Command Canine

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Command Canine Your dog’s past is just the beginning of the story.

We help you write the next chapter.

🌎 1:1 Virtual Coaching, Board & Trains, and Ebooks
🐕 The Keeper & Kin Project: Rehabilitating Former Research Dogs

08/05/2026

Pulled from the high risk shelter yesterday by an angel who knew he just needed a chance. Zeke is one of those dogs who captures your heart immediately. He doesn't deserve to be in the shelter.

He's currently with us as a foster to go through a full training program, and we are going to pour everything into him.

Follow along for the next month to watch him become somebody's future best friend. ♥️

If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting Zeke, please contact us.

Roxie's mama is unfortunately going through some medical issues and cannot give Roxie the proper care she feels she dese...
06/25/2026

Roxie's mama is unfortunately going through some medical issues and cannot give Roxie the proper care she feels she deserves.
Roxie has been through our training program and would do best with an active family where she could play and sniff around all day 🙂

Please share and contact Kim (number below) for more information!

03/12/2026

I want you to picture something; you're seeing our Group Class on a Thursday evening in Birkdale... or a Sunday morning walking around Jetton Park.
There's a handful of dog people standing there, leashes in hand, happy dogs ready to start their Pack Walk. If you walked up and talked to them, you’d assume they’ve always had easy dogs.


What you wouldn’t see is where they started; exactly where you are.
They avoided certain routes.
They felt slightly (or very!) embarrassed.
They wondered if they waited too long.
Some of them cried on their consult calls.

Now they’re walking past other dogs without their dog (or themselves) spiraling. All because they decided to stop living with stress and guilt, and signed up to work with us.

Now here’s the part I want you to really picture.

You're standing there. Your leash is loose. Your knuckles aren't white. You're not scanning to see who's going to turn the corner. You're just there, hanging out with your dog.

You and your dog fit right in.


If you’re hesitating because you feel behind or unsure or like your situation is uniquely complicated, I promise you it’s not.

Those dog people in our Group Classes were in your exact spot not that long ago.



*Group Classes are only available to current or former Command Canine clients who have completed a Private Lesson Package or Board & Train Program. This ensures every dog has the foundation to succeed

Don’t rely on obedience training alone.Why not? You can teach Sit. Down. Heel. Place. But if your dog’s nervous system i...
03/09/2026

Don’t rely on obedience training alone.

Why not? You can teach Sit. Down. Heel. Place. But if your dog’s nervous system is overwhelmed, anxious, or dysregulated, you actually haven’t changed anything.

There was a time when I was taught that tighter obedience would fix everything.
If a dog was reactive? More Heel.
If a dog was anxious when people came over? More Place.

What actually happened: the dogs would hold it together in certain settings, but they didn’t *feel* good about it. We had technically trained them, but we hadn’t helped them.

I quickly realized obedience was only one piece of the equation. Which is why I want to share this with you. That’s what our Mind & Manners Method is about; a dog who can do the things... and feel good about it. When the Mind is steady, the Manners stick.

Traditional obedience asks: “Can your dog do it?” Mind & Manners asks: “How does your dog feel about doing it”

It matters to me so much because I’ve seen what happens when people get this wrong. I’ve seen families feel stuck even after spending thousands of dollars on training. I’ve seen good dogs mislabeled as “difficult” because they’re too overwhelmed to do their commands.

If it only works in the training facility, it’s not training. Mind & Manners creates a dog who can handle the world, not just perform in it.

What's your take on this?

03/06/2026

With nervous dogs, orientation and closeness equals pressure.

The second you turn toward them, it feels like there's an expectation to make a decision immediately if they like you or not.

Nervous dogs want you to play hard to get. The more you ignore them and let them come to you, the more control they feel.

A lot of people accidentally do the opposite. They look at the dog, they talk sweetly, they try to reassure that “it’s okay.”

Then they wonder why the dog backs up. From the dog’s perspective, that’s very confrontational and doesn’t give the dog enough time to take everything in.

Now, why do I add pressure at all in this clip?

