Real World K9

10/22/2026

Rufus n Figg, the little white fluffies had a great afternoon hiking the trails and some playtime afterwards. Tired pups. Both dogs are under 2 yrs.

10/22/2026

Let's all have compassion for these dog families. ♥️🐾

"Hey lady. Just train your dog!"

Six words.
And those words, they cut deep.

All from someone who judged six seconds of your dog's life.

They just saw your dog react. And in those tiny few slivers of time, they decided you "just" hadn't bothered to train them.

If only they knew.

They don't know that yesterday you had the most amazing walk. Absolutely no reactions and a beautifully relaxed dog beside you.

It was one of those walks. The kind everyone else takes for granted.

But not you. You celebrate them. It's a wee lift in your spirits for the rest of the day. Because you know just how much work went into that walk.

And if you see a reactive dog?
Don't judge.

The person at the other end of the lead probably critiques themselves enough already. You have absolutely no idea how much love, work and determination went into every single moment before that reaction.

But those other people living with reactive dogs?
They absolutely understand.

Behind every reactive dog is a person who is trying. So hard.

But the reactive dog community?
We well and truly have your back.

10/21/2026

This is so sad, heartbreaking and so preventable and a story that has been too prevalent lately. I totally agree. 😔

I try to keep things relatively family friendly on here. Occasionally I let a bad word slip and that’s going to be the case here. Forgive me but,

I’m fu***ng sick and tired of seeing this s**t over and over again .

A 7 week old baby is dead in Livermore Falls. The family’s Belgian Malinois got the needle.

I don’t know exactly what happened inside that house, and I’m not going to pretend I do. But I am going to say something that apparently still needs to be said because we keep ending up here.

Many of you have absolutely no business owning dogs like this.

You see a Malinois on TikTok doing insane obedience work, climbing walls, hitting a bite sleeve like a missile and staring at its handler like it’s waiting for the next command from God himself, and you think, “That dog is badass. I want one.”

Meanwhile, the only dog you’ve ever owned was a mini labradoodle and half the neighborhood couldn’t tell whether you were walking the dog or the dog was taking you somewhere.

A Malinois is not the dog you buy because you think it looks cool.

Neither is a Cane Corso. Neither is a working line German Shepherd. Neither is any other powerful, high drive dog that was bred for a purpose and comes with instincts, energy and needs that you cannot just ignore and you think you can handle because you watched three YouTube videos on 2x speed.

These dogs need structure. They need training. They need an outlet. They need somebody who actually understands what they’re looking at when the dog is communicating with them.

And no, “he knows sit” is not training.

People get these dogs without understanding drive, thresholds, body language, reactivity, prey behavior, pressure or how quickly things can and do go sideways when a powerful dog is overstimulated, frustrated or put into a situation it does not know how to handle.

Then a baby comes along and suddenly the dog that already wasn’t getting what it needed is expected to just understand that this tiny screaming, grabbing, unpredictable human is different.

Dogs don’t have human morals. They don’t know that a baby is fragile. They don’t know right from wrong. They know pressure. They know stimulation. They know instinct. That’s it and at the end of the day, even the best trained dog is an animal.

And I’m beyond tired of seeing people learn that after a child is dead.

If you want one of these dogs because you think they’re awesome, great. They are awesome.

But being impressed by one and being qualified to own one are two very different things.

Learn the breed. Learn the dog. Find a trainer who actually works with dogs of that caliber. Put in the time. Give the dog what it needs. And for the love of God, stop assuming nothing bad can happen because “he’s always been good with the baby.”

Another baby is dead.

Another dog is dead.

Both were fu***ng avoidable.

And somewhere, as we speak, somebody is watching a perfectly trained Malinois on TikTok right now thinking, “I should get one.” Please don’t!

- M. Conners, CPD

10/21/2026

Lola n Sieger wonderin whats brewing...adventures together in Narragansett today.

10/19/2026

Zak n I sharing a comfortable walk in Westerly, nice heeling.

When you teach your dog to walk on a loose leash you will find you will do more walks with your dogs, take them to more places and enjoy your walks much, much more.

Here Zak n I are walking in the city of Westerly on the sidewalks so heeling is important due to a limited area on the sidewalk. We are usually on a 10 to 15 ft longline doing loose leash walking in more spacious areas where heeling is not needed.

No tension on the leash, no tension with your dog.👍

10/18/2026

Great information to pass along.

Some dogs should never meet at all.
And saying that doesn't make you mean. It makes you the one who is paying attention.

