When I was a child, I grew up on a small farm in rural New York State. My father was a Marine Corps veteran-turned-police officer-turned-farmer and my mom was a substitute teacher. I learned the value of hard work from a young age. We always had a plethora of animals in the barn, and in the house!
There was a period of only a few years when I didn't have a dog living beside me; when I went to college and while I was working as the chef on private yachts. All the while, I was chomping at the bit to get home to snuggle my mom's dogs. I was the girl who spent all of my hard earned money on the most comfortable dog beds, newest toys, fanciest collars, best vet care, the healthiest treats. I would box up all of these goodies and ship them to my mom for her dogs, the dogs I loved so much. Those were the dogs who held me over until I could become Candy's momma.
Part of what my dad taught my sister and I when we were young was how to train dogs. When he was a child, he grew up on a game farm in the Finger Lakes region of NY, called Birdland Farms, where his family raised hunting dogs and game birds. They would train the dogs to hunt, raise the birds that would be hunted, then rent out rooms at their farmhouse to hunters. My dad and his beloved black Lab Queenie, would accompany the hunters into the fields and enjoy a day of hunting ducks, grouse, pheasants, or whatever birds they had available at that time. My grandma would clean the birds for the hunters and prepare dinner for them, too! My mom has shared stories with me of how Queenie was so well trained that they could roll ground beef into a ball, roll it across the floor and tell her to "fetch it up" and she would hold it in her mouth, not eating it, until allowed to do so! I too, have always loved teaching dogs to do crazy, challenging tricks!
When Candy was about 9 months old, she stayed with my mom (her Grammy) for a week while I was away on vacation, and that’s when she really came out of her puppy-shell and morphed into an independently operating Labrador retriever - always hungry, feet barely hitting the ground! I didn’t know what to do - she was jumping on everyone she encountered! Eventually I went to Google and looked up the best dog trainers that Philly had to offer. I made an appointment with the second person I contacted (he called me back first!) and that’s when my life changed! I was taught how to develop a respectful relationship with my wild puppy! She learned how to look to me for direction, instead of always listening to her gut instinct, which was usually saying “eat it, ask mom later” and “see if you can jump as high as their face and slap them on the cheek with your tongue”! I worked with Dave Roberts of Focus Point Dog Training. He is a wonderful man who has trained national level dogs! Over the years, I’ve recommended him to many customers and friends!
Dave taught me that I need to read my dog’s mind, giving a direction at the split second BEFORE my dog made a bad decision - like bolting into a parking lot to chase a tumbling leaf, or running out of my view while playing at Pastorious Park because she could smell the banana a toddler was eating! Lucky for me, Candy is highly food motivated! Training her was so easy once I had someone teaching me how to do it, and reminding me WHY training is so important. (The most important reason to train your dogs is to protect them from danger!)
To this day, I train Candy and her two siblings. It will never end! Candy heard me ask “wanna do tricks?!”and she sits stilly looking at me to see if she’ll be taught something new or if she’ll get to show off her abundance of skill! Her favorite “trick” is retrieving something that she didn’t see fall - so I place a hidden item in some bushes, the edge of a forest or behind a stump and she has to look to me for hand signals, along with using her nose to find the toy! When we’re training like this, I keep tiny bite sized morsels of high value snacks in my treat pouch. My favorites lately are Air Dried Raw Pasture Raised Beef Spleen or Liver and Freeze Dried Raw Pasture Raised Pork Liver or Heart! The pork organs are diced small and are easily transported. The beef organs are sliced thin and can be snapped into pea-sized pieces with one hand easily. These high value treats also become part of her raw diet!
If you’re looking to expand your raw feeding routine by incorporating it into training sessions, I suggest you start with one of these four treats:
Candy's training paid off big time when competing in AKC events. Here’s a pic of Candy and me when she received her JH (Junior Hunter) Title for completing and passing the AKC Hunt Test successfully! Three passes got her the title! We worked on this for about 6 months and she was a year and a half old when she earned it!
Here’s the pic I took of Candy and Darwin doing their famous “piggyback” trick! This is the photo I used to create our logo! Without excellent training, this photo wouldn't have been possible!
Candy's obedience training led to a film roll. Here’s a recent pic of Candy acting in an independent film titled “Toward The Light”. Filming for this started in late summer of 2023 and wrapped in Fall of 2023! There are just two actors in the whole film, an older man (Andrew Hunsicker) and Candy! The producer (Robb Stech) saw a photo of Candy holding a cheeseburger for her 13th birthday on her Instagram page and knew she was the dog for his film! The whole movie is spoken from the dog’s perspective! I’ll be sharing more info when it’s edited, released and available to view - but you can also follow Candy’s personal adventures on her Instagram page @CandyTheHandyLab
Dogs are in my blood and I can't image a future when I'm not surrounded by them. I will constantly have a pocket full of yummy dog treats for both planned and impromptu trainings. #fortheloveofdogs #dogmom If you are struggling to train your dog, let me encourage you to keep going and find a reputable trainer near you. You relationship will improve and they will be much safer knowing to look to you for instruction. In my life, good training has brought me so many wonderful experiences. I believe and hope it can do the same for you!
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