Progress 4 Paws

Just like us, dogs need to move their bodies in different ways! 🐾
Changing up how your dog moves helps build strength, coordination, balance, and body awareness — and different exercises challenge their brains, too. 🧠💪

Brain + body work = a happier, more confident, well-rounded dog! ❤️

Had such a blast with this group in my Brain & Body Games class at St Pete Dog Works! 🐶✨

What is an AKC ACT? 🐾

Today, Olive earned her ACT 1 title by qualifying in two runs! 🎉 The AKC Agility Course Test (ACT) is an introductory agility program designed to help dogs and handlers gain experience in a trial setting while having fun and building confidence.

The ACT 1 course has 10-12 obstacles consisting of jumps, an A-frame, a table, and open tunnels. You can jump your dog at any height too.

For Olive, it was the perfect first agility trial experience—learning to work in a new environment, having fun, and even earning a title along the way! She did decide that visiting the person sitting in the ring was an absolutely essential part of the course on both runs 😅, but I was able to get her back on track each time. Thank you for hosting a great event ❤️🐾

Teaching your dog a cue that means, “I’m done playing right now. Go find something else to do,” can be very useful.

It doesn’t happen overnight. At first, your dog may not really understand what the cue means and will keep trying to re-engage you. The key is consistency. Once you give the cue, play is over. No throwing the toy one more time and no restarting the game a few minutes later.

Sometimes it helps to give the cue and then walk away, or move your dog to a different area where the toys aren’t present. This makes it easier for them to understand that playtime has ended.

Olive is 18 months old now, and she consistently walks away when I give the cue. Occasionally she’ll come back after a minute or two and try again, but I simply give the cue a second time and don’t re-engage with play.

Teaching your dog how to entertain themselves and settle when play isn’t available is such a valuable life skill. It takes patience and repetition, but once it clicks, it’s incredibly useful.

There’s something special about a good pack walk 🐾

Pack walks aren’t just about exercise—they help dogs build better social skills, reduce reactivity, and create a calmer, more structured environment where they can move together as a group. It’s amazing to see how much more balanced and confident dogs can become just by walking together with purpose.

Thank you Pack Walk St Pete, we had a blast joining today!

It also reminded me that I *really* need to get a picture of my wife out on her morning walks with her own little informal neighborhood pack. There’s no set schedule or meeting spot—just 3 or 4 neighbors who happen to head out around the same time. Whenever they run into each other, they join up and finish the walk together. Honestly, it’s so cute.

It’s such a simple but powerful way to build community, get to know your neighbors, and let the dogs socialize naturally. 🐕💛