Life on the Farm

Academy Time, Pig Pumpkins and Imitation

 in Academies / Animal Training / clicker training / dog trainer / Dog Training Workshop / Life on the Farm / Pat's Blog / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training by

ACADEMY TIME! We are just one week away from our first Trainer Academy of the year – and I’m so looking forward to it! We had to postpone 3 months worth of academies due to coronavirus, and now we’ve crammed them all into the rest of the year, so it’s going to be a busy next-five months!! It’s a bit humbling to realize we are now in our 18th Academy year and I have had the incredible good fortune to personally meet, interact, teach, become friends with and hopefully influence some 500 academy student trainers over these 18 years. Thank […]

Hidden Talents – Tracking Turtles with Josie

 in Academies / Animal Training / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Life on the Farm / Pat's Blog / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Uncategorized by

It’s been an interesting week at Peaceable Paws… but then, aren’t they all? We continue to work through the challenges of starting up our classes outdoors – electrician is coming on Tuesday to give us some quotes on providing lighting – to see if we can do classes after dark – and we’ve ordered an Amish 8×10 wooden storage shed for some of our equipment, so we don’t have to keep lugging everything back inside after class. Wonderful husband Paul is leveling a spot for it near the training yard with the tractor, and with cream-colored siding and green roof […]

Diversity on the Farm, Classes are ON – and Commando Crawl

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CLASSES ARE ON!!!!!! Not only are they ON… the response has been terrific!!! Our Basic Good Manners and Puppy Classes are all full, and Beyond Good Manners is just one shy of full. We do still have room in the Brain Candy Workshop in August, (8/15-16) if you are looking for a fun getaway weekend with your dog. We are experimenting with the new outdoor format – where to put chairs and canopies, how many barriers we need, and how to weight them properly with sandbags so they don’t blow over. We normally have access to tethers indoors (with eye […]

Almost Summer – Teaching “Wait a Minute” and Peaceable Paws is Almost Open!

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TRAINING NEWS I’m happy to report that our classes are filling up nicely! I was concerned that COVID-19 might keep people away, but we only have a few openings left, including a couple of spots in my Fidos on Farm class… You can sign up for classes on our website: www.peaceablepaws.com. We officially open tomorrow (Monday, June 15). Come hike and train with us! We continue to put finishing touches on our coronavirus protection plans – getting cement blocks for outdoor tethering, sandbags to keep barriers from blowing over, chairs and canopies are all purchased, and we have hand sanitizers […]

Coyote Capers and Re-Opening at Peaceable Paws

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WILDLIFE ADVENTURES Well, it’s certainly been an interesting week here on the Peaceable Paws farm. We had previously seen a coyote at the far edge of one of our fields, at least a quarter mile from the house, and Paul had found the remains of a raccoon in that same field. This week we saw her out our back bedroom window frisking along a fence in the horse pasture at 7:30 one morning (about 200 feet from the house) and she has left the remains  of  two more raccoons and parts of 4 very young fawns in the driveway down […]

Of Protests, Riots… Peonies and Peace

 in Academies / Animal Training / clicker training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Dog Training Workshop / Life on the Farm / Pat's Blog / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training by

Incredulous, aghast, heartbroken, dumbfounded… first coronavirus, now this. Watching the protests and riots on television takes me back to the 60’s when, as a child, I watched our cities burning. Have we truly come this far… only to have gone nowhere? Maybe not quite. My heart warmed to the photo of the row of white women standing shoulder-to-shoulder, shielding black protesters from the police. And the photo of police officers taking a knee in solidarity with peaceful protesters. We will get through this, too, and hopefully come out better and stronger on the other side. I know that as a […]

A Careful Re-Opening – and… SPRING!!

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First – and most important – all of us at Peaceable Paws hope all of you and all of yours are staying safe, sane and well. I feel like we are living in a bad science fiction movie, just waiting for the credits to roll so we can get up and leave. Every day I am struck by how much this has changed – and will continue to change – life as we know it. I am cautiously excited though… with Maryland’s Governor Hogan starting the reopening process last week in our state we are in the in the midst […]

Mushrooms, Mycelium and Music 2

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Lest you think that everything Paul and I do is animal-related, this week’s blog is about mushrooms and music. Okay, maybe with a few dogs tossed in for good measure… MYCELIUM RUNNING A week ago Sunday (September 5th) Paul and I attended a wonderful workshop through Common Market (a Frederick Food Co-op that we joined last year). We arrived at the Judd estate north of Frederick, traveling down the long, poplar-lined gravel driveway that opens up onto a vintage brick mansion overlooking an expanse of lush green lawn.  It was a perfect day for a mushroom workshop – clear, cool, […]

Academy Time!

 in Academies / Animal Shelters / Animal Training / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Life on the Farm  tagged dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / motorcycle / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shaping / shelter by

Summer is certainly our very busy time here at Peaceable Paws, and the endless weeks of 90-plus degree heat seem to be making our academies and workshops more tiring than usual. So here it is Thursday already, the AC in my office is not working again (and it’s going to be over 90 again), and I’m waaaay behind on getting this blog done. I intended to get to it last Sunday, immediately after our Level 1 Academy, but Sunday was the Humane Society of Washington County’s “Bone to be Wild” motorcycle ride, and I was just too hot and tired […]

Life on the Farm 5

 in Animal Training / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Life on the Farm  tagged dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Dog training classes / Level 1 Training Academy / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / Tug by

I know I’ve about done the Maggie story to death, but I need to add that Westie Rescue did come and pick her up Saturday, and they report she’s doing well in her new foster home. They agree that her teeth are very sharp, and promise to let me know when she’s placed in her forever home. Here are some last-minute photos of her playing tug and hanging out while we waited for Rescue to arrive:       Other than that… IT’S HOT OUT! – in the upper 90’s the last several days – 98 here yesterday, and predicted […]