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Showing posts from January, 2023

The Life of a SD Dog Trainer/Handler

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I figured it's been awhile, since puppy brain took over, and I owed you guys an insider scoop post. So let's start with today! A Day in the Life of  a SD Dog Trainer! I no more than woke up and has a text from a client/friend in distress. After getting Azul out and making his breakfast, my coffee and grabbing my breakfast, I return the call. A 10 min call turns into a 1 hour chat on multiple topics with my breakfast still sitting on my lap. But hey, I got to enjoy hot coffee while I chatted and my friend hopefully had a better day! That's what matters. Inhale breakfast, take Azul out to pee and run to the office for Zoom. Between meetings I skip lunch to go play with Azul in the backyard. Then right into the next meeting. After the meeting, it's race to the car to go pick my son up which is an uneventful trip. Thankfully! Once home, I finally have time to grab a hot meal before returning messages. And I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening. What happe

Yooper Paws Celebration

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 Go Team Yooper Paws! I started off the day feeling a bit discouraged because I had more "free" clients than paid in my FAD Class that started today. Every free person has it's own reason; Faith & Echo my helpers, Facility Owner & her dog, and a local disabled Veteran trying to help his overly social pup. With one paid person being a SDiT Team. Class got off to a rocky start with one dog having a really rough time and then spiraling to all the other dogs. Adolescents feed of each other's energy and even Azul was stressed.  Despite the rough start, the class actually became a huge success with a plan to make it better next week. The overly social dog that loves to bark will now come with their support & confidence sharing older sister dog to help him relax in the environment and they will be coming the hour immediately following the FAD class instead of adding that energy to the class. Once they get used to doing some 1-on-1 work with Azul and I, we will sl

Sneak Peak

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SHH...Don't tell anyone! But one of these beauties will soon become a travelling companion for Azul and I for the next 4-6 weeks! We go to see them and do a basic evaluation on Thursday. If one of them seems to be well suited for SD work, she will be coming home with me for socialization and to get a jump start on her manners in the house. We are so excited! Stay tuned for more fun updates from Rockstar Azul!

Kids and Dogs...and Husbands

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  Kids and Dogs...and Husbands! We all know and have heard horror stories of kids who are bitten by dogs because no one saw the warning signs of an uncomfortable or trapped dog. (This is NOT that story!) This is a "How Well Do YOU Know Your Dog!" story. My grandson, Forrest, in this picture is 1 yr old than Azul. They've grown up together and have a certain relationship with each other that neither has with another sole. Forrest is wild and crazy but calms down around Azul & Azul is calm and chill but will get crazy with Forrest to entertain him. Not quite 1 yr old Forrest taught puppy Azul to do a finger nose boop as a silly game long before I taught any formal hand targets. ( I think I may have just started basic hand targets at the time.) Fast forward a few months and Forrest and Azul tired each other out playing the choo-choo game running circles around the dining room table and kitchen island.  Just for fun, check out this video of Forrest and Azul playing the Ha

Announcing the Rockstar Azul Fan Club

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I've decided how I'm going to use this site! Rockstar Service Dog Azul will be starting this new blog for our fans and general dog friends that want a bit more info about us than what is on social media. This could include training that I'm passionate about, struggles my or Azul are currently experiencing, mistakes we've made, and anything else I feel like posting. So I'm keeping this as a closed blog with private access only given on request to our dog training friends. Then this will become an email newsletter of sorts with 1-3 posts a month. These posts might then link to other Yooper Paws or Crazy2Calm resources that are available as well. Please let me know if you'd like to join the Rockstar Azul Fan Club!