Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle

04/11/2026

Join our expert instructor, Allie Lowry (CPDT-KA, B.S., AKC Evaluator), for an evening of tricks, treats, and doggie fun!

Allie will be available to answer questions and snuggle pups from 5:00-7:00PM with a trick demonstration at 6:00PM featuring Allie’s own pup, Figaro!

04/11/2026

No matter what your summer plans entail, we have classes to help get you and your pup adventure-ready!

If loose-leash walking is still a struggle, try Walking 101 to build a solid foundation of leash skills and problem solve for your dog. Nervous about your dog ignoring you at the dog park? Walk With Me & Come When Called will build reliability to your recall and advance your leash skills for those outdoor adventures. 🌿

If your summer plans involve brewery patios, cafe verandas, or appetizers on sidewalk tables—check out Public Manners. This class will help your canine foodie practice polite behaviors while they accompany you to brunch. 🥂

If your dog has big feelings about warm weather meaning more dogs out and about, then you should look into our Growly Dog Program. This program provides human and dog with skills to address leash reactivity towards other dogs. Our program starts with a personalized evaluation and then walks through a foundational class (Growly Dog) and skills-cased practicum (Growly Dog Clinic). Both of which are prerequisites for our Growly Dog Advanced, which is only offered a few times each year. Sign up now to get prerequisites finished in time for our early summer session of Growly Dog Advanced. ☀️

03/15/2026

A ‘place’ behavior is a great tool to build impulse control with excitable pups. (To be fair, we use ‘stationing’ or ‘placement’ oriented cues for a variety of contexts and temperaments. We do love a ‘go to bed’. IYKYK)

Many dogs struggle with focusing on their human in exciting environments or around distractions. A ‘place’ gives them something relatively active to keep their minds on.

🦴A ‘place’ cue that uses an active body position—like front paws on a stool— can be easier for wiggly pups to hold in exciting contexts.

🐾 A ‘place’ gives your dog something to do instead of a less desirable behavior. “Don’t body check the guests” becomes “station on the stool”.

🦴We use an active-body ‘place’ for channeling excited energy. See a squirrel? Passing dogs? Guests arriving?

🐾 A relaxed-body ‘place’ is great for encouraging relaxation in appropriate contexts. ‘Go-to-bed’ is another stationing behavior in our toolkit.

If your extroverted pup is struggling with over-excitement check out our Zoom and Chill class! We build impulse control and expand your toolkit to help your pup regulate their nervous systems in different contexts.

Link in bio!

03/13/2026

Indoor enrichment means no rain jacket needed to tire out your pup’s brain!

Shaping can be a fun way to build your training skills and for your dog to learn new tricks. Reinforcing small approximations towards a behavior allows us to gradually shape towards the goal behavior. Marking accurately is important since the dog will be problem solving based on the clues you provide based on when you mark and how you treat. Shaping is in some ways a more nuanced version of ‘hot and cold’. Start small and look for incremental steps to reinforce every few seconds. You can toss treats away or nearer to the box after marking to help encourage your pup to try new things.

Shaping does require a lot of mental work for both human and dog. Keep sessions short and successful. End before your pup gets stuck or feels frustrated. Transition to something that helps your dog release any tension like a play session or time spent chewing, sniffing, or shredding.

What kind of tricks can your dog do with a cardboard box?

02/26/2026

🎾Sharing fun toys while playing can be a challenging dynamic for dogs to navigate. When we monitor play groups, access to toys is carefully monitored to prevent dogs from feeling frustrated or damaging friendships. Especially with a high arousal game like chase we watch for pauses and consent checks with the chasers and chase-ee.

⏸️ Watch for the micro pauses and where the dogs that are doing the chasing choose to give the dog being chased space to move away.

When in doubt keep chase games short, give the dogs frequent breaks to reset their brains, and then allow them to engage when they are all ready. Look for trade offs of roles, changing tempo, increasing intensity of movement, and absence of pauses.

Do your dogs like to chase or be chased?

02/21/2026

Ahimsa doesn’t resource guard—this time we are resource sharing a substack post by an Ahimsa trainer, John Rutledge!

John’s recent post mentions us specifically to highlight how our training philosophy is an important paradigm when working with dogs that have feelings of all shapes and sizes. John’s substack explores more about his experience working with dog reactivity and how it impacts the people who love reactive dogs. We appreciate John for his friendly and compassionate presence in our classes; his substack shares more of that invaluable perspective.

If you have a growly dog or want to learn more about dog reactivity explore our Growly Dog classes and Leash Aggression 101 Lecture. Link in our bio.

02/14/2026

to: you

Want to exchange ‘paw-lentines’?
💌🐾💕

from: Ahimsa

Sending all of our love to the canine Valentines in your life!

02/14/2026

Give your canine Valentine the gift of some quality time! 💝✨

Sign up for a class and enjoy some bonding time while trying out a new dog sport, working on foundational skills, or leveling up your training toolbox.

02/04/2026

Sometimes small breed puppies can feel overwhelmed by the size of their Puppy Kindergarten friends. So we have set aside dedicated classes each week for small breed puppies to socialize together. These Small Breed Puppy Kindergarten classes are the same curriculum and structured socialization opportunities as our other Puppy Kindergarten classes, so pup can play and build confidence with other friends their size!

Voted Best of Western Washington

02/03/2026

We get so excited for play time! We offer multiple options for play and train sessions, including one specifically for small breed pups!

01/30/2026

Sometimes we find our twin at Ahimsa. Then we become inseparable peas in a pod. 🫛✨

Marlowe and Noodle are spending some down time together at small breed day care and showing off their coordinating styles. 👯