service dog training
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Like Barbra Streisand in the movie Yentl, Lady Priscilla stepped carefully, nose lifted to catch the wind. The air smelled like everything she’d never known—salt and distance and sky. Her paws shifted in the sand, testing the give beneath her toes. One small shell crunched. She paused, curious, uncertain, breathing in long and slow like…
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How a variation on the Maslow hierarchy for dogs grounds the Method in science When Lady Priscilla first joined our family, she didn’t know how to feel safe, let alone thrive. She flinched at the gentlest touch, avoided eye contact, and curled into herself like she was trying to disappear. Today, she’s a confident service…
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The Lady Priscilla Method began the day we brought home a Dutch Shepherd who didn’t know how to feel safe. We weren’t trying to invent anything. We were just two people standing in front of a shelter kennel, staring into pleading eyes, and wondering, “What now?” Lady Priscilla didn’t arrive with confidence. She arrived as…
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Lady Priscilla completes her canine good citizen test — the AKC’s first step toward becoming a trusted public companion. We’ll walk you through how it went. If you’re just joining her CGC training arc, start with Five Feet, Four Dogs, where her breakthrough moment in class changed everything. It didn’t feel like a test. Not…
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Lady Priscilla Earns Her AKC Trick Novice Dog Title and Conquers the Tunnel We weren’t expecting a breakthrough. Honestly, we thought it would just be a solid private lesson: some confidence-building, a few laughs, maybe a little agility. But in 30 minutes, Lady Priscilla didn’t just meet expectations—she shattered them. First came the tricks. Jenny,…
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We walked into our final CGC class not quite knowing what to expect. It wasn’t the official exam — just a dry run of the CGC test for dogs — but if you know our trainer Jenny, you know that “dry run” means prepare for the toughest version possible. In the real AKC CGC test,…
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How to protect dog paws from hot pavement without the bootie battles We adopted Lady Priscilla in the spring, when hot pavement wasn’t yet a major concern. But Florida warms up fast, especially here in Orlando, and we knew we needed a plan before summer hit. So, like any good dog parents, we bought booties.…
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The Pace of Progress in CGC Training Dogs in an AKC Canine Good Citizen class often surprise their handlers. Just when you think they’ve plateaued, they level up in ways you didn’t expect. The challenge is figuring out when to ease off the gas… and when it’s time to speed up. We knew CGC would…
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After a two-week break, Lady Priscilla walked back into the Zoom Room Winter Park for agility class like she owned the place. No barking, no pulling, just calm focus and a handful of high-value treats. If you’ve been following our journey, you know that training a rescue dog for agility hasn’t exactly been a smooth…
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The Long and Winding Road to Finding the Right Vet When we first adopted Lady Priscilla, we chose her vet the way a lot of people do—based on convenience. The clinic was just down the street, open late, and even offered boarding. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time, but finding the right vet…