Nemo's expression reflects my attitude toward nail trimming. I hate it. I don't enjoy it. I avoid it as much as I can. But it's a necessary evil (actually it's not really evil, but that's how I feel about it!). And I need to teach myself and my dogs to tolerate it. So today I […]
Search Results for: nail trims
Which Dogs Need Grooming & What to Look for in a Groomer
Do Labradors need to be groomed? Apparently they do. Who knew?! I’d always assumed that because my dogs had manageable coats that didn’t need trimming or that didn’t mat up, that I got to skip the groomer. Every dog benefits from regular professional grooming. We visited Happy Dog Grooming in Mt. Airy, MD to learn a little […]
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The Perfect Age to Start Puppy Training?
Puppies don’t come with instructions. There isn’t an Owner’s Manual. From the minute you bring your puppy home, he’s learning. Your pup will develop habits whether you teach him or not. It’s much easier to instill good habits from the beginning, than to try to undo bad habits later. Confused about when to start your […]
New Puppy: Things You Gotta Know!
What could be cuter than a puppy? Little fluff ball of fur, big soulful eyes, chewing everything, peeing everywhere… There’s so much to teach a puppy, we all know that. But what should you teach first? And when should you start teaching? Should you enroll in a puppy class or just wing it all by […]
Resolutions
Christmas is over. Gone. All that's left is New Year's. Which always gets me to thinking about lofty goals about how I'm going to improve my life over the next 365 days. Normally I aim too high and am "off the wagon" by February. This year I'm doing something a little different. I'm setting smaller, […]
Back to Basics
With the addition of the new puppy, Talos, our training has sorta gone out the window. Not anymore. We're back on track. Get ready, dogs, school is back in session. Nemo's toenails are ridiculously long. Scary long. Rip you wide open long. I've not Dremeled them in a long, long time. So today, we got […]
Let the Learning Begin!
Talos has been with us about 10 days now and I've not done any formal service dog training with him. Rather, I wanted him to settle in first, get comfortable in his surroundings. He seems pretty darn comfortable now, barking at the cat, jumping on the dogs, and in general acting like a member of […]
Talos Meets the Dremel (Video)
This is the third installment on nail trimming. I'm introducing the Dremel to Talos in this video. (The first and second installments are also posted on the blog.) The Dremel is noisy. My first goal is to desensitize him to the sound. Notice that I'm only working with the noise in this step – I'm not working […]