Mindful Canine Dog Training & Behavior

09/29/2026

AGAIN! 🥴😅

I’m all for having dogs off leash—as long as you have control over them. Luckily, this super old dog, Crook, wasn’t moving very fast, but still—the (very nice) owner seemed content to let her wander in the direction of my client and her VERY reactive dog, Pickles.

If you own a reactive or aggressive dog, you know how much of a pain—and sometimes a genuine danger—this can be while you’re working through your dog’s challenges.

It’s fine. If you can’t or won’t stop your dog from approaching… I will. 😅

But what I was REALLY pleased with was watching Rebecca and Pickles handle this without my direct coaching. I got to watch all of the work we’ve done fall into place in a real-life moment.

Rebecca made all the right moves at all the right times. I could tell she genuinely understood how to navigate the situation—when to allow some liberty and let Pickles be curious and make choices, when to step in with control and obedience, and how to work at an appropriate distance instead of just trying to avoid the situation altogether.

That’s what I think is so powerful about Private Lessons.

When the owner is the one actually doing the training, they don’t just learn how to get their dog to perform behaviors. They learn how to read a situation and make good choices in the moment that promote success.

And eventually, I get to stand there and watch them do it without me.

If you need help with your reactive dog, let’s make it happen!

And if you can’t control your off-leash dog… well, we can help with that too. 😉

09/28/2026

This big tote of crap I would never use again— which mostly went straight into my yard sale pile—is actually pretty special. Here’s why.

About seven years ago, I was starting to become really unhappy at my corporate pet retail job. Overall I loved what I did, but I could see that a lot of the problems weren’t going to resolve with time like I originally thought. Ultimately, I was just in the wrong place.

That’s when I started dreaming of a different life.

A life where I could pour myself into my newfound passion for dog training and behavior. Where people mattered and didn’t feel like numbers. Where I could balance the “bottom line” with the values I held close to my chest. Where I spent more time with dogs and less time with pencil-whipping tedious work.

The life I have now, actually.

This tote came from that dreaming phase. Most of it is stuff I thrifted with an eventual boarding program in mind. The rest is stuff I used in the early days of training but would probably never use again—front-clip harnesses, head halters, random equipment I thought I needed at the time.

When I found it cleaning out my shed, my first thought was, how on earth do I still have all this useless junk?!

But then I remembered buying some of it before I had the business, the clients, the experience, or really any proof that the life I was imagining would work out. I just wanted it badly enough to start preparing for it.

About 90% went straight into the yard sale pile. Not because that version of me was wrong. She was building with what she knew at the time.

And the funny thing is, I’m doing exactly the same thing now.

I’m probably filling the next version of this tote as we speak—the things that five years from now I’ll pull out, laugh at, and wonder why on earth I kept.

I think that’s actually a pretty good sign.

You don’t need to know exactly what the dream will look like before you start moving toward it. Some of the things you’re absolutely certain belong in your future might eventually end up in a yard sale pile.

But they might still be part of how you got there.

09/26/2026

Join us in Southen Utah for our first trial judged by Haylee Platt and Tara Isaacson!

Register and pay at:
https://pocketsuite.io/book/mindful-canine-dog-training-and-behavior/item/grc-trial-entry-fall-2026

09/22/2026

Getting your hands on our curated selection of premium dog training equipment is about to get a whole lot easier, whether you’re near or far. Stay tuned! 👀

09/21/2026