Creature Comforts Dog Training

This post is coming a little late, but as of December 26th, Creature Comforts Dog Training has closed temporarily in accordance with the newest provincial mandate for COVID-19 safety.

Frankly, this post is coming late because this lockdown hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m SAD. And I’m sure I’m not the only one! I miss the dogs, I miss my job, and I miss stability the most. It’s hard to feel like we’re back where we started in March.

But the thing is we’re NOT where we started in March. We’ve come so far, helped so many dogs, learned so much, and had so many unforgettable moments with dogs and their people. I’m bummed to be locked down, but I’m doing everything I can to remember that even if I’m stopping, this is just what moving forward looks like right now. That this, just like the first lockdown, will end and I’ll get to have my hands on many pups every day again soon. For now, I just have to trust that some expert somewhere knows what the heck they’re doing with these mandated closures!

If you’re waiting on a response to your email, I’ll be getting to them today and tomorrow. Thank you for your patience and I promise we’re thinking of you guys constantly. DM me if you have any questions!

Hope the algorithm doesn’t take vengeance on me for two posts in one day, but I can’t sit on this news for a second longer!

I am beyond delighted to announce the newest member of the Creature Comforts Dog Training team, Miranda McGillivray. Miranda is a graduate of and a long-standing dog walker mainstay in Toronto’s Roncesvalles neighbourhood with her business

Miranda will be bringing a lot of skill and experience to the team while keeping with our “R+ for human and animal learners” approach. I wish I had words for how lucky I feel to be adding another massive talent to our team. In lieu of those words just know: I literally CANNOT wait to get your dogs into Miranda’s capable and kind hands!

Everybody say hello and welcome to Miranda! We cannot wait to show you everything she and these dogs can accomplish!

Today I want to invite you all to think about how you can make your relationship with your dog more equitable! We expect a lot of our dogs and I think it’s only fair that we let them expect a lot of us too.

Saw a post on Facebook today from my colleague that got me thinking about the word “compliance”.

When an aversive trainer is successful, the best we can possibly hope for is compliance. Our dogs perform because if they don’t, bad things will happen to them. They learn to fear us, shut down, or only enjoy themselves when we’re not around.

When we use the framework of cooperation, we end up with dogs who continually opt in to interacting with us. We end up with dogs who, when something out of the ordinary happens, they look to us for instructions. We end up with dogs who look us in the eye, wag their tails, and tilt their heads when we say whatever gobblety g**k human nonsense we want to say to them! And we end up with dogs who know that when s**t hits the fan, they need to go find their human. Stat.

Ultimately, we can’t train to prepare for every situation that will come up in life. There’s just too many variables. When we train without force, coercion, or pain, we prepare ourselves for those curveballs. We let our dogs know that no matter what happens, we’re a source of joy. When we train without the use of pain or intimidation, we become the vessel through which magic enters their lives instead of simply someone impeding their access to life’s joys!