A bouncy, in-your-face teenager and a shut-down, disinterested, low-energy dog?
A dog who's had very few good experiences with other dogs and a dog who wants to take on and wrestle the world?

That's not an introduction.
That's a setup.

I know, there's so much pressure to get it perfect.
Pressure from friends and family to meet their dog.

You can say yes. There just needs to be a bit of prep first.

What we do need to be wary of is setting them up. And not in the good way.
Certain things do need caution. They can create competition before there's even trust. And that's a longer road you really don't want.

Parallel walks are still my favourite. Same direction. Enough space that both dogs can breathe. No forced hellos. Sometimes it's one walk. Sometimes it's a few. Both are completely normal.

If your last intro went sideways and got barky, stressy and messy, that doesn't mean your dog failed.

Maybe the situation failed your dog.
And next time, you get to do it differently. Or not at all.

Both can be the right answer.

10/18/2026

This is a huge problem and habit for most of the population.

This is ingrained in humans to reach out to a dog to let them sniff you first. It is definitely a hard habit to break but it has to stop. So many bites that can be prevented.

This is definitely a post that needs to be shared. Please don't teach your children to do this. 👍

Eek. Are we still teaching this?
"Mum, can I pat the cute dog?"
"Sure, just reach your hand right out and let them sniff you first."

And it's not just children we've been teaching this to.
It's generational, and it's well and truly established as "how to greet a dog".

But somewhere along the way, we've confused letting a dog gather a bit more information with asking them to accept more physical contact from us.

Dogs don't need a hand presented to their face to smell us.
They really can smell us from metres away.

Do dog trainers disagree on this?
Yes.
Because yes, dogs can gather additional scent information by investigating things up close. I'm not disputing that
But I'm all for safety!
I see a wet floor, I'm gonna put a cone on it.
When I see hands reaching out towards an unfamiliar dog's face?
I'm going to say "please stop".

Because putting a hand directly into a dog's personal space can be the very thing that leads to a bite.

One thing is for sure, though.
Many dogs will choose to come closer to gather more information.
And yes, they can even do it when they're unsure about the person they're investigating.

A sniff doesn't mean an emotional connection has just been made.
It's not any sort of invitation.
And it certainly isn't proof of trust.

So how about we normalise keeping our hands by our sides?

And please, let's teach children a different way. Because this is one piece of advice that really doesn't need passing down to another generation

10/18/2026

Excellent graphic and post. Know when to step in.

We were all taught the same lie.
If they're not fighting, they're playing.

So we stand there, watching something that feels "off".

A bit too intense. All a wee bit too much.
One dog ducks behind the bench while the other keeps coming.

And we tell ourselves "they're just playing" because we don't want to be "that" person. The overprotective one.

So I need you to hear this:

No dog has ever been harmed by you stopping play too early.
Not one. Ever.

But I've met hundreds who were harmed because no one stopped it in time.

Here's what no one really talks about enough,
Sometimes it's not that obvious to see the difference between playing and an issue grumbling and bubbling away.
Especially if you don't really know the other dog involved.

So can I give you permission to do something?

Trust the "hmm".

That little feeling in your gut that says "that's a bit much".
That's not you being overbearing or overprotective.
That IS you reading dog body language. That's the skill developing.

You don't need to be 100% sure to step in. If you're unsure, step in anyway.
Call your dog.
Make some space. Give them both a break.

The playful ones will shake it off and often re-engage together, that's how you know it WAS play.

You will never ruin a friendship by pausing play.
You might just save one.

10/16/2026

Heeling silken windhounds. These beautiful dogs owner would like to be able to walk both dogs at the same time without any pulling and have a safe comfortable walk.

We are working on setting a foundation to build upon with each dog training individually. They had a wonderful first session.

Go team Chassis n Jax👍🐾

10/16/2026

I worked with Cindy n Bruce today on loose leash walking, heeling and some fearful, insecure behaviors. Cindy is a past client who had a female doodle named Red that I trained many years ago.

Cindy adopted Bruce a few months ago, he is a 7 yr old doodle. His first session went great. He barked quite a bit when I first arrived but by the time the session was over he felt much better about me, definitely more trusting.

I walked him around the neighborhood, he kept a nice pace as he learned to heel. His mom was very happy seeing Bruce enjoy his walk, feeling safe and comfortable rather than insecure and fearful. After his session we had playtime with his favorite ball. Looking forward to helping this team.

Great job team Bruce!👍🐾🐾