Kanine Freedom

“Flexi leashes get a bad reputation… but honestly, I LOVE using them when they’re used appropriately!” 🐕

I’m out here walking W***y, this adorable Chihuahua mix, on his Flexi leash, and honestly… we’re both having a great time! 😂🐶

Dogs naturally have a longer walking pace than we do. They want to sniff, explore, and move around — and a Flexi can give them that extra freedom while still keeping them connected to us.

And they can be a great tool for recall training, too!

You can safely give your dog more distance, call them back, and reward them for choosing to come back to you.

Sometimes giving dogs a little more freedom actually makes walks more enjoyable for everyone.

Just remember: the tool isn’t the problem — how you use it matters. 🐾

“What if your dog isn’t being ‘difficult’… what if they’re just scared?” 🐶

Meet Norma, a dachshund pup who tends to bark at people and other dogs because she’s uncomfortable and unsure in those situations.

When we first started working together, Norma wasn’t ready to interact with me. And that’s okay.

It took 40 minutes of giving her space, building trust, and letting her work through her emotions before she finally felt comfortable enough to play with me.

And when she did… it was SO satisfying to see. 🥹❤️

That’s why building confidence is such an important part of training.

The goal isn’t simply to stop a dog from barking or reacting. It’s to help them feel safe, confident, and capable of handling the things that used to overwhelm them.

Seeing a fearful dog go from “I don’t know about you…” to “LET’S PLAY!” is one of the best parts of what I do. 🐾

Sometimes progress takes 40 minutes. Sometimes it takes much longer. But giving a dog the time and space to build confidence can make all the difference.

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🚨 “My dog is too reactive to take to the park.”

That’s something we hear a lot — and honestly, I completely understand why.

Isa is a big pit bull who is dog reactive, and her owner has understandably been nervous about taking her out in public because of her size and how she reacts around other dogs.

So instead of avoiding the world, we started working around her triggers in a controlled environment. 🐕‍🦺

We took Isa to a local park and worked on helping her learn how to exist around distractions while giving her owner the tools and confidence to handle her.

And that second part is HUGE.

It’s not just about training the dog — we have to train the human, too.

When an owner becomes more confident and knows what to do when a trigger appears, the dog can pick up on that confidence. That can make a huge difference in how both the dog and handler navigate these situations.

🦮 We also used a muzzle as a training tool. A properly conditioned muzzle can provide an additional layer of safety while allowing you to work on behavior in real-world environments. It shouldn’t be viewed as a punishment — it’s simply another tool that can be part of a responsible training plan.

The goal isn’t to make Isa never notice another dog.

The goal is to help her learn:

“I see the trigger. I can stay with my handler. I don’t have to react.”

And help her owner learn:

“I can handle this.”

That’s where real progress starts. 🐾

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🐕 Training around triggers is a huge part of helping dogs succeed!

If we want a dog to learn how to make better choices around something that triggers them, we can’t always avoid that trigger. We have to teach them what we want them to do when the trigger is present.

With Basil, one of the behaviors we worked on was her chasing bikes 🚲.

Instead of simply avoiding bikes, we worked on teaching Basil that not chasing the bike was the behavior that gets rewarded. When she noticed a bike and chose to stay with us instead of chasing, we used praise and rewards to reinforce that choice.

We also used a spray bottle as a correction to interrupt the chasing behavior when she attempted to chase. The goal wasn’t to punish her for being excited about the bike — it was to interrupt the behavior, redirect her attention, and give her the opportunity to make a better choice.

Over time, the goal is for the dog to understand:

“I see the trigger → I don’t chase → I stay with my handler → good things happen.” 🐶❤️

Training around triggers takes repetition, consistency, timing, and patience. The more opportunities we give our dogs to practice the behavior we actually want, the more reliable that behavior can become.

Don’t just manage the trigger forever — teach your dog how to navigate it. 🐾

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It’s been a minute since I’ve posted about my Sunday socials, but I’ve running these since 2017 starting my business with nothing. I learned how to run large field socials from Heather Beck and Transform My Dog and it’s such a game changer. My clients love bringing their dogs here for supervised play with the trainer that they trust.

Got to walk with my dog walking friends from Canine Excellence for my Friday morning. I’ve been friends with Aly for a long time and I enjoy our walks whenever I get the chance to join them. Definitely recommend her for dog walking services for anyone that’s in Petaluma.

For all my clients, I’ll be out of town from August 17th to 21st for the international association of canine conference and then from 21st till September 2nd I’ll be visiting family and taking it easy. Feel free to still message me and I’ll set you up for when I’m back in town!

I attend to different workshops/seminars for dog training every year, and one of my favorite things to do is to network and make new friends! It’s so refreshing to be around other like minded trainers and to have an awesome time