Pack in the Park

Pack in the Park is a local FREE event for Fort St. James residents. It is for exposure training with local dog owners with their dogs on leash in the park.

Falling into Winter

Dog Blog, Dogs and Children, FSJ Dog Training, GUIDE 1: SAFETY & REGULATIONS, Monthly Update, Pack in the Park, Training Workshop, update

Well, October sure crept up on us quickly, didn’t it? I took the summer off from group classes and only did a couple 1:1 sessions. I spent most of my summer focusing on my kids, the house, my weekend job, and my weekly volunteer time doing Pack in the Park. Shannon helped me with hosting this summer and it’s been so great having her part of the Pack in the Park team! She hosts most Sundays at 11am (check the Fort St. James Dog Owners Facebook Group for current dates) and I spend those mornings happy at work knowing you’re in good hands with Shannon!

My weekly Pack in the Park date had to move around a bit with changes in my childcare, but currently they are held most Mondays at 11am (please note this is subject to cancellation due to poor weather).

I’ve been slowly editing my Dog Guides (I have yet to come up with a better name for them than this) and have early released a mini guide titled “Dogs and Children“. This mini guide is a portion of Guide 1: Safety, Bylaws and Care. Safety between dogs and kids is important to me, which is why I created such an in-depth section about them in Guide 1. As part of this mini guide’s early release in my shop, I’ve been posting some facts and information about dog and children safety on my Facebook Page.

Bite prevention is so important to me that I added Bite Prevention Educator to my list of certificates and this spring April and I brought the Be a Tree program (with FSJDT flair) Girl Guides and Nak’albun Elementary kindergarten students. We are reopening these presentations for the new school year! Educators and program directors can get in touch to book a presentation with us. I am currently seeking sponsorship for this program, so if your company is interested or you know of a company that may be interested in sponsoring this type of program please do get in touch.

I decided to run another Basic Obedience workshop this fall, to test the waters on how receptive they would be for this time of year. It was a struggle and I still did not manage to fill the class 100% and offered drop-in. There were no drop-ins during this time, just one person who signed up late. This class was both fun and challenging with mostly puppies/young dogs with a bit of reactivity.

I’ve had a lot of interest in these group classes but unfortunately, not enough commitment. Due to this fact, I will not be offering group classes again until next year. Winter is a busy time for us with our kids, we have two birthdays and Christmas all one after the other, so I’d like to take the next couple of months to focus on those special events and make memories with my family.

I am always available for over-the-phone or email consultation. If you need help with your dog this winter while I am not offering 1:1 or group classes, then a consultation is the next best option.

A Summer Reset and What’s Coming Next

Dog Blog, FSJ Dog Training, Monthly Update, Pack in the Park, update

I took a bit of a break this summer. Consistent childcare, access to a vehicle, and finding the right training space are all challenges that make 1:1 training difficult. On top of that, after running five group obedience classes back-to-back in the spring, I was feeling pretty burnt out. Taking the summer off gave me the chance to recharge and enjoy more time at home with my kids.

While I was home, a few realizations stood out:

  1. Group classes are definitely in demand here.
  2. Without reliable childcare, a car, and a consistent training space, 1:1 clients are nearly impossible to schedule.
  3. It’s okay to ask for help.

GROUP CLASSES ARE COMING BACK

As I shared in my last post, group classes were a huge hit this spring, and I’ll absolutely be bringing them back this fall. If you’d like to join, make sure you’re on the waitlist — I’ll email you as soon as the dates are finalized.

PRESSING PAUSE ON 1:1 TRAINING

As much as I love working with 1:1 clients — it’s where my training techniques really shine — I’ve decided to temporarily suspend private sessions. This includes:

  • Puppy Training Sessions
  • Obedience Training Sessions
  • Problem Behavior Sessions
  • Trick Training Sessions
  • The 1:1 option of the Boundary Training Workshop

If you’re already a 1:1 client or have upcoming sessions booked, nothing changes. I’ll honor all current appointments and contracts. Starting today, though, I won’t be accepting new 1:1 clients until my schedule is more flexible.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO SHANNON

I have to give a huge shout-out to my friend and fellow certified dog trainer, Shannon Joe, who stepped up to help with Pack in the Park. She’s been an absolute delight — showing up consistently, creating her own event pages, and even taking and sharing photos in the Dog Owners Group afterward.

Because of Shannon, Pack in the Park continues to run weekly. She usually hosts Sundays and often covers weekday events if I can’t make it. I honestly couldn’t keep it going without her. Thank you, Shannon!

TRICK TRAINING: A PERSONAL PASSION

Shannon and I have also been tossing around the idea of starting a Trick Training Club in FSJ. While I’m not sure I have the time to commit to a full club, I will be adding a trick training class this fall — so keep an eye out for announcements!

