Pup in Progress

Hello Edmonton!
It's time to reintroduce myself to a new community after the bog move. My name is Martha and I am an Accredited Dog Trainer through the IAABC. I started training as a teenager when I lucked into having a wonderful trainer move in next door to me and I followed her EVERYWHERE soaking it all in! I've gone on to work in daycares and shelters, and have most recently taken an apprenticeship at an ADI accredited assistance dog school learning to train assistance dog and facility dog teams!

I started out offering basic training for things like loose leash walking and recall, but ended up taking many reactivity cases as there was a huge demand for it in my community at the time. This has led to me doing more continuing education in reactivity and working on my CBATI-KA which I hope to achieve in April. I have a passion for helping dog guardians to understand the emotional needs of their dogs, so that we can find a training solution that works for both of you!

I train by finding the underlying cause of a behavior, and then addressing it by changing the environment, utilizing positive reinforcement techniques, and referring to veterinarians to rule out underlying pain or mental health conditions (yes! Dogs can have those too!). I will never employ pain, fear, force, or compulsion to train your dog.

I am looking forward to connecting with the Edmonton community, and all the wonderful dog guardians here. This next month I will be working towards reopening my business here so that I can start taking clients again.

(Pictured is a longterm client who has been one of my greatest teachers! Photos are by )

If you know me well, you've probably already heard this news. I love Nova Scotia, I've lived here my whole life, but the truth is, theres not.much here to help me take my career in the direction I want to go. With rising rental prices and little in the animal behavior industry I started looking for jobs in other areas. A few weeks ago I accepted my dream job in Edmonton Alberta.
What does this mean for pup in progress? The truth is: I don't really know yet. For here, I will no longer be taking new clients, given that I'm leaving so soon, it's not fair to take anyone new on when I can't give support well between the logistics of a move and settling into a new province! I'm happy to give referrals to all the other amazing trainers here! Pup in Progress will likely take a break while I settle into life in Edmonton, before it reopens.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me here. I love training, and hopefully with this new job I'll be able to do a whole lot more of it and better!

Yesterday I had the joy of getting to take Cedar on a nice long hike and we had a blast with joining us with Percy!
It's funny how similar they both are in terms of personality. They both tend to be slower to warm up to strangers, and prefer to be ignored at first. We started with a great neutral greeting, and by the time we were halfway in they had a great little play session!
It's important to remember that oftentimes dogs won't warm up to play right away, and a neutral greeting is still a good greeting!

One of the skills I end up teaching a LOT is loose leash walking, and it's become one of my favourites! A huge part is environmental setup and wellness prerequisites, but when it comes to training, these are just a few things that can help aid the process along!