Raising Pawtential

05/11/2026

If you’re looking for a board and train option I highly recommend reaching out to Sit n Wiggles in Cleveland! Valarie is one of the few trainers in the area I trust with my own animals. She is a fabulous trainer and utilizes only reward-based training.

📢 BIG NEWS, BESTIES 📢

Sits ‘n Wiggles Dog Training is officially offering a Board ‘n Train program… and your dog will be staying right in Valarie’s home! 🐾✨

That means your chaos gremlin won’t be shipped off to some stressful kennel environment with 47 barking dogs and a “good luck, buddy” attitude. Nope. Your pup gets personalized, positive reinforcement training in a REAL home with real-life practice, enrichment, structure, naps, snacks, and plenty of learning opportunities.

Perfect for dogs who need help with:
🐶 Jumping on guests
🐶 Leash chaos
🐶 Settling down for once in their life
🐶 Over-arousal
🐶 Adolescent “I have no brain cells” behavior
🐶 Manners & life skills

AND because we don’t believe in magic-fix nonsense, humans get coaching too so the progress actually sticks when your dog comes home. 🎉

No shock collars.
No dominance myths.
No intimidation.
Just compassionate, science-based training and lots of “good boi/gorl” energy. ✨

Spots will be VERY limited because this is an in-home program, so if your dog is ready for a structured learning vacation while you enjoy a little peace and quiet… now’s the time. 👀🐾

04/23/2026

Boomin Groomin in Massillon is accepting new clients for the first time in a long time! They are one of the few groomers in the Canton area I recommend. If you have a fearful/anxious dog that needs regular grooming please contact them! They are incredible with fearful and anxious dogs!

04/20/2026

Rascal is making amazing progress on his fear-aggression towards strangers, fear of sounds and resource guarding! He is a fast learner AND his people are putting in the time and hard work to help him work through his fears at his pace. His vet has also been a tremendous help making sure any medical concerns are addressed quickly since we all know medical problems can cause behavioral issues.

04/18/2026

For all my family’s with littles who love to help!

01/30/2026

Benson started home-school classes this week and everyone is loving it! He’s learning his life skills while staying in the comfort of his home. He’s already learned his name, sit, come, leave it and drop it. He’s nailing his auto-stay and knows how to lay down for a hand signal too! His entire family adores him and does an incredible job playing with and training him outside of our sessions. And how could you not adore him with a face that cute?!

His family did an amazing job researching a good breeder who focused on socialization, demeanor and health. This means we can focus on obedience and play rather than work through fears and aggression (yes, young puppies can be fearful and aggressive). Fear and aggression prevention is worked into his home school classes so he continues to be a happy, social dog as he gets older.

Message me if you’re interested in home schooling for your puppy!

12/17/2025

This Christmas season, we are accepting donations for two local, wonderful animal rescue groups that support animals in need in our community. We will be supporting the Stark County Humane Society, a long-standing facility that helps strays and injured animals while also offering adoptions. We will also be supporting Pawsitive Hope, a foster-based rescue group that takes in animals in need, especially cases that are more medically challenging. Both of these groups help a staggering amount of animals throughout the year and they could use our support via donations of food, cat litter, cleaning supplies, etc as well as monetary donations. We will be collecting items through Monday January 5 and then we will deliver the items after that date. Thanks so much for considering supporting these incredible groups during the Christmas season!

Thank you so much to Doc Miller's Christmas Trees for our gorgeous tree! If you are looking for a beautiful live tree, check them out!

11/19/2025

All Benji wants for Christmas is a family to call his own! Looking for that special dog to play with your kids? Benji is your guy! He takes a little bit of time to get to know people, but once he falls for you, he falls hard!

Benji is great in the house, no accidents or chewing. He likes people of all ages and sizes. He enjoys a good cuddle in bed and on the couch, but does need a spot to rest on his own occasionally. He has struggled with separation anxiety but is able to be home alone for multiple hours with the help of medication. Benji doesn’t like cats or other dogs, so would be best to be an only dog.

Contact if you’re interested in adopting Benji! He is currently in North Canton, OH.

11/11/2025

Tali came home from her breeder a few months ago terrified. She also had no clue how to safely interact with her tiny housemates. Her parents knew immediately they needed some extra support and started my homeschooling program, meeting 2-3 days a week. Tali made tremendous improvements quickly and we were able to stretch training out to once every 1-2 weeks. This is due to getting started so young with the right methods, her dedicated family putting in the work and Tali herself trying hard to overcome her fears.

I’m happy to announce that Tali is graduating from homeschooling next week a happy, confident girl! She went from terrified to meet new people and dogs and refusing to take any food outside to excitedly greeting new visitors, making lots of new friends at the dog park and, as you can see, happily taking food while in public!

Her people have done a phenomenal job listening when she was scared, supporting her and helping her learn the world is not such a scary place. They’ll have to continue her training as we wrap up her training program, but they know what to do and, of course, I’ll continue supporting them as long as they need.

Congratulations Tali! 🥳

10/19/2025

Tali made her first non-housemate friend with Strider the other day! She gets scared seeing other dogs on walks. Strider did an excellent job letting her approach him and giving her space when she needed. He gave her lots of play bows during the walk, telling her he wasn’t a threat and they could have lots of fun together. They had some off-leash time in her yard afterwards and Tali kept trying to play with him!

It is one of my greatest joys as a trainer to help fearful dogs come out of their shell. Some puppies are already fearful when they go home at 8-12 weeks old, like Tali. With early intervention, many of these puppies can learn the world isn’t such a big, scary place and start making new friends!

09/09/2025

Oliver wants to remind everyone that some dogs get hot very easily and need breaks in the shade on walks. It was about 70F on our training walk yesterday. After 15 minutes in the sun he need a few minutes to cool off.

07/08/2025

Sprout has a PSA:

“It’s hot! When out on walks PWEASE make sure there is shade and let us take breaks if we sit or lay down. Some pups like me get hot easily and need a few short walks instead of one long walk. Also, try to walks us early in the morning or at night when it is cooler. Last thing: make sure we have plenty of fresh water to help us stay hydrated and cool throughout the day. Thanks for listening friends!”