Trick training has been one of my favorite things since I was a kid. Between ages 11 and 16, I taught my dogs an impressive number of tricks — all without formal knowledge. I learned by breaking behaviors down step by step. My dogs could grab drinks from the fridge, vault off my back to catch a Frisbee, balance on my feet — you name it. While other 13-year-olds were exploring makeup and hanging out with friends, I was at home teaching my dog to perform circus acts.

These days, I’m working toward earning my dog Zelda’s Novice Trick Dog Title. We already have enough tricks to qualify, but I’m polishing them up before submitting. Once Zelda earns her title, I plan to launch a trick training class designed to help owners do the same. By the end of the course, you’ll have enough tricks to submit to Do More With Your Dog for your own Novice Trick Dog Title!

Designing the class and all the supporting material will take some time, but I promise it will be worth the wait.

WHAT’S NEXT

Before trick training begins, I’ll be running more Group Obedience Classes — as many rounds as there’s demand for. Right now, I’m updating the class material. Once that’s ready, I’ll confirm dates with the United Church.

I know this post is a lot of “what’s coming soon,” and I wish I had exact dates for you already. My best guess is that group classes will start rolling out in late September or early October.

Thanks so much for your patience and continued support — I can’t wait to get back into training with you and your dogs!

July Update

Dog Blog, Dog Rescue, FSJ ACT, FSJ ACT, FSJ Dog Training, Monthly Update, Pack in the Park, Puppies in the Park, update

Apparently, after promising to at least commit to the monthly updates I completely skipped June. I really didn’t have a whole lot going on in June, to be honest. My group class (that only had one person) ended in the beginning of June and then I just focused my time on my family for a little while.

Dog training picked up in July and I’ve been semi-consistently busy this month. LOTS of puppies! Which is always fun, I love working with puppies (I mean, who doesn’t?).

FAVORITE NAME FOR JULY

I feel like I should say my favorite name for July is Nova, since that is my youngest daughters name, but I sorry Nova, I think I have to go with Mungo for my favorite dog name of July. It’s honestly just so fun to say. I’m not sure if it has any sort of meaning behind it, I really should have asked the owner. But it doesn’t even have to have any sort of meaning, it’s just fun to say.

Mungo is one of the puppies that our Animal Care Team took in. In our care, his name was Dusky. He was a foster fail, and his new family just adores him and gave him the name Mungo. Which I think really suits him.

I didn’t get any photos of Mungo during our training session, but I did get the above photo of Mungo and his owner working beautifully together during Puppies in the Park.

FSJ ACTS UPDATE

FSJ ACTS officially has Society status now, which is so exciting. It means we will have access to a lot more funding. Unfortunately, we are still not a registered non-profit and can’t issue receipts for tax purposes, but with society status we will be able to help the animals just a bit more.

On July 7th I picked up my foster puppy Boss. FSJ ACTS has lots of puppies looking for homes that are currently in foster care. We have an awesome team of volunteers to help with kennel duty, but we wanted to give our volunteers a break and give our puppies a chance to learn how to live life in a family and home environment.

Boss has fit in really nicely. Zelda wasn’t too sure about him at first but he slowly grew on her and now they are Besties. He’s great with my two girls (7 and 2 years old) and is learning not to steal snacks or toys. He’s learning a lot of things in our house and I’ve given him a slow adjustment to house life. To make this easier for him to learn the rules (especially for house training) I have kept him on leash in the house a lot of the time. He gets leashed to either myself or a study piece of furniture so that I can keep him within eye sight at all times. He’s also been introduced to the cats. My older cat Jarroko has been extremely patient and the best cat to teach him the ropes about cats. My poor younger cat Alice is terrified of him and has been living behind the hot tub for the last couple weeks.

Boss knows how to sit, down and “go kennel”. He’s learning to sit at doorways and gates (this is very tough for him), he sits for his meals and he sits to be leashed. He is a very sweet boy who loves people and wants to please. This makes him quite trainable. He has the sweetest disposition and loves catching a nap in a good sun patch. Boss is also really great on leash and responds well to loose-leash training.

If you’re interested in adopting Boss, please let me know if you’d like to arrange to meet him!

FSJ ACTS FUNDRAISERS

For the month of July the Fort St. James Bottle Depot collected donations for FSJ ACTS. The total raised in the month was $1,000. Thank you SO much for your generosity. This money will go towards our vet bills.

