Red Wolf Canine

I have enough treats and toys I don’t need to go shopping. Said no dog ever!!
🛍️🧸🦴🎾

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁🍽

Loving our time with Keiko! Adding English Springer Spaniel to our never ending list of must own breeds for the future 💕

Anyone else have a bucket list of dog breeds?!

Daisy is wishing for more sunny days like we had on Friday and I definitely am with her. ✨🌞

I always forget how hard it is to keep pups entertained and mentally stimulated during the colder months (more than half the year here in the mitten). As we get more and more creative with our pups I’ll be sharing ways to stay cozy and keep your dog entertained.

Keiko joined us on Monday and within the week has absolutely stolen our hearts! We are so excited to see this girl transform over the next six weeks.

Keiko struggles with severe separation anxiety and reactivity, it may seem backwards, but the very best thing for a dog with separation anxiety is SEPARATION. With lots of reassurance and good experiences we are already seeing Kieko overcoming the worries that come with being away from her familiar surroundings.

We are super excited to have Daisy training with us at RWC!
Over the next four weeks we will be hard at work building confidence in new environments, introducing lots of structure, and working to make obedience training more enjoyable for her. Overall Daisy does incredibly well in the home but struggles with reactivity around new people or within new places.

Giving Daisy the guidance and leadership she needs to look to us humans when in these situations instead of making her own choices on how to react will be a big goal for us! Stay tuned to see her progress!! 💜✨

Maverick and Willow making the best of a rainy fall day☔️ 🍁

Look at Blue go!!!! 💙💙🥹🥹
It is so wonderful to see previous board and trains thriving years after training. Blue has a pretty incredible family.

This guy!!! Blue has come so far from the scared, cowering, reactive puppy who didn’t know how to play of 5 years ago. He handled the street festival and other dogs so well this afternoon. It’s taken lots of patience and love to build trust with him, but all he wants is to be a good dog. Shout out to Best Buddy Pet Rescue for trusting us with him. Also Jessie at Red Wolf Canine helped ground him in the basics, too, and continues to support us as we try to do best for Bloopie (formerly Kip)

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For those of you that don’t know we have had quite a scary two weeks! Our personal dog Fay started experiencing symptoms of bloat (Gastric dilation) Thursday evening. Around 2am we started to see things progress to vomiting and we decided it was definitely time to take her in. We headed to Animal Emergency Center of Rochester and she was immediately taken back for x-rays. They determined she did in fact have GD (gastric dilation) but there was no Torsion of the stomach yet so therefore her condition had not progressed to life threatening but she was still very high risk for that happening. After meeting with the doctor several hours later they determined the best course of action was to keep her for the day/overnight to monitor her and ensure that if her stomach did flip she would be in the best place possible to get her into surgery right away. We left the ER that morning around 7am and headed back home (at this point we had both been awake for a full 24hours). The day moved incredibly slowly and was so nerve wracking. Around 9pm we got a call that they did another round of x rays and the doctor was pleased with how her intestines/stomach were looking and they believed we were in the clear to avoid surgery. They wanted to keep her overnight but being a high drive working dog she wasn’t doing well there and they were concerned the stress levels she was experiencing would cause more harm than her coming home.

We brought her home and she continued to do well for the next 24 hours. Saturday at 4 am she woke up and I could immediately tell something was wrong and she was nauseous despite the amount of anti nausea medication she was on. I didn’t even weigh the options we just jumped in the car and headed straight back to emergency. Luckily I trusted my instincts, they took her back and did more x-rays and found her intestines were beginning to loop up and things had progressed from how they were when we first came in Thursday early morning. They now wanted to move forward with surgery to see if there was a blockage causing all the gas and fluid build up and also perform a Gastropexy which is essentially “tacking” her stomach to the inner wall in hopes of minimizing the chances of her stomach flipping if this were to happen again. We left the ER at about 8am that morning without her again and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Fay is truly my soul mate in dog form, she is the dog I owe everything to, my best friend and partner on and off the field. Walking away from her, hearing her screaming her head off in the back room fighting all the amazing vets and techs becuase she truly couldn’t understand what was going on or why this was happening to her split my heart wide open. I had no idea if I would ever see her again if the last interaction I ever had with her would be me strapping a muzzle on her and watching the techs drag her away from me. If I thought Thursday was nerve wracking I truly had no idea what was coming, I cant explain the anxiety that overcame me from the second I walked out of the building until I got the call that she had woken up from surgery about 7 hours later and was breathing on her own. I have never experienced anything like it and hope with all my heart I will never have to again (although in the world of dogs its unlikely)

