Captain Polo's Dog Training

02/23/2026

Training is canceled today due to the blizzard. Enjoy the snow!

02/21/2026

02/21/2026

Another dog training win!

02/20/2026

A place cue gives your dog a clear job: go to a defined spot, settle, and stay there until released. The purpose isn’t just obedience. It’s nervous-system regulation, safety, and lifestyle sanity.

02/06/2026

The day it all began when we rescued her. Dog- yet to be named and unaware of the next chapter in her life.

02/05/2026

Why did I become a dog trainer?

My dog came from a kill shelter in Texas. She had a date and time for her deadline. With an open wound on her face and an acute ear infection, she was very sensitive, had high anxiety, and severely reactive having been confiscated from her abusive previous owner. Badass Rescue in Brooklyn brought her to New York City where I adopted her and began my journey with Captain Polo.
Moving to the city, she was reactive to just about everything. After all, she was a country gal, originally from Louisiana. Runners, bikes, buses, trucks and especially other dogs where all challenging as she would lunge and bark at them making every walk a stressful event that I thought reflected on me as a bad guardian.
As her health improved, we began working with a master dog trainer, Kate, to train me, to train Captain. Kate made sense of everything that was going on in Captain's life, confidently guided me, and it didn't take long to see improvements. I was hooked, soaking up the training like a sponge, taking the lead, becoming more confident, pushing boundaries. I was so proud of Captain for her progress.
Then I started to notice, my dog was less reactive than many of my neighbors dogs. I saw what they were experiencing. I knew how it felt. I knew how to manage and fix their problems.
I continued to learn, became a certified dog trainer, trained my formerly reactive dog to use her new found love of meeting strangers to become a therapy dog so she can volunteer her time to visit hospitals, seniors and veterans.
So now I specialize in training reactive rescue dogs, just like Captain Polo, because every dog deserves to live their best life, and life in New York City is a challenging place to live, but with the right tools and approach, anything is possible.

01/26/2026

Is your dog bored inside with the bad weather? Try some simple, fun games to engage them, build their impulse control, and use their scent work

In today's video, we're diving into how to mentally stimulate your dog indoors with fun and engaging dog enrichment activities. Many dogs spend their days wa...

12/02/2025

Captain Polo is now nine years old. My faithful companion and inspiration to become a dog trainer

11/07/2025

I am thrilled to have been invited to become a Charter Member for Badass Animal Rescue to help support their mission of rescuing dogs in imminent danger of euthanasia.
After rescuing our own Bad Ass, Captain Polo, I am excited to offer my training to future Bad Ass adopters in their journey giving every dog the opportunity to live their best life!

10/19/2025

Great crowd today for the Halloween Dog contest

10/19/2025

Come visit the Healthy Hound Fair today until 3pm. Win free Dog training sessions, buy half price training for only $30 or get some free swag!

10/18/2025

Come visit our table tomorrow from 11am to 3pm