There is a fundraiser through As You Wish Custom Designs (based in Prince George) where $2 for every purchase goes to FSJ ACTS. FOLLOW THE LINK to order yours! Here are some handsome pooches with their stylish custom tags…

PUPPIES IN THE PARK

On July 20th I hosted the first Puppies in the Park; a spin on our classic “Pack in the Park” but it was for puppies up to 10 months old (who have been vaccinated). There’s a lot of fear about Parvo (and for good reason) so I had a lot of interest but a lot of puppies who aren’t vaccinated enough yet to attend public dog events like this. I had a couple of people attend and it was a blast of course, puppies always are, but there is a definite need to do this again next month once more puppies have had their shots.

I’ve had tons of people ask me about when I’ll do another Pack in the Park and I decided to create a texting list for those who want to be notified when the next Pack in the Park is happening. If you’d like to join this list, please let me know.

Dog Reactive vs Dog Aggressive

Dog Blog, Pack in the Park

Dogs who are dog aggressive can be dog reactive but it doesn’t mean all dog reactive dogs are aggressive. Aggression is really the intention behind the behavior, whereas reactivity is the behavior itself, and therefore there is all kinds of intent behind reactivity.

What is Dog Aggression?

Dog aggression is when what fuels a dogs behavior is the desire to act aggressively. They want to attack another dog because they enjoy the act of attacking. Dogs who are acting aggressively will often bark, growl, snarl, lunge, hold their tails high and actually wag their tails. Something in their brain has been wired to enjoy the aggressive act. The chemical release in their brain is so rewarding when they bite, shake, tear etc that it encourages them to keep doing it. They just enjoy it.

One often missed signal is a dog wagging it’s tail when it reacts aggressively. People often think “he was wagging his tail, he wasn’t being aggressive” but the reason he was wagging his tail was because he was enjoying being aggressive.

It’s been my experience that most dog’s aren’t truly aggressive but instead fall somewhere under “reactive”.

What is Dog Reactivity?

A reactive dog is one that doesn’t behave ideally when encountering other dogs, people, animals etc. A dog reactive dog will react in an undesirable way when it sees another dog. This behavior can widely vary from nervous behavior, i.e.; cowering, pulling away, rolling over, barking, and under pressure may result in a growl and eventually if pushed hard enough, a bite. There is a wide scale of dog reactivity and not all dogs will react the same.

Some reactive dogs just have no clue how to greet another dog. They get way too excited at the sight of another dog. They just want to get to them, they want to introduce themselves and become best friends. These are often the “my dog is friendly” types. The dog is friendly but way too exuberant. If on leash this can display in loud, obnoxious behavior, i.e.; jumping, barking, lunging, screeching/screaming, dragging the owner etc. When off leash these dogs bound up to everyone they meet, whether anyone else wants to meet them or not. They don’t take social cues from other dogs, they don’t seem to understand canine etiquette. They push their friendship on everyone.

Then there’s a whole myriad of dogs in between who may react in different ways when encountering another dog on a walk. Basically, any behavior other than walking calmly at their owners side is considered “reactive” behavior.

A Growl Doesn’t Always Mean Aggression

A dog’s growl is a form of communication. It doesn’t always equal aggression. In fact, really aggressive dogs don’t waste their time with a warning they just go straight to their aggressive behavior. A growl is just that; a warning. It is a way for dogs to communicate that they don’t like what someone else is doing. It’s their way of saying “I don’t like that, please stop”. A growl doesn’t indicate aggression. In fact, I think a growl is a very important tool.

If you punish your dog when they growl you are essentially teaching them that their voice doesn’t matter. You should never punish a growl. If a growl is punished enough, the dog will stop using it. They will go straight from feeling uncomfortable to biting. They will skip the warning because you’ve taught them their warning is bad. Any dog, if pushed enough, can react with a bite. Most of those dogs would rather give a warning growl firsts before resorting to a bite though.

Don’t punish a dog for growling. Instead, take it as the warning that is is, and respect your dogs wishes. Remove them (or the other dog, or whatever it may be that they growled at) and bring them back to a space (both physically and mentally) where they feel safe and secure again. Respect the growl because it’s the most respectful thing your dog can do when they’re feeling cornered, scared, or uneasy in any way.

How to Deal With Reactivity

The best way to overcome your dogs reactivity is to slowly expose them to more and more to the things that they react to. You want to do it at a distance that allows your dog to be comfortable. They may show curiosity but they shouldn’t be barking, lunging, pulling etc. If they are reacting that means you need to put more distance between them and the stimuli (the dog they’re reacting to). Move to a distance they are comfortable with and then praise and refocus them with basic obedience training.

Our Pack in the Park exposure training is a great way to work with dogs that are reactive.

February Update

Dog Blog, Dog Rescue, FSJ Dog Training, FSJHS, Monthly Update, Pack in the Park, Trick Training, update

We’re almost halfway through the month so I figured it was time for my monthly update.

