Pawlite Best Friends LLC

Pawlite Best Friends LLC Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Pawlite Best Friends LLC, Dog trainer, 1 Main Street, Sturbridge, MA.

Dog training & behavior modification
Home Based Boarding and Board and Trains
Puppies, walking, recall, obedience, manners, fear & reactivity
We are also proud foster parents to 80 animals and counting!

Some happy pups who have joined us over the last week! We love to be their safe place and a fun place to learn and socia...
09/06/2026

Some happy pups who have joined us over the last week! We love to be their safe place and a fun place to learn and socialize!

09/05/2026

Quick intro to leash work for a young puppy, pressure, release and reward! They pick up on behaviors very quickly at this age, especially when they haven't had the opportunity to practice had behaviors like pulling.

Tonight Reed went home to his very happy family 🥰

One of these things is not like the other. We are watching Lizzy the golden retriever puppy for a few days for our frien...
09/04/2026

One of these things is not like the other.

We are watching Lizzy the golden retriever puppy for a few days for our friends at Stonewall Canine, who took this girl and her littermates from a significantly less than ideal situation after they came from an accidental litter. Lizzy has made a lot of improvement in 2 weeks with them but is still a very fearful and shut down puppy, she mostly army crawls outside and doesn't know how to handle new things. A critical lack of socialization has really stunted her emotional development, so during her few days with us we will be using our well socialized pups and adult dogs to help build her confidence, teach her appropriate communication, decrease dog-dog resource guarding, and show her how to dog.

This is a great example of how important thoughtful puppy raising is, even with a typically outgoing breed.

Where does the time go?Our first puppy has gone to their forever home (but not before a quick stop to say hi to the gran...
09/04/2026

Where does the time go?

Our first puppy has gone to their forever home (but not before a quick stop to say hi to the grandparents). It has been such a joy watching them grow over the last 9 weeks, to see them develop and all the smiles they brought. It is hard to hand them off, but I love to continue to follow their journey and see them excel.

Happy Tails Violet, I love you ❤️

09/01/2026

Rose trying to catch the one braincell that blew away 😂

09/01/2026

Another thing I do one or two times with the high velocity dryer, this one may be a bit more controversial. I let them play with it. I would much rather my puppies see this as a game than something scary, and to view new things as positive opportunities instead of scary experiences. So I will let them chase and play with the hose a bit, it's easy enough to calm them down and keep them from getting too excited, but looking at the hose with hope or neutrality? Priceless.

09/01/2026

Grooming practice!
After playing in the rain, the puppies were all wet, so I brought out the high velocity dryer for some practice around that, I dried each individual puppies body, but then I also run it while sprinkling food on the ground, drying big sister while they are out, and letting them investigate the dryer while it was on. Because they will need frequent grooming for the rest of their lives, I want them to be confident with grooming and for it to not be a strange thing to them. I also heavily recommend our puppy families form a relationship with a groomer early and get them in for their first basic puppy groom by 4-5 months, if you want longer than that your puppy is more likely to be matted, need a full haircut instead of a simple touch up their first time, or to be unfamiliar and afraid of the process which can stick with them for life.

09/01/2026

How do we get puppies to potty in the rain?

We practice potty training in all (safe) weather. We had some thunder, and on and off heavy rain. I expect my puppies to be willing and able to potty outside if it's raining, snowing, etc. The first step for me is not treating the weather like a big deal, I put on my jacket and we hang out outside just like any other day. If I refused to go outside or didn't want to get wet myself, the puppies will learn from watching me that this isn't fun weather and over time can learn to be avoidant to it, which is not what I want at all.

Puppies are all wet from getting a full dunk in the pond. Each goes into the deeper end of the pool and they need to fin...
08/30/2026

Puppies are all wet from getting a full dunk in the pond. Each goes into the deeper end of the pool and they need to find their own way out. This is a safety exercise for me, especially because they have been playing around the pool, but also for the rest of their lives. Puppies and dogs need to know how to safely get out of water, even if there isn't a very obvious exit (there is around our pool) so that the dog can do that in the future. I am obviously right there to encourage them and help them if needed, but I don't take them out if they are just not pleased to be swimming. They all were comfortable though as they have been in water a dozen plus times since they were born.

I do this based on my own experience of watching dogs in water, but it is strengthened by an experiment back in the 50s, where rats were placed in a tub of water, if they couldn't get out and had never gotten out before they would give up within 15 minutes, if the rat was rescued or able to get out they were able to swim for up to 60 hours! While it's a grim study, I do not want my puppies to give up immediately if they fall in water, I want them to look for the exit, and another one if necessary. This little exercise can serve them over the rest of their lives.

I got a great question from one of our puppies new families, so I wanted to share my response here as well. The question...
08/30/2026

I got a great question from one of our puppies new families, so I wanted to share my response here as well.
The question was if there is a specific schedule they should have the puppy follow for waking up, walks, etc.

The answer is it depends on your puppy, and learning to read your puppy is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a puppy (or pet) owner. Today, the puppies woke up at 6, ran around for an hour, ate breakfast then fell asleep for a bit more than an hour before we loaded them into the car where they continued their nap for another 45 minutes. That is a typical sleep/wake cycle for them, an hour- an hour and a half up, 2+ hours asleep. However, they then enjoyed puppy yoga followed by playing with kids, so high activity and excitement for an hour and a half. They passed out in the car for another 45 minutes, woke for 5 minutes to potty then slept for another 4 hours, which I expected due to their higher level of activity. If I woke them at 2 hours I would have had a pack of very tired puppies who are much more likely to bite, chew on things and be fresh. When they let me know they had to go potty all woke up, played for half an hour then I put them back away, I got a few puppies who fussed for 5 minutes but they were all asleep again within 15 minute and will now probably have another hour- 2 hour nap.

Essentially, we may have a base schedule- 1 hour up, 2 hours napping, but we need to be flexible and read our puppy, if we don't we risk exacerbating and creating behavioral problems. Tired puppies often act like excited puppies, but they don't know how to settle. Teaching proper sleep, wake cycles in puppy hood creates an adult dog who can regulate their emotions much better

Address

1 Main Street
Sturbridge, MA
01566

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm

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