They did not find a blockage which I had a feeling they wouldn’t, she is always supervised and never left alone, nor is she the type of dog to get into things or eat anything. While this was great news as they did not need to remove any parts of her intestines we did not have a cause for why this happened in the first place. They did take a biopsy of her stomach and intestines but no real news came back from that. She ended up spending the rest of the night there so they could monitor her as well as feed her through a tube which of course lead to a night of zero sleep for us. Anyone who knows Fay knows she is an absolute sweetheart but she’s also a spitfire and essentially gave the techs and Dr. on call every bit of trouble she could. She ripped out her IV 3 times, continuously got her muzzle and cone off throughout the night which lead to one of the techs essentially having to sit with her all night. She fought through the highest doses of ketamine, fentanyl, and another drug I have no idea how to pronounce or spell. She’s a tiny girl but the doctor said in her entire career she’s never had to sedate a dog as much as this and she was still fighting through it. While this absolutely was not a good thing as far recovering It made me smile because I would expect nothing less from my little demon of a dog. This dog has been through SO MUCH in her life, the saying “Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog” has never been a more fitting description of a dog than Fay. All that being said around 2:00pm they decided she was again becoming too stressed and it was more of a risk to keep her than to send her home where she could relax and begin to heal.

The next few days were incredibly hard, Cody and I didn’t leave her side. We rotated sitting with her and working with our other dogs (luckily at this point we were on break and only had our personal dogs). We slept in our guest bedroom which is currently being renovated since she cant do stairs and when I say slept I mean barley closed our eyes for a few hours at a time becuase what we were getting was not sleep. Seeing my normally strong, wild, and happy dog so sedated, weak, and essentially fragile was incredibly jarring and hard to witness. Over the past week Fay has been recovering nicely, we are now getting back into our routine and are able to leave her alone in her crate while we get back to work while checking in on her throughout the day. She is getting stronger and stronger each day and now the hardest part is convincing her that just becuase her brain thinks she 100% healed doesn’t mean her body is. We are so grateful that were seeing pieces of our “normal” goofy girl coming back and she’s acting more and more herself everyday (that’s a good and bad thing) because telling a Malinois they cant do anything but walk on leash for 10 minutes at a time and lay around is never fun.

I can not put into words the amount of appreciation I have for every single person that reached out to us. I limited updates and news to my personal page because I really was not sure how this situation was going to turn out. We have formed wonderful connections within the dog world and all the thoughts, prayers, and support we received the past few weeks is something I’m still in awe of. How lucky are we to have SO many people that care about my little dog and I. I mentioned above that I owe everything to this dog and that includes all the relationships I’ve been able to make because of her. We are so grateful she is here with us today and is well on the road to making a full recovery. Please hug your dogs a little tighter tonight and remember the time we have with them is SO incredibly precious. I have so much to say for the medical team that worked with her and us throughout this entire experience I can’t fit it into this post, every medical professional that put hands on my dog is an absolute miracle worker and I have so much to say about what I saw them go through while Fay and I were with them but I’ll save that for another day.

Love this so much!! ❤️❤️

I believe that the general public sees all dog trainers as the same.
A dog trainer is a dog trainer like a plumber is a plumber.
There aren't "high end" dog trainers.
Except that there are.

There are dog trainers who have invested years and dollars into developing their craft.
And there are dog trainers who decide it sounds fun and they want to make some money- it can't be that hard can it?

Being a dog trainer is a lifestyle- it isn't just a job.
Being an excellent dog trainer means you are with your clients every step of the way.
You are a support for them.
The industry truly is buyer beware and the problem is that a lot of dog trainers look the same on the outset- they copy each others websites and verbiage, social media content gets recycled etc.
Its really hard to know what's what.
People stretch their qualifications.
So how can you figure it out?

- [ ] How long have they been around?
- [ ] Testimonials- how many are there? If there are bad ones- take it with a grain of salt but also- what are they saying? Does it seem legitimate?
- [ ] References- you can also ask for references! Ideally, clients that have struggled with similar things you're dealing with (or perhaps the same breed etc)
- [ ] Pricing- cheaper isn't better. But also be careful with those that charge market rates (or a leeeeetttle bit less).
- [ ] What are their qualifications? Dive into what they actually mean. Where did they learn about XYZ?
- [ ] Ask questions- can they explain their training plan to you? Can they explain why they do or don't do certain things?
- [ ] Their own dogs- do they live with their own dogs the way you want to live with yours? Do they have recall? Are there dogs reactive? Do they live like pet dogs or are they kennelled constantly?
- [ ] Proof- do you see videos of their dogs or client dogs living life, doing things? Or just posed photos of dogs in care? Not good enough for me.
- [ ] Vibe- do you get a good vibe? Does anything in your gut stop you? You should get along well with this person. You should trust them. Does it seem good to be to true? Are they following through on their word and commitments?
Photo by

Board and Train graduate Luke being an excellent model for Slip Leashes Dot Com 😍

Or maybe just a New Slip Leash?

🐕

So excited to see they have this awesome booth set up at our local farmers market! 🤩

We’ll be there checking this place out this Saturday and picking up some all natural chews for our pups.

Beef cheek rolls are one our dogs favorite chews, so much safer than raw hide and will keep your pup entertained for hours! It’s the perfect thing to give your pup while they hang out on place or decompress in their kennel. 🦴🐾

We are all set up and ready to see you! Stop by the Davis Family Farmers market now to get everything your pets need this summer!

No glow up here because Sasha looks just as cute and gorgeous as her first day here at RWC! Swipe to see her first day of school picture.

