Curious about what to expect when you sign your dog up for an Educational Daycare evaluation at Crossbones? Here is what you can expect, and what our team members are looking for from you and your dog.
The evaluation starts as soon as you and your dog arrive at Crossbones. Educational Daycare attendees must be under their owner’s control in the parking lot and lobby. A member of our […]
After four years of offering Puppy Day School for puppies in Providence, we’re thrilled to announce we now offer daycare for all dogs! Our Educational Daycare program launched April 1st and our team is having a blast working with the dogs each day.
What does Educational Daycare mean? Each dog in our program is expected to demonstrate basic manners every day, like sitting for attention […]
New year, new name. (Same shade of orange.) New for 2019: Spring Forth Dog Academy is now Crossbones Dog Academy!
So much has changed since Dan and I chose our business name “Spring Forth” in 2010. It was a play on words (think Springer Spaniel) accompanied by my pencil drawing of Tessie jumping. The logo was very personal.
Crossbones is a business name and logo combination I originally came up with in 2013. For a period of time, […]
Tessie at 3 weeks old.
This started as an Instagram post but quickly exceeded 2200 characters, despite my best efforts to keep it brief! I hope you enjoy it. –Katherine
March 30th is always a special day at Spring Forth HQ. Today would have been Tessie’s 19th birthday. Tessie is the dog in our logo and the reason I became a professional dog trainer. Without Tessie, there would be no Spring Forth Dog Academy.
We did everything wrong with Tessie for […]
Does the sound of one of these send your dog running for the hills? Read on for some tips to fix that!
Most dogs take to clicker training like ducks to water! But occasionally, one of our students […]
Even though we focus on the positive here at Crossbones, there are some behaviors (performed by both people & dogs) we recommend you avoid. Here are a few mistakes we see frequently enough to complain about them!
Not training treats, you guys. Bedtime snacks, perhaps, but not training treats.
The value of your rewards needs to match the distraction level of your environment. Kibble and store-bought dog treats are great for your living room, […]
Photo by Bonner Springs Library (Flickr Creative Commons)
Many of you know that I enjoy teaching my dogs tricks, so today’s post might come as a bit of a surprise. However, there’s one behavior that dog owners love to teach that often interferes with their progress in Day School and makes their training path harder. That behavior? “Paw” or “shake.”
Teaching your dog to put his paw on you to earn praise or a treat is easy and seems like fun. But if your […]
At Crossbones Dog Academy, we work with a lot of puppies! Over one hundred puppies come to us each year for Puppy Day School and group classes. As a result, we get to talk to a lot of people about puppy raising.
Over the past few months, we have noticed a very concerning trend. Some of our clients were deliberately restricting their dog’s water intake as a potty training strategy.
Generally speaking, most pet dogs have access to water whenever they are not confined to a crate. They naturally limit their […]
Are you a responsible puppy owner? The American Kennel Club’s STAR Puppy program is designed to reward owners who take their puppies to training classes. “STAR” is an acronym for the four critical parts of puppy raising: Socialization, Training, Activity, and Responsibility.
The AKC recognizes that well-trained puppies make better companions and are less likely to be relinquished to shelters. In fact, behavior problems are the #1 reason for giving up a dog to a rescue. The STAR Puppy program is an incentive program for […]
{{ UPDATE 2018: This is an old blog post! For the most up-to-date details and unbroken links, please visit our Flex Class page for everything you need to know. }}
We’ve held group dog training classes here in Providence for over two years now. We have always been interested in feedback from our wonderful students. Some of the things we heard back about our group class program included:
“They’re too early.”
“They’re too late.”
“That day of the week doesn’t work for me.”
“I’m going on vacation and will miss a class… or two… or three.”
“What if I get sick and skip a week?”
“I […]
This week, my dogs got to test out the latest freeze-dried product from The Honest Kitchen, and it’s definitely different from any treat we have tried before! Their latest and greatest treat is Nice Mussels. As the name suggests, they’re, well, mussels! (Full disclosure: we received free product in exchange for a review.)
Nice Mussels contain only one ingredient: mussels. Mussels are “rated by the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch Program as one of the most sustainable seafood products in the world,” according to The Honest Kitchen. […]
Loose leash walking is one of the most important skills to master before taking the CGC test, because it is a part of several test items.
In last week’s blog post, An Overview of the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Test, I described the ten elements of the CGC test. Preparing for this test is key. There are a few specific behaviors that not all “well behaved” dogs know.
The CGC test is designed to reward well-mannered dogs […]