In January I helped 4 people gain new skills with their dogs, and for February I’d like to double that number. I’m establishing a weekly routine for dog training now that I’m feeling like I’m starting to get into the swing of. I was mostly a stay-at-home-mom for over 7 years so having a schedule (outside of my kids schedule) has been challenging to stick to. I keep track of all my clients by their first name and their dogs name because I’m more likely to remember their dog than them. Sorry, but it’s the truth, no offense intended.

One of my favorite things so far about training dogs again is learning what people name their dogs. I think this sparks an idea for a new monthly segment on the blog: favorite dog name! My favorite dog name for January was Darla. I know she’s named from the Little Rascals (which in itself is great), but I’ve been re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel for a while now and one of my favorite characters is Darla.

Last month’s update I mentioned changing my prices. I am still planning to raise my prices to help balance my cost after adding the online consultation. Because I had worked my prices to include the phone consultation as part of it, when I added the online consultation I lost $20 off every session. I will be recouping that by adjusting the prices of my sessions. This price change will be in effect starting March 1st, which is our official business launch date! So book now, if you want to take advantage of my current low prices.

On Sunday we had our first meeting for the Fort St. James Humane Society. Currently, just an idea and a dream, but we’d love to re-establish the humane society in our community. The Humane Society was established in 2008, did a lot of good in our community and had a lot of community support, and then it was dissolved about 5 years ago after the founder and some board members moved or experienced burnout. Since then it’s been a small handful of people just trying to do right by the animals. I think we’re in a position now where we have more people to help, more support from community leaders, and people have seen how much these issues have compounded in the last couple years. Heck, it’s why I got back into dog training. I was just tired of people complaining but never trying to fix the problems; I decided I’d actually do something and it all started with Pack in the Park.

You can view the meeting minutes here and the next meeting is February 25th at 1PM at the View Hotel. We had a good turnout last time and I’d love to see even more next time! A special thank you to April, Monica and Lesley for bringing this meeting together and spearheading this project. Another thank you to Diane who couldn’t make it to the meeting but has been doing so much for animal welfare that I feel she deserves a thank you too.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

I can’t talk about local animal rescue without also talking about volunteer opportunities. Want to help and get involved?

There is a raffle for Bingo at Kwah Hall February 22nd, donations can be dropped off between 4 and 5PM. Food and raffle items are needed. Popular foods: soup, chili, chow mein, jello cups with cool whip. Contact the Fort St. James Humane Support Group for more information or to find out other ways you can get involved.

Trick of the Month: Target

I tried to do a “trick of the month” for a trick training club last year and struggled to get interest in it. I think I’ll just be sort of adding it onto my monthly updates as I’m working on them with my own dog Zelda. Right now I am capturing the behavior with “yes” every time she touches the post-it with her nose. We are just starting this trick, but I’ll post progress as we go.

Teaching a dog to target your hand with their nose (touch your hand with their nose) is a behavior that can be shaped into many other tricks such as closing a door or turning on a light switch.

I like to use a Post-it (sticky note) to help make the transfer between your hand and other objects easier. When I first taught my dog this trick, I wanted him to close a door. I first taught him to touch my hand and then when I tried to get him to target the door he just kept booping my hand. The sticky note made it so much easier to communicate to him that I wanted him to touch his nose to something other than my hand.

The command you use should be something simple and easy to remember. You can use “target”, “touch”, “nose” or whatever makes sense to you. You can either start using the command right away, or start incorporating it once your dog is making the connection.

Stick a sticky note to your hand and hold it out to your dog. When they sniff at the sticky note say “yes!” (or use a clicker) and reward them with their favorite treat. Keep repeating. If your dog no longer seems interested in the sticky note at all, you can try holding a treat under your thumb in the sticky note hand or rub a treat on the sticky note to make it smell good. Some dogs may try to bite or take the sticky note; discourage this. Only reward for the dogs nose touching the sticky note. You can also sort of wave the sticky note in front of them, or move it a little closer into their view. Basically, you’re hinting “hey, it has to do with this thing”. Make sure to give them time to work the problem out in their mind. Hint at the sticky note and then wait and see what they figure out. If they don’t seem to be getting it at all then hint harder, maybe use a treat in that hand etc. but try to give the dog time to figure it out first.

Once your dog starts to make the connection that they need to touch their nose to the sticky notet, try moving your hand away from them a bit more, maybe a bit higher or on the ground. Move it around to make it more challenging. 

When you know your dog has figured it out then it’s time to try transferring the sticky note to whatever you want them to do. Whether it’s to close a door, flip a light switch or push a ball, use the sticky note to let your dog know it’s time to touch their nose to something other than your hand.

