This Christmas we went over to my parent’s in the Seattle area. They have a great black standard poodle named Monty. He’s around 5, has a bad hip and generally likes everything that walks in the front door, especially if he can manage to stick his nose in its crotch. Unfortunately Ellie, my border collie, has never been so happy about living with him (even if its only for four days). Ellie has a snarkilpetic tendency and Monty is playful: like a little brother that likes to poke his older sister just to annoy her.

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I am shamelessly copying this statement from Ahimsa’s blog – I added the italics.

Association of Pet Dog Trainers Position Statement

There has been a resurgence in citing “dominance” as a factor in dog behavior and dog-human relationships. This concept is based on outdated wolf studies that have long since been disproven. Contrary to popular belief, research studies of wolves in their natural habitat demonstrate that wolves are not dominated by an “alpha wolf” who is the most aggressive pack member. Rather, wolves operate with a social structure similar to a human family and depend on each other for mutual support to ensure the group’s survival.
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Okay – maybe I need to talk with these ladies about why they have such similar names but they are different. First of all A Family Dog is located in Bonners Ferry and you get to go through a beautiful Wildlife Refuge to get there. Karen runs A Family Dog and has a small kennel mostly for her clients while they are out of town. You may find it hard to get a spot for your dog unless you call early! I actually got to meet Karen way back when I was in high school when Karen was doing some training with the trainer that I worked for, Becky Bishop of Puppy Manners.
Karen is an awesome trainer that uses clicker training. I have had the chance to volunteer with her and help in her Pawsitive Works classes which are very different from an obedience class. (more…)

Okay – I think we’ve all seen her bright yellow signs at the Pet Store, Pan Handle Animal Shelter etc. She also just put out a nice business card with a website on it that seems to be down whenever I try to look at it. Karen Horton does obedience training, grooming, and sells Petlane Products. Has anyone ever worked with her? I would love to learn more about this elusive dog lady…

Glenna is the dog trainer/guru at Ponderay Pet Lodge with her own business: The Family Dog. Any one who has met her knows that she has had a lot of experience with dogs and has a knack for knowing where to draw the line and knowing what to do once you’ve decided where the line needs to be. She has a more traditional approach to training and has helped many families with their problem dogs, and even one family with a service dog. (more…)

It seems to me like Sue has a proper understanding of how dogs fit in our world as pets and not us in their world. This is essential because these dogs need homes with real people. For the sake of the dogs she wants good dog/owner matches to be made, not to unleash dangerous dogs to the unsuspecting public.
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I’ve been faithfully taking my ‘snarkileptic’ border collie female to the dog park for about a year around 4 times a week. It wasn’t until this seminar I really looked at my dog and thought “is this good for her? Does Ellie need to go to the dog park? Is her behavior improving because we go to the dog park?” My honest answers are all ‘no.’
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I used to live in Woodinville (northeast of Seattle) and was lucky enough to have a job working for Becky Bishop – great dog trainer, dedicated and motivated to help people enjoy their dogs and be active with them. She headed up this great program called Reading With Rover where people take their Delta certified Animal Assisted Therapy dog to places like Borders Books and Music to have children practice reading to their dog.

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