Sit Happens K-9 Academy LLC

05/13/2026

Today we focused more on the basics outside of the e-collar work.

Our main focus was “place” — going to a designated spot on command and simply hanging out there calmly. Pinky did really well with this for her first official day working on it.

Place will be extremely important for Pinky’s everyday life. She and another dog in the home occasionally have little scuffles over space and affection, so teaching her to move away and settle on command gives everyone more structure and helps minimize conflict before it escalates. Pinky also spends time in an office environment, so having a solid place command will be incredibly beneficial for her there as well.

At home, Pinky is almost always in “go mode.” Place gives her the opportunity to slow down, relax, and learn how to simply exist without constantly being “on.” For a deaf dog especially, learning how to settle and decompress is a huge skill.

We also continued working on down and threshold training today. Everything right now is very repetitive, but repetition is what creates understanding and reliability. Every single day she’s making a little more progress and becoming more confident in the communication process.

05/13/2026

Reminder — there are ONLY 3 spots left for the upcoming Basic Obedience Group Class at Creekside Park!
This class is designed for real life.�Not just “sit” in your living room.
We focus heavily on:�• Proper socialization & neutrality�• Leash walking & engagement�• Confidence building�• Recall foundations�• Manners around people & dogs�• Impulse control�• Real-world distractions
Whether you have a young dog that needs structure, an older dog that needs polishing up, or a dog that struggles focusing outside the house, this class is designed to help you build better communication and a more enjoyable everyday life with your dog.
Starting Sunday, June 14�11:00 AM – 12:30 PM�Creekside Park – Factoryville�5 weeks total
Prior evaluation required.�Training equipment included.
$100 deposit to hold your spot�$250 total cost
Once these last spots are gone, they’re gone.
Message me to schedule your evaluation and reserve your spot before the class fills completely!

05/13/2026

I wish shelters in this area did this .

05/12/2026

Happy third gotcha day , and 5th birthday Koda Kachow !
Biggest goof ball we have, protects the farm animals. Barks at the wind. Makes the best faces. He may be a pain but we are glad we have him ❤️

05/12/2026

Each day, I sit here waiting.

People walk past my kennel and I hear words.

“Unadoptable.”

“No dogs.”

“No cats.”

“Resource guards.”

“Reactive.”

“Needs experienced home.”

And I think to myself…

That’s odd.

They only say those things near my kennel.
Not the others.

People look at me differently.

Some avoid eye contact.
Some read my paper and immediately keep walking.
Some say “too much work.”
Some say “someone messed that dog up.”

But what people don’t understand is…

Most of us weren’t born this way.

Some of us were failed.
Some of us were neglected.
Some of us were isolated.
Some of us were over corrected.
Some of us were allowed to practice bad behaviors for years.
Some of us never learned how to exist in the human world properly.

And some of us are just scared.

Shelter life changes dogs.

Imagine living in a loud kennel.
Dogs barking constantly.
People walking by all day.
No real routine.
No real decompression.
No real understanding of what’s happening.
No understanding of why one day I had a family… and now I don’t.

Now imagine trying to stay mentally stable in that environment.

Some dogs shut down.
Some dogs spin.
Some dogs bark.
Some dogs lunge.
Some dogs guard.
Some dogs stop trusting people completely.

And the saddest part?

A lot of us are actually trying.

Trying to understand.
Trying to trust.
Trying to survive.

But humans see the behavior before they see the dog.

Sometimes all we needed was structure.
Sometimes boundaries.
Sometimes confidence.
Sometimes patience.
Sometimes someone willing to advocate for us instead of giving up on us.

Not every shelter dog is easy.
Not every shelter dog is safe for every home.
That’s reality.

But labels never tell the full story of a dog.

Sometimes behind the words:
“No dogs.”
“No cats.”
“No kids.”
“Behavior issues.”

…is a dog that never actually had a chance to learn better.

But we all deserve a chance

Things shelter dogs wish people understood.

05/11/2026

A dog trainer’s least favorite sentence:

“I’ve had dogs my whole life.”

Okay… but dogs today are not the same as they were 20–30 years ago.

Breeding has changed.
Genetics have changed.
The way people live has changed.
The expectations placed on dogs have changed.

Most households now have both people working 40+ hours a week. Dogs spend more time confined, isolated, overstimulated, or simply pushed to the side because life is busy. Meanwhile, many modern dogs are coming from questionable breeding, unstable genetics, poor early socialization, backyard breeders, accidental litters, or lines bred with little thought beyond appearance.

And on top of that, people expect dogs to exist in ways dogs were never originally designed to live.

We take high-drive working breeds bred to herd livestock, hunt, guard property, pull sleds, or work all day long… and expect them to calmly lay in an apartment for 10 hours with little outlet, little structure, and little fulfillment. Then people are shocked when behavioral issues start showing up.

