Level 1 Training Academy

Giving Back 4

 in Academies / Animal Shelters / Animal Training / clicker training / dog trainer / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Scholarship / Uncategorized  tagged clicker training / dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / Marin humane Society / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training / Scholarship / shelter by

An admirable quality of our species is that those who have more are often willing to give back to those who have less.  For many years, much of my own giving has been focused on the animal sheltering world, with an occasional book donation to some other dog-related cause. I decided it’s time to extend that give to the dog training world through an offer of scholarships to our Peaceable Paws Level One (Basic Dog Behavior and Training) Dog Trainer Academies. There are presently three scholarships available, one for each 2011 date, for our Maryland location only. Academy dates are: […]

Contest Winner Announcement(!) and Level 1 Academy 3

 in Academies / clicker training / contest / dog trainer / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Travels with PPaws  tagged clicker training / contest / dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / Marin humane Society / motorcycle / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training / shelter by

Exhausted after completing our last Level 1 Academy for the year… so why am I up at 5am on a Sunday morning? Well, clocks turned back at 2am this morning, so it’s really 6am and my internal clock just doesn’t get the message that fast. And besides, there are horses and dogs to feed, a dog-hike on the schedule, and blogs and articles to write. Not to mention laundry to do. Might as well get up instead of lying in bed trying to convince myself to sleep in another hour… Had a great week with a terrific group of dog […]

Instructors Course 8-2010 12

 in Academies / Animal Shelters / Animal Training / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training  tagged Bark / clicker training / contest / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Dog training classes / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / Level 2 Instructor Academy / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training / shelter by

Yesterday was the closing day of yet another Peaceable Paws Academy – this one our Level 2 Instructors Course. We tend to not get as much interest in this one as our Level 2 Behavior Modification (BMod is sexier), but it’s an excellent opportunity for trainers to hone their teaching skills – teaching humans is a very different skill set from training dogs. The students take turns teaching our Peaceable Paws Basic Good Manners exercises to each other, and as we do in our Level 1 Academy, students are working with shelter dogs. This week’s group consisted of: Bob Ryder, […]

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 […]

ASSESSING THE SITUATION 6

 in Animal Shelters  tagged Behavior Assessment / dog / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shelter by

Every Tuesday morning 9:30am finds me doing assessments of prospective adoption dogs at the Humane Society of Washington County (www.hswcmd.org) in Hagerstown, Maryland, where my husband Paul is the Executive Director. I am committed to this volunteer time because I firmly believe that shelters have a responsibility to make every effort possible to place the most appropriate canine companions in the best homes available for them. Assessments give us information that can help make the best placements. The history of shelter behavior assessments goes back only about 15 years, and is fraught with controversy. Sue Sternberg, who founded Rondout Valley […]

IT’S A WRAP!!! 7

 in Academies / Animal Training  tagged dog / dog trainer / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Level 1 Training Academy / Marin humane Society / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shelter by

  Yesterday afternoon saw the conclusion of yet another Peaceable Paws Level 1 Dog Trainer Academy. These are always exhausting yet fulfilling weeks for our students as well as for Peaceable Paws staff, and always end with lots of tears as the humans say good-bye to their canine co-students. Here’s the graduation photo: A hearty congratulations to all our successful Interns, and a loud shout out to High Scoring Graduate Kelly Spring, from Washington DC, whose very creative business name is “Spring Training (for Positively Good Dogs)” at www.SpringTrainingForDogs.com . Kelly worked with Lance, a wonderful Siberian Husky who was […]

Level 1 Trainer Academy This Week!

 in Academies  tagged dog / dog training / Level 1 Training Academy / MAAPPPT / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / Premier / shelter by

So… we’re on Day 2 of our first Academy for the year, where trainers come and spend six days here at Peaceable Paws. This is a Level 1 Academy – Basic Dog Training and Behavior. Students each select a dog from our local shelter (The Humane Society of Washington County) to work with for the week, and we go through our 7-week Basic Good Manners training in six days. It always astounds me to see the progress our students make with these dogs in just one week. As many Level 1 Academies as we’ve done (more than 25 since we […]

A Week in the Life 15

 in Animal Training  tagged bite inhibition / Carla Hebert / dog / dog training / Karen Overall / Level 1 Training Academy / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shaping / shelter by

Okay, so… I knew this would happen. Now that I’ve started to blog, every time something happens I think “Oh, I need to put that in my blog!” That means that at least this time around (and probably in future times, at least some of the time) you get a running commentary on my week. Last week was a full one. First of all, the weather was scrumptious, reaching well into the 80’s by week’s end. I heard a weather reporter say it was the nicest two-day Spring we’ve ever had. Everything is starting to blossom… here are some of […]