Natural State Dog Training

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Natural State Dog Training Relationship-based dog training & behavior modification based in central Arkansas

10/24/2026

I made this video to update Skippers owners and thought I would share. If more people did this with their dogs I would get a lot less calls. First we just explored the park letting him drag a long line. The dogs I meet don’t get near enough of that time. We were there an hour and this video is the few minutes of “work”. Most people I meet spend all of their time working with rewards. And I love using toy and food rewards. But I do as many lessons without rewards as I do with them and I think that’s a big part people miss. You will run into times you need obedience from your dog and you don’t have a treat with you. To have it when you need it you need to practice it. He didn’t get a single treat, ball, or tug in this lesson but tell me he doesn’t find this rewarding.

10/16/2026

Waiting for Lowe’s to open with this goofball

10/15/2026

Welcome Skipper! Skipper was already a really good dog before he got here. No real issues and his owners had already done some good obedience work with him so this has really been a fun one!

10/12/2026

This was a good day for us. Doree had a tendency to go after certain dogs and when she did, she meant it. She was kicked out of daycare for starting fights and then got in a few more after so her owner just stopped putting her around dogs. We did a lot of things away from dogs to lead up to this moment but eventually we had to know what she would choose. She’s on a flexi and not in command so you’re seeing her choose peace. There’s not much else to see here and that’s a good thing, just an easy going walk with a dog she had never met. Doree has been home a few weeks and is doing well.

09/01/2026

Welcome Doree! Some of her interests include laying down and refusing to move on the walk or whenever she feels like it, screaming for no reason at all, and occasionally biting other dogs. Here she’s telling me to get back to playing and put my phone down.

Hey friends, I’m trying to help find this boy a home. He’s a good one and I’d be glad to help the transition. If you hav...
07/17/2026

Hey friends, I’m trying to help find this boy a home. He’s a good one and I’d be glad to help the transition. If you have questions feel free to reach out to me or the owner(her number is listed at the bottom). Please share and help us find his home!

From the owner:
Looking to find someone or a family to love on our doggy. Our one year old tested positive for a dog allergy since she was 6 months old and we've exhausted alternative ways, but she's continued to get itchy and red as she's walking and playing with him more.

Gumbo (BoBo) is 3 years old, his birthday is May 9, 2023 (a Ta**us). and mainly a Pit/Hound mix. He has a beautiful brindle coat and is up to date on his shots. His next round of shots is due in September and his vaccination records can be found at Bowman Road Animal Clinic. Just bought his flea/ticks preventative medication for each month (I give it to him on the 5th of each month).
He knows "Sit", "Lay Down", "Spin", "Paw", "Wait", "Bed" and "Place". We trained him with Justin Cowley (Natural State Dog Training) who taught us a lot, and would love for someone to continue his training. Gumbo is very food-motivated.

Wins:
* Doesn't jump on couches/beds
* Is potty-trained
* Super friendly will people and semi-gentle with young kids
* High-energy and super fast runner
* Loves to play/needs a job to do to mentally enrich him
Room for Improvement:
* Super clingy (loves lots lots of pets)
* Food-motivated and will jump on kitchen countertops
* Scared of the mower and nail trimming
* Not used to other dogs on walks, but friendly when we take him to doggy school (Hounds Lounge WLR)

If you're interested, please contact Yaya Leonard at 501-412-4763 to meet Gumbo.

07/14/2026

Hoxie is back for boarding. She did training here last year. At the drop off her owner mentioned that Hoxie wouldn’t let them do her nails and that is something we worked on during training. So of course I had to see for myself. If I had let her know that play was on board from the beginning it would have been a non issue. But it’s also important to be able to do these things without the transaction. So I started doing her nails like we did in training, without reward and she really didn’t want to. I continued to ask until I got the right answer. As soon as she decided to let me I released her to the toy and then you see a huge shift in her willingness. That’s the power of play and good emotions. However the next few days we need to work on this without reward because I don’t want everything to be a transaction. There has to be a little “because I said so”. Before you get upset at because I said so think with me on obedience for one example. If I need a toy or food reward to get my obedience, then is it really obedience? Now I use tons of toys and food while teaching new behaviors and then for intermittent rewards later. But we also practice all these things without a reward, just because I said so and we still have fun doing it. Out in the real world where it matters most, good obedience is because I said so and because of the relationship we’ve created, not because of a reward.

06/06/2026

This won’t look like much but it’s a big deal to me. Posy hadn’t been walked in months because of how the walks went. Now we are playing off leash with other dogs around. She is getting her freedom back.

05/21/2026

Welcome Posy! Love the look on her face after play!

04/20/2026

One thing Jolene’s owners asked for was to help her get comfortable in water so they could take her to pools and lakes. Think we nailed that one. They will have a harder time getting her out of the water.

Address

North Little Rock, AR
72116

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+14063965860

Website

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