Having dogs your whole life does not automatically mean you understand behavior, genetics, drive, fulfillment, communication, or modern canine issues.

A lot of older dogs people remember as “easy” were honestly just shut down, outside dogs, under-stimulated in different ways, or allowed to roam freely and naturally decompress more than dogs can today. Society itself was different.

Dogs now are living in an extremely unnatural world compared to what they were biologically designed for.

That doesn’t mean dogs are “bad” now. It means owners need to adapt, learn more, and actually meet the dog in front of them instead of relying on “Well my lab growing up never did this.”

Because this isn’t your childhood lab.

05/10/2026

E-collar training with a deaf dog looks very different than what most people assume.

Since she can’t hear verbal markers, recall commands, leash pressure sounds, clapping, or verbal interruptions, we have to build an entirely different language system for her. Right now we are teaching her that the feeling from the e-collar simply means:
“Look for me.”
“Move towards me.”
“Pay attention.”

Everything is being paired with food, clear body language, hand signals, and positive experiences so she can begin understanding the world around her more clearly.

We’re also working on:
• Hand signals
• Engagement
• Spatial awareness
• Social skills with other dogs
• Confidence building
• Basic obedience
• Proper decompression and structure

People forget how much dogs rely on communication. Deaf dogs are absolutely capable of learning, thriving, and living full lives — they just require us to adapt and communicate differently.

05/10/2026

Second Sunday morning group class ! Huge improvement from last week ! Great job guys !

05/09/2026

spent yesterday getting to know Pinky and starting to build communication with her. Since she is completely deaf, everything is brand new and has to be taught a little differently.

We worked on crate exercises, introducing hand signals for:• moving away from people into the crate or onto a bed/place• sit• stay •her release command

Everything is being paired with lots of food so she starts understanding that communication with people is rewarding and clear.

Today we headed to the park to work under the pavilion since it’s raining . She is such a sweet dog.

We also started introducing the e-collar. For Pinky, the e-collar is probably the most important thing since she is deaf. Right now, it simply means “move towards me” or “come find me.” Since she cannot hear verbal cues, this gives us a way to gently get her attention and communicate at a distance. Can also get her attention to eventually give her a hand signal. We are pairing it heavily with food and positive reinforcement so she starts to understand the meaning behind it.

Eventually, we will layer the e-collar over her hand signals and other commands, but for now we are keeping it simple and building strong foundations first.

This is going to be a really fun journey to document over the next few weeks.

05/09/2026

Sometimes the tools we use, the actions we take, and even the words we say can become triggers for our dogs.

When it comes to dogs, context is everything. If we only use certain commands or tools in specific situations — especially stressful ones — they can start to develop negative associations. A command may begin to feel like pressure or conflict to the dog, and tools themselves can start predicting stress before the actual trigger even appears.

This applies to literally anything — collars, leashes, e-collars, slip leads, prongs, muzzles, crates, place cots, even specific words or body language. If the dog only experiences those things during stressful moments, the item itself can become part of the problem. I see this a lot with shelter dogs and reactive dogs especially.

One example that really stuck with me was a client whose dog was highly reactive to cars. On our walk, the dog was actually doing pretty well at first — calmly sniffing the grass while a car approached in the distance. But the second the owner noticed the car, she immediately started repeating, “Leave it, leave it, leave it,” over and over again. Her leash got tighter, her body language changed, and the dog instantly perked up and began scanning for the car. By the time it passed, the dog exploded into a full reaction.

I asked her if she used “leave it” in any other context. She said no — only around cars.

So at that point, “leave it” didn’t actually mean disengage from something. To the dog, it meant:
“Hey, a car is coming. Get ready.”

The command itself had become part of the trigger pattern.

And this is not me criticizing her at all — she genuinely didn’t realize she was accidentally creating that association. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to notice these little patterns.

I’ve made similar mistakes myself. When I first got Peanut, I only brought the muzzle out during dog introductions. Eventually, just the sight of the muzzle started creating stress because he learned it predicted something difficult or uncomfortable. Now I intentionally use it in neutral and positive situations too so it no longer carries that same emotional weight.

If you are struggling with your dog, take a step back and really audit the entire routine. Look at your patterns. Look at your timing. Look at your body language, your tone, your leash handling, your commands, and the situations certain tools only appear in. Sometimes we accidentally condition things without even realizing it.

Dogs are extremely observant and very routine-based animals. They notice far more than people think they do.

collartraining

05/08/2026

Stupid 🌧️

Due to rain in the forecast, tomorrow’s Pack Walk at Frances Slocum State Park has been cancelled. 🌧️🐾

Stay dry — we’ll walk another day! 🐕