At this point you can also stop using the sticky note and get your dog to touch your hand with their nose without it.

New Year = New Plans

Dog Blog, Dog Rescue, FSJ Dog Training, Pack in the Park, update

We’re one week into the new year and this is the point where I start to gear down and focus on my goals. My first daughters birthday is on the 6th, so it always takes me until after the 6th to be able to focus on myself and get away from the December/January celebrations that are compounded for our family (2 birthdays plus Christmas and New Years). Now that’s all done, I’m ready to focus on the year ahead and the goals I have for it.

Consultation and Better Structured Sessions

At the end of last year I changed my fees and how I offer my dog training. I change the name of “Consultation” session to “Problem Behaviors”. The session is still the same as what I originally offered, just a name change. It was brought to my attention that the title “consultation” may be confusing since a consultation is usually that happens first before the training/contracting etc. I wanted that session to focus on a lot of one-on-one back and forth problem solving for behaviors beyond the 5 basic commands. At the same time, I was struggling with not feeling like I was getting my worth when I spent hours putting together a session for someone to have them no-show or cancel. I decided I needed a regular consultation first, I needed a way to get to know my clients better and get paid before putting in all the work that comes with a personalized training session. This is how I came up with the phone consultation. I made up a sheet of questions (that has since turned into 3 sheets). This worked to get to know my clients ahead of time and honor my value, but I was struggling with scheduling conflicts and gaining trust with my clients. Not all, or even most, but I had some people struggle with trusting to pay for the consultation first. They didn’t know whether they could trust me or not, which, fair enough; I’m a stranger and this is a sketchy world we live in. But it’s frustrating because as much as you don’t trust me to send me money, I don’t trust you to pay for it afterwards.

Over the holidays I got thinking… people rarely think twice about paying for something online. For some reason, this feels more secure than just sending someone an e-transfer and trusting they’re going to phone you (I did try to put that power in their hands, but it didn’t seem to make a difference). Likewise, offering an online version of the consultation would also make it more convenient and avoid scheduling conflicts. You can fill it out whenever you’ve got 5 minutes. This is how I came up with the Online Consultation. Since you’re not getting the back-and-forth with me the way you would on the phone, you don’t get to know me personally and you’re doing the work of filling out the form yourself, it is a cheaper rate than the Phone Consultation.

Of course, making the rate for the Online Consultation lower than the Phone Consultation means I’m no longer honoring my value because I also adjusted my session prices to accommodate the consultation fee. Which brings me to… I’m going to need to raise my session fees a bit. I really appreciate the patience of my clients as I make these adjustments and grow into this new role as a professional dog trainer.

One of my goals this year is to register Fort St. James Dog Training as a business. I’d like to sort out all these kinks before that happens. I don’t want to need to adjust my prices again once that happens.

I appreciate your patience! I hope that offering an Online Consultation will feel worthwhile for this adjustment as it streamlines the process to get you a training session quicker.

Now Paperless Training Articles!

Another new feature that I’m offering is paperless training articles. I have a whole bunch of articles I have written (and continue to write) about subjects in Safety & Regulations, Training Theories, Training Tools, Puppy Training, Dog Training, Problem Behaviors and Trick Training. I’m in the process of editing and adding to them all of the time, so these articles tend to change over time. Part of personalizing your session is printing off these articles based on what you’ve told me. This is costing me a lot in printing and I’ve gone over my allotted print per month through my HP Insta Ink program a few times now. I am also aware that today’s average person is eco-concious and prefer digital copies over hard copies. I am a sucker for paper in my hand and this is how I learn best, but it recently occurred to me other people are different and learn differently and that offering paperless may be a good option. I asked a few people in my life and had a really positive response to it so I am now offering a paperless option for these articles! You can choose this option during the consultation.

CAAT CAMP

At the end of last year I scrounged together an application for the Canadian Animal Assistance Team Community Animal Management Plans. We have a group of people working towards animal management goals and this is one of the things we discussed in meetings and put together. Unfortunately, our application wasn’t accepted. I’ve discussed it with Chris, a CAAT representative, and she explained reasons why our application was denied and what we could work on to submit a better application for next year.

I’ll admit, when I read that our application wasn’t accepted I was pretty disheartened. But after discussing it with Chris, I felt a bit more hopeful. We’re still a very valid candidate for CAMP, but there are a LOT of communities out there in need. I know how to make our application better now; to reflect the true needs our community has. Part of the problem was that we don’t fully understand what those needs are yet. Chris recommend that we survey the community and the surrounding communities in order to get a better idea of the number of dogs and cats as well as to understand the priorities of the community members.

I think it’s going to be a big undertaking to survey the community, to get it organized. It will be worth it though, I see now how important that information will be to have.

