Unlocked Petential

Peets up 🤪

screm

The stick of ✨gratitude✨

A little trainer vulnerability today.

A few months ago, I had to make one of the hardest decisions I’ve made as a dog trainer: I referred a client out.

He was a young Cane Corso/Great Dane mix who hadn’t received any formal training until he was nearly a year old. He was over 100 pounds, incredibly strong, and had already developed some challenging habits. Despite that, he was a sweet dog, and for five sessions we worked together without any major issues.

Then, during our sixth lesson, he became frustrated.

We were working on leash manners, and he wanted to pull, jump, and do what he wanted. When I didn’t allow that, he redirected his frustration onto me and bit me. Thankfully, I reacted quickly and only sustained a minor injury, but it was enough for me to realize that he needed a trainer with more experience handling aggression cases and more time to dedicate to his needs.

So I referred him out.

Honestly? It shook my confidence more than I wanted to admit.

Since then, I haven’t worked with another adult Cane Corso.

Until Bear.

When I walked into our first session together, I noticed something I wasn’t expecting: hesitation. I was nervous. My brain immediately connected “adult Cane Corso” with the last experience I’d had.

The thing is, dogs deserve for us to see them, not our past experiences.

So I took a breath, reminded myself that Bear wasn’t that dog, and walked into the session with an open mind.

And Bear was fantastic.

Does he have challenges? Absolutely. We’re working through some reactivity and resource guarding concerns. But he was thoughtful, engaged, eager to learn, and an absolute pleasure to work with.

More importantly, he reminded me of something I’d lost sight of for a moment:

A breed is not an individual.

One difficult experience doesn’t define an entire breed, and one mistake doesn’t define a trainer.

Sometimes growth looks like teaching a dog something new.

Sometimes growth looks like recognizing your own fears, working through them, and showing up anyway.

Thank you for the reminder, Bear. 🖤

“Look at those teeth!” 😳

What you’re seeing is canine communication.

Adonis is using a lip lift to communicate a boundary. Rather than escalating immediately, he’s giving information to Expo: “I need a little space.”

Dogs use body language, facial expressions, growls, and even showing teeth to navigate social interactions. These signals are often meant to prevent conflict, not create it.

Good dog communication isn’t always cute—but it is important. 🐾

Some things never change 🤦🏽‍♀️ 🤣

Your next superstar has entered the chat! 🤣

What do you think Expo’s wrestler name would be?!