Sasha is back for boarding and some refresher training now that she’s a bit older. This girl loves to train so expanding on the foundation she has from when she was younger is so fun.

Shepherd girls stick together 💖

What better way to get your dog out and about for something active and fun on a rainy day than a trip to
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Maverick and Luke hit the subdivisions today to generalize and proof their training in a new setting!

Both dogs did amazing and we are so proud of their progress as they head into their final week with us. 🫶

Welcome Luke to RWC 🤍

We are going to be working on establishing reliable on and off leash communication with an e collar, creating a calmer mindset in the home, and as a bonus well be giving this working breed the proper mental and physical stimulation he needs through training.
We are looking forward to sharing Luke’s progress !

We are so incredibly excited to welcome Maverick to RWC! 👏 While Maverick has incredible skills in the puppy dog eyes department we have big plans to improve his training skills and turn this ball of energy into a well mannered pup with reliable on and off leash obedience. Stay tuned to see Mavericks progress 🖤

🌞REMINDER 🏖

As we head into summer we wanted to remind our clients to book boarding for any summer vacations you may be taking as far in advance as possible.

As always boarding is a perk we love to offer graduates of our board and train program but please remember we are a training company first and foremost so we may not be able to accommodate travel dates / have open availability as often as a boarding facility might.

We are so looking forward to sunny days full of adventure and wonderful memories made.🌻

Max looking so handsome in his orange equipment.

We got to witness the sweetest reunion when Izzy graduated from her board and train! She absolutely adores her mom and it’s clear to see they have a special connection.

Izzy got to show off her new skills during her go home lesson and we had a great opportunity to utilize the other dogs in the neighborhood to showcase how far she’s come from reacting to other dogs and feeling uncomfortable in their presence to walking past them in heel and staying focused on her owners! We are so proud of how far she has come, go Izzy! 🎊

If your dog looks at you like this at the end of a training session your know your doing something right 🤗

After a brief unintended social media break we are back with lots of content to share 😆 one of the hardest things for me is consistently posting and sharing content even though I absolutely love taking pictures and videos of the pups we work with, they rarely make it out of my camera roll 🤦‍♀️

After six weeks of training with us Molly went home last week and did incredible at her go home lesson! Her family members were naturals at working the leash, e collar, using their marker words, and body language to work through all of her commands.

We’re super excited to see her settle in at home and continue on to become an incredible hunting companion.

Max is quickly becoming a master at place 🥰

Welcome Max to RWC 🎉
Max will be here for the next six weeks working on a variety of different skills. We’ll be reconditioning training tools such as the prong and e collar so he has a solid understanding of them as a communication system. We’ll also be establishing basic obedience, teaching a marker system, and building a more attentive and engaged mindset. We’re very excited to see his progress and give him all the skills he needs to be a good boy! 🥰🥰

Take a peak at that last picture to see Max’s adorable smile 😁

Izzy is joining us for the next four weeks and we are thrilled to be working with our favorite breed!! Australian Cattle dogs have a special place in our heart if you can’t tell 😉

While we adore this breed they tend to be particular to strangers and can easily develop reactivity. Over the next four weeks we will be developing Izzy’s confidence and teaching her to look to us in situations she may be unsure of. With any working breed it is incredibly important to be fair but firm, cattle dogs in particular crave direction and need to be taught and then told what the best choice is because if they make their own choices it most likely won’t line up with what we want 😆.

We are looking forward to being able to provide that for Izzy as well as work with her family on how to continue her training journey when she returns home. ❤️🐺

Molly is here for a six week board and train and we are so excited to have her here! 🎊

This girl’s transformation is going to be amazing! Molly is very fearful in new situations, she adores her family and views them as her safe space but we want her to be confident on her own and in any situation. Understandably when dogs are fearful of a situation they are unsure of they can be pushed into displays of aggression as a coping mechanism.

After just two days with us we’re already seeing huge changes in her and her very sweet and social personality is coming to the surface. Training a fearful dog is a careful balance of giving them a push when they need it to overcome what is viewed as a scary situation to them but also taking the time to reassure her and build trust within our relationship. We know with the right combination of structure, guidance, and exposure she is going to come out a different dog! 🥰❤️

Time to get those Christmas puppies in for training before summer is here! Fingers crossed that it arrives sooner rather than later!☀️🏖️

There is no better way to travel than with a well trained companion, alternatively if you are unable to take them with you graduates of our program are able to return to a safe and familiar place for alumni boarding that maintains the training they learned with us! ❤️🐺

Visit our page Red Wolf Canine, or our website redwolfcanine.com

Ferg went on an outing to today!

To see him become such a confident, motivated, and engaged dog over the past few weeks has been an absolute pleasure.

These types of dogs are such a joy to work with, you can see the changes happening daily right in front of you. Sometimes dog trainers feel like a broken recored repeating the same advice, pushing structure, boundaries, and enforcing rules. It can begin to sound negative but when you see the positive changes happening within the dog and see them enjoy the entire training process from start to finish it speaks that you’re doing right by them.