Pack in the Park… or… the Woods?

Pack in the Park is going to really get rolling this year. I have a volunteer in Vanderhoof hosting Pack in the (Vanderhoof) Park. Kai was a client when I was training in Vanderhoof and I instantly loved her connection with her dogs and her understanding of dog training. I sort of heavily pressured her into hosting Pack in the Park. “Voluntold”, if you will. No, but she loves doing it because it benefits her dogs too and that is really what it all comes down to. A bunch of dog owners training towards a common goal; to have dogs who don’t lose their shit every time they see another dog (or person) in public. To have dogs that can focus on their humans and follow commands no matter what distractions are around them. It takes a community to make this happen. Everyone following some simple rules to keep dogs safe, calm and having fun with their humans.

I’ve also talked to Corey about doing a pack walk or hike. I think this would be so cool to be able to really take advantage of our local trails. I see complaints now and then about dogs on trails (or what they leave behind on the trails) and I think this would be a great opportunity to start teaching people how to safely and respectfully hike with their dogs. All the same rules would still apply with the pack walk/hike as they do for Pack in the Park, except instead of training walking circles around each other you’re all walking in one direction (spaced apart and on leash). Corey is down for this and thinks it’s a great idea, and I’m thrilled he’s into it because I still can’t physically host it myself.

I still have a swollen, painful foot that I can’t fit into proper footwear. I’m hoping this year will bring changes in that, too. I have an appointment with a local massage therapist and have finally been referred for an MRI in Prince George, I just need to phone them tomorrow and book the appointment (which, I’m sure will be another long wait). It’s frustrating, and I’m not going to get into it all here, but hopefully one day I’ll be able to join you all on the trails with my dog. The happiest I’ve ever seen my dog was in the woods. I miss it.

Happy Howlidays!

Dog Blog, Dog Rescue, FSJ Dog Training, Pack in the Park, update

As the days tick down to Christmas and the New Year I feel like I’m always scurrying around doing 50 things at once. More-so than usual. I get this urge to finish (or start) all the little things I thought I’d do throughout the year but never seemed to make time for until the last minute.

I haven’t had very many dog training clients in the last month and I’ve been okay with it. I’ve had a lot to focus on at home and with my family. My foot has been a constant struggle. I injured it hiking in June and I still can’t wear my shoes because my foot is too fat and I can’t bend it properly to slip a shoe on. My husband and I went to Prince George on the weekend and tried to find me some sort of boots. We thought it was as simple as buying a size up and I quickly learned it’s more complicated than that. It’s the fact I can’t bend my foot coupled with a low height in the toe box of the shoe not accommodating my fat foot. The first 3 or 4 that I tried on I couldn’t even get my heel close to slipping in. I felt pretty disheartened right away. I am currently wearing my husbands sandals and thick socks to walk my kid to school (in snow). When I saw my doctor on Friday he automatically told me I need to wear boots or my toes will freeze. So I had to find something. I eventually found slippers at Walmart for like $20 that my foot would fit in. It has a bit of a sole with “some” grip and are a boot-like. I don’t have high hopes my feet will stay warm and dry though. “It’s got to be better than what you’re wearing now,” my husband told me, but I felt doubtful. They do keep my feet warm for a quick trip outside, but if they get wet they will be no good, and it has been a very wet winter, so far. I’m going on about this to give you an idea of what my struggles are and why I don’t really care that I’m not training a lot of dogs at this moment. I need to look after myself and get this taken care of so I can get back to it. It’s been a long journey just to get as far as I am with what I can do and how I can function with my foot. It’s not ready for anything more intense than putting around my house and walking one block.

2023 brought me more clarity in my life than I ever expected. I got depressed after becoming pregnant with my second child, and it took a long time to shake that. My experience walking Winston was the catalyst to bring me back into dog training and I’m so utterly thankful for that. Those walks in the woods with my big wolf-like pal changed my life for the better. It slowly snowballed into Pack in The Park and Fort St. James Dog Training. Right now I’m operating under that name but have not set up an official business of it yet. That is one of my goals for 2024.

I’m really excited to see where this takes me. I have endless ideas for community programs to help our fellow canine (and feline) friends out. In the fall I attended a District meeting and spoke up about the need for programs such as what is offered with the Canadian Animal Assistance Team (CAAT) Community Animal Management Plan (CAMP). This amazing non-profit helps communities who are struggling with animal management, welfare and care. From there is turned into a group of people from all over the community and adjoining First Nations community who want to see positive change with animal management. We met at the Nak’azdli Kennel and discussed any improvements needed to get the kennel operational. We met via ZOOM with Chris from CAAT and discussed our goals and how CAAT would fit into them. We submitted an application for CAMP and now we wait to see if they pick us. Whether they do or not, we’ll still be working with CAAT on things like mass spay/neuter and vaccine clinics. With or without their help, we will still be implementing community programs and hopefully creating new job opportunities, as well. I am here to help in any way I can, and what exactly that will look like, I’m not quite sure yet.

