously sent to murder the entire family. 😂

Big or small — we want to hear about it!

Sometimes we're so focused on what our dogs are **still working on** that we forget to look back at where they started.

👇 Tell us one thing your dog can handle now that used to be HARD for them!

And bonus points if you have a picture of your brave little weirdo. 🐶❤️

09/26/2026

🌿 **GENTLE REMINDER** 🌿

Your dog doesn't have to be good at everything today. ❤️

Maybe they barked at something they handled perfectly yesterday.

Maybe today's walk was harder than last week's.

Maybe they needed more distance, more treats, or more help than you expected.

Maybe the thing you thought they were “over” was suddenly scary again.

Progress isn't always a straight line.

Dogs have good days and hard days, just like we do.

So if today's training didn't go quite the way you hoped...

Take a breath. Give your dog a little grace. Give yourself some, too.

**One hard day doesn't erase all the progress you've made together.** 🐾❤️

09/25/2026

🐾 **FUN FACT FRIDAY!** 🐾

Did you know dogs aren't always very good at **generalizing?**

Your dog may know “Sit” perfectly in your kitchen...
..and suddenly act like they've never heard that word in their LIFE when you ask at the park. 😂

To us, Sit is Sit.

To your dog, **Sit in the kitchen**, **Sit in the backyard**, and **Sit while a squirrel is committing crimes 20 feet away** can feel like three very different assignments.

The same thing happens with confidence!

Being comfortable with something at home doesn't automatically mean your dog will feel comfortable around a similar thing somewhere new.

🐾 Practice familiar skills in different rooms.
🐾 Take them into the backyard.
🐾 Try them on walks.
🐾 Gradually add new sights, sounds, smells, and distractions.

Every new environment gives your dog another chance to learn:

**“Ohhhh... you mean I can do this HERE, too!”** 💡🐶

09/24/2026

🎓🐾 **GRADUATION SPOTLIGHT: LUKA!** 🐾🎓

This handsome boy recently finished his Private Training Sessions, and we have to take a minute to celebrate just how far he's come! ❤️

When I first met Luka, he was nervous about... well, **a lot of things.**

And when Luka was worried, he made sure EVERYONE knew about it. 😂

People coming onto his property were especially difficult. That's a pretty big challenge when your family sells eggs, honey, and seasonal veggies from home and regularly has people stopping by!

One of the biggest things we worked on wasn't simply teaching Luka to “stop barking.”

We worked on understanding **why** he was barking.

His family learned to recognize his body language, notice when he was starting to become uncomfortable, and help him through situations *before* he felt like he needed to make a BIG DEAL about them.

Over time, we were able to significantly shorten those big reactions and help Luka recover much more quickly.

And this nervous boy has made some HUGE strides.

We even took him into a busy store with people all around us — and Luka stayed quiet and handled it beautifully! 🥹

Is he suddenly the world's most fearless dog?

Nope.

Luka is still an anxious guy, and his family is working with their veterinarian to see if medication can help take the edge off that anxiety while they continue his training.

And that's okay. ❤️

His mom and dad have also become some of his biggest advocates. They're learning when Luka is comfortable saying hello and when they need to step in and say,

**“He doesn't want to be petted right now.”**

Because building confidence isn't about making a nervous dog tolerate everything.

It's about helping them feel safer, giving them tools to handle the world, and learning how to listen when they tell us they've had enough.

Luka, you have come **SO FAR**, buddy.

Congratulations on graduating! 🎓🐾❤️

09/23/2026

🎓 WEDNESDAY TRAINING TIP 🎓

**Sometimes confidence starts with just looking. 👀**

If your dog notices something they're unsure about, you don't have to convince them to walk up and investigate it.

Instead, try rewarding them for simply **looking at it.**

See the weird trash can? 👀 ➡️ Treat.

Notice the person carrying a giant umbrella? 👀 ➡️ Treat.

Spot something strange sitting in somebody's yard? 👀 ➡️ Treat.

You're helping your dog learn:

**“I can notice weird things without anything bad happening.”**

As your dog gets more comfortable, they may choose to move a little closer, sniff, or investigate.

Great!

But let **them** make that choice.

If your dog won't take treats, is trying to get away, barking, lunging, or can't seem to disengage from whatever they're watching, you may simply be **too close.**

Give them some extra space and try again.

🐾 You don't have to conquer the scary thing today.

Sometimes looking at it from 30 feet away and saying, *“Okay... I survived that,”* is a pretty successful training session. ❤️

Chasing Tails Dog Training

10/05/2026

10/05/2026

09/30/2026

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