There are times in behavioral training where we add small amounts of pressure so the dog can build tolerance. There is a massive difference between flooding a dog with something that makes them uncomfortable and pushing them justtttttttt enough where they can overcome the discomfort and grow.

This is the latter.

The right amount of pressure here was me sitting down, facing away, and largely ignoring her. That was the sweet spot. That is where she can expand her comfort zone without shutting down.

Short, controlled sessions like this are how we build resilience in nervous dogs. They learn that discomfort does not automatically mean danger, and that they can get through it.

If you are working with a nervous dog and you are not sure whether you are helping or accidentally overwhelming them, that is usually where we step in. Reach out and let's chat.

For the record, you're also not selfish for wishing it was easier. You're not being dramatic. This *is* actually hard. Y...
03/04/2026

For the record, you're also not selfish for wishing it was easier.

You're not being dramatic. This *is* actually hard. You're not supposed to enjoy every second of it. Give yourself grace.

That's what makes it all worth it in the end when things are better. 🐕🥴

03/03/2026

If you want your dog to actually potty outside, stop wandering around the entire yard letting them sniff every single blade of grass,

I know it feels nice to let them “find the perfect spot.” But when you give a dog unlimited access to the backyard, you’re basically guaranteeing they’ll choose sniffing over p*eing. Then you stand there for 15 minutes, go back inside, and five minutes later… there’s p*e on the floor.

When potty breaks turn into a sniff-ari:
👎🏻 Outside becomes about sniffing, not going potty
👎🏻 Potty breaks drag on way longer than they need to
👎🏻 Accidents inside keep happening
👎🏻 You start getting annoyed at something that should take literally 30 seconds

What I usually tell clients to do is leash the dog and be a tree. Pick one spot and stand there. Don’t wander around.. don’t say “go potty” every 3 seconds.... just wait. Once the smells in that one area get boring, most dogs will go potty.

If you have a dog who needs a little movement to get things moving - then walk in a very small area. Five feet is enough.

After they go (all the way!) praise them or reward them, AND THEN you can unclip the leash and let them sniff around.

Business first, and then fun time.

When you do that:
👍🏻 Potty breaks get shorter
👍🏻 Inside accidents decrease
👍🏻 Your dog learns exactly what outside is for

Potty training shouldn’t be this exhausting. It’s a small adjustment, but it makes a big difference in how your whole day feels. And I want it to feel simple, not like a battle every time you open the door.

Want some help? I've got all the tips and tricks to help your dog get potty trained. Click the link in the bio to chat!

03/02/2026

If you’re trying to train your dog and you feel like you’re either constantly “managing” or constantly “training” and nothing is fully clicking… it’s probably because you’re missing one of the three pieces.

You need obedience, behavior training, AND management.

Obedience changes what your dog does. Sit. Heel. Place. Come.
Behavior training is the long term work that actually changes how your dog feels.
Management is what you need to do today while the other two things fall into place.

With one of my clients, we were working on helping her former research beagle build the confidence to walk down the stairs. Which sounds simple… but she lives in an apartment and stairs were part of every single potty break.

We used behavior training to teach the dog that they can walk up and down the stairs, but in the meantime? She still had to get outside three, four, five times a day.

This is where management comes in.

For her, management meant carrying him up and down the stairs instead of turning every potty break into a training session. Because not every moment has to be a growth opportunity. Sometimes you just need to get them outside to go potty.

And this is where people get stuck.

They either refuse to manage because it feels like “giving in.” Like if they carry the dog once, they’ve ruined everything.
Or they only manage forever… and never actually teach the dog the skill.

Management is not the end goal.

If she had carried him forever, he never would have learned he could do the stairs on his own. But if she had forced him to do the stairs every single potty break, we would’ve pushed him too fast and he likely would’ve shut down.

And yes, it is completely okay to lean on management in the beginning. In fact, I want you to.

But if you feel like you’ve been living in management mode for months and nothing actually feels better? It’s just time to layer in the other two pieces.

This is a system. Not a quick fix. When you use all three the right way, that’s when things start to feel manageable, and then sustainable.

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Charlotte, NC

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+17048901778

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