Since one of the reasons I gave up dog training a decade ago was because I was emotionally and physically burnt out from the animal welfare work I was doing, I’m heading into this with full awareness of my own needs. I know when to say no and I know where my value lies. I will be offering my volunteer time only as I feel comfortable to. If I am feeling burnt out I will delegate, I will make sure I am not running myself thin. I see job opportunities with dog training. I’d like to offer group classes for things like leash manners and I’m hoping I can find a way to have it subsidized or sponsored to retain my value while also offering low or no-cost lessons to the public. Animal management and humane education are community issues that need to be handled at a community level. This is also why I am trying to stay as transparent as possible on what we’re doing; the more people are informed the more they’re going to want to back us, get involved and be a part of it.

Corey and I will continue to offer Pack in the Park in the New Year, and we’re working on a Pack Hike which I think will be a huge hit and a great way to find a new hobby with your furry pal. Hiking with my dog really strengthened our bond and made me appreciate her in so many new ways. If you’d like to get involved or be aware of when Pack in the Park or Pack Hikes happen make sure to join the Fort St. James Dog Owners Group.

I’ve also expanded Pack in the Park to Vanderhoof. a huge THANK YOU to Kai Geernaert-Armstrong for volunteering her time to host it. I think once the ball gets rolling on it in the new year it will be a huge success. I hosted one Pack in the (Vanderhoof) Park last month and it was great! A great turn-out; lots of question asking people who really wanted to learn more about how to have nicely behaved dogs in public and how Pack in the Park is a stepping stone to achieve that. If you’re interested in this or would like to be involved check out the Vanderhoof Dog Owners Group.

If you’re feeling generous and are looking to donate items like food, blankets, toys, collars etc. to help with animal welfare in our town please contact the Fort St. James Humane Support Group or the Nak’azdli Kennel (nakazdlikennel@nakazdliwhuten.ca). We also welcome donations of training treats and poop bags for Pack in the Park, as it is a volunteer-run and community-based program. You can contact me about donating to Pack in the Park.

I’m excited for what 2024 will bring. I think we’ll see a huge change in how FSJ and Nak’azdli communities handle animal welfare. I think 2024 will be the year we start to make traction on things like spay and neuter, humane education and dog training.

If you’re looking for something special for your furry friend for Christmas make sure you check out Ouellette Bros. Building Supplies; they have a great selection of holiday themed animal toys and accessories. I’m not sponsored in anyway, I just like to encourage to support local.

I hope everyone has a good holiday break!

The Most Emotional Pack in the Park

Dog Blog, Pack in the Park

Today I experienced my most emotional Pack in the Park yet. My biggest fear when hosting these things happened today. Part of what makes Pack in the Park successful is being able to do it in a public space where there are people, dogs (preferably leashed) and traffic. Most dogs need to have more exposure in these environments. It’s why we do Pack in the Park: to get that exposure in a way that is as controlled as we can make it. Of course, I have no control over the other people frequenting the park with their dogs.

So far, it hasn’t been a problem. When an off leash dog is nearby they’ve either been under control of the owner or they’ll run off when I yell at them. Usually owners apologize and grab their dogs. Today was the first time I had an owner walking by with an off leash dog that outright refused to leash her dog.

Today’s Pack in the Park had only one owner and dog. It rained heavily this morning and I think that kept most people away, but it had cleared off just enough and for just long enough for us to meet at the park. The owner told me her dog’s incredible story. She was born blind and spent most of her life blind until quite recently when the owner was able to fundraise enough to get her dog the surgery she needed to 100% restore her sight. Can you imagine being blind and then suddenly regaining your sight? Everything would be so overwhelming. She was a bit of a skittish dog who you can tell was overwhelmed easily and certain things (like a person reaching to pet her head) really freaked her out because they were brand new experiences to her. To keep with the anonymity of my blog, let’s call them Jackie (person) and Skye (dog).

I was enjoying the one-on-one with Jackie and getting to know her and her beautiful dog when I saw an off leash dog with a person walking by near the beach. The dog began to approach, so I tried to chase it off. This was not successful at all and frustrated, I called after the owner to leash their dog. It took me a while to realize I knew these two, as she was a ways off and I work with a variety of dogs all the time, it’s hard to always remember them and their owners. She was someone who I had worked with before I began charging for it. She was someone I really liked and I really liked her dog and their story. In the moment though, I was just mad and frustrated.

