Fending off Fido’s Fear of Fireworks
With the 4th of July just around the corner, we thought this would be the perfect time to give you some strategies and management tools for surviving the holiday with our dogs who might not appreciate “the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air”! Fear of fireworks, thunderstorm phobia, and gun-shyness often come as […]
You want a dog — Now what?
A common source of the behavior problems our clients come to us for help with is that they have chosen a dog that either was a poor match for their lifestyle, or has health or temperament problems due to genetics and/or their litter was not raised in an ideal environment. It’s easy to understand how […]
Rescue Dog Training Lottery
One of the main goals of our mission at Leash Free Living is to create a strong community to foster growth in dog and owner relationships. Recently, we’ve felt compelled to become more engaged in our local rescue community, and support owners that are adopting from organizations around us that are working tirelessly to get […]
TagAlong: Should You Choose a Board & Train?
One of the most common services offered by dog trainers is a Board & Train program – where the client leaves their dog with the trainer to receive daily training, at the end of which the client picks up a fully trained, perfect dog at the end of their stay… or so we hope. But […]
Day Training Daycare vs Dog School – What’s the Difference?
This has to be one of the most commonly asked questions about our training services! The short answer is the total amount of individual training time your dog receives throughout the day, and the cost. But let’s get into the deeper reasons why you might choose one program over the other, and how each is […]
Talking with Dogs / Training Conversations
Have you ever found yourself wondering how your friend is holding up when you haven’t talked to them for a while? Have you ever felt that way about your dog? Conversations help to make relationships, and strengthen them. We feel close to people when we talk to them often. Sometimes I feel that urge to […]
Leash Free Living Certification Program
We’ve created the Leash Free Living Dog Trainer Certification Program to ensure that we are meeting our own standards for choosing a dog trainer. Education is one of our core values at Leash Free Living. More than just educating dogs, we put a lot of effort into educating our staff and making sure our trainers […]
Choosing a Dog Trainer
Dog training is an unregulated industry. Anyone can advertise themself as a trainer and charge people money for their expertise, or lack thereof. This creates a difficult situation for dog owners when choosing a dog trainer. Professional, scientifically sound, and safe training is essential for all levels of training. It matters for puppy socialization, basic […]
Paddling with your pup!
This year our Leash Free Living camping trip is at a very paddle-friendly campground. With water access to both Lake Tuckahoe, and to Tuckahoe Creek, there are a couple of opportunities to get out on the water with your pup while we are camping later this month. We want you to be fully prepared for […]
Multi-Dog Heeling
As a crew full of multi-dog households, we definitely get the appeal of having a big dog family. There are some additional challenges that come with living with more than one dog. One of the big challenges is how to walk multiple dogs on a leash together. Training two dogs becomes exponentially harder, since you […]