I used to have a dog aggressive dog in the past. Many times I experienced off leash dogs approaching my dog, I would ask the owners to leash their dog and they’d tell me “oh don’t worry, he’s friendly”. But the problem was, my dog wasn’t friendly. If a fight broke out my dog was the one who would start it. I’d shout back “my dog isn’t friendly!” and 9/10 the owner just didn’t make the connection or understand why I was so upset about their “friendly” dog. I think a lot of my emotional reaction stemmed from those experiences.

The owner got close enough we could speak face-to-face and we exchanged heated words back and forth. Neither person feeling heard or understood with a huge difference in views on the situation. Meanwhile, her dog (let’s call the human Lilly and the dog Fido) was approaching Jackie with our two dogs. Jackie had offered to hold Zelda while I exchanged words with Lilly, and I trusted in that moment that Jackie could handle both dogs as well as that the dogs would get along well enough for her to hold onto both of them. I quickly made that judgement call when I handed her Zelda. Which honestly, thinking back on it, I was putting a huge amount of trust in Jackie, whom I’d pretty well JUST met. We had chatted a bit on messenger before but this was the first time we met in person. I don’t trust my dog with just anyone, especially in a situation such as this. So when I looked over and saw Fido approaching them, my heart jumped. I didn’t want to see anyone get hurt or lasting trauma to any of the dogs.

I ran back to Jackie and the dogs and shoo’d Fido away. For those unaware, I injured my right foot back in June and it’s been a problem ever since. So running after this dog in my husband’s sandals that are way too big for me (because my foot is so swollen I can’t fit it into my shoe) definitely had my foot hurting for the rest of the day. I got Fido to return to his owner and she agreed to talk to me and I agreed to talk to her but only if she put Fido on a leash. She agreed, leashed Fido, and burst into tears. She explained that Fido gets aggressive with other dogs when he’s on leash but not when he’s off leash, and that she wants him to make doggy friends. I tried to explain that Pack in the Park is totally perfect for him then, except he HAS to be on leash and can’t meet the dogs nose-to-nose. I invited her to join us but she told me, “I can’t afford it” to which I replied “it’s free!”. I explained Skye’s situation and that she could be overwhelmed by Fido approaching her. Lilly told me “I had no idea! Why didn’t you say that?” and I told her, “well that’s kind of hard to shout across the park”. We hugged, apologized to each other and Lilly asked me to apologize to Jackie for her, I said come over and talk to her. So she did, she apologized to Jackie herself. I took Zelda back from Jackie and we stood about 6 feet away from each other and discussed the situation. We explained to Lilly that you don’t always know a dog’s story and while you have good intentions with your dog not all dogs feel comfortable with that. “I think the important thing to learn from this is consent,” said Jackie, and I agreed. It’s important to ask the owner if it’s okay for your dog to approach. We also talked about the motives behind our emotional reactions, I explained that I think I may have jumped into panic mode because of my previous experiences with my unfriendly dog. We even talked about key animal control issues in our town and the solutions we’d like to see. By the end of it I told Lilly “look at Fido, look at how relaxed and chill he is. He’s on leash, around other dogs and he’s just chill. This is exactly what he needs.”

Lilly was very thankful and apologized more before she left. I asked her to come to the next Pack in the Park (with Fido on leash) and gave her one of my pamphlets to help her understand a little more what it’s all about.

In a lot of ways, it was a very humbling experience. My anxiety got the best of me at the start. My panic made me respond irrationally and I forgot to use my most generous interpretation. I didn’t recognize Lilly and Fido at first, but regardless, I should be treating all people the same way. You just really don’t know everyone’s situation and I think that, and consent, were the big takeaways from this morning’s experience.

The lesson here that I want all dog owners reading this to walk away with is also that you don’t need face-to-face interactions for your dog to get a lot of social experiences. If you have a dog who needs work on leash then you need to put the work in on leash. If you have a dog who needs more expose, whether it’s with dogs, people or whatever, then you need to get out there and expose your dog but do it slowly and in a stress-free way. We want our dogs to have positive associations with these experiences. We want them to see that it’s no big deal if there’s another dog over there in the park (on or off leash). They don’t NEED to run up to them and meet them. They don’t NEED to play with them. If you want a dog who is comfortable with NOT running up to others then you need to teach them that it’s totally cool if they don’t meet someone. If you want a calm, confident dog then you need to expose them in a way that helps them feel calm and confident. Face-to-face interactions usually don’t create those feelings in most dogs.

When Pack in the Park was over, Jackie told me Zelda was very well behaved and is a well-trained dog. Hearing that was like the cherry on top of the whole experience. We were there for the dogs but I think all of the humans walked away with a lot of growth today.