To HAVE what others don’t, you’ve got to DO what others won’t.

Professional Dog Walking and Pet Sitting in Lilburn GA
Dog Walker and Pet Sitters
I get so many calls from people that have dogs that are reactive on the leash when they are walking them.
Reactive towards people, dogs, bicycles, cars, motorcycles, kids, skateboards, squirrels, cats and the list goes on. Teaching your dog how to walk properly on a leash in the “following mode” (heel position, their nose should be no further up than your heel) is very important. It puts your dog at ease and helps them to be more relaxed while you share leadership by leading the way!
Start with your dog walking in your driveway. Doing driveway drills up and down your driveway. [Read more…]
How to Train a Dog – Dog Training When Life Happens
Terie Hansen
You’ve been consistently training your dog, things are going well and then life happens. Whether your dog is the friendly, exuberant, overexcited type or the reactive, growly, lunging, and possibly biting type, life will throw you a curve ball now and again and you are best to be prepared. How to train a dog when life happens…
A friend or family member visits, and although you’ve asked them to ignore your easily excitable dog, (who is, clearly one acknowledgement away from losing it) your friend reaches toward your dog, speaking in a high pitched voice, encourages your dog’s excitement and allows him to jump all over them. Your attempts to corral your dog are followed by, ”Oh, I don’t mind! I’
m a dog lover.” from your friend.
At a local pet or home improvement store, while working on your dog’s public access skills, a stranger approaches, outstretched hand, swooping in to pet your dog without so much as asking permission.
While walking your dog, an off-leash dog approaches seemingly out of nowhere and a fight ensues.
Your puppy, who you’ve been training diligently, spends a week with Grandma because of work travel. Upon returning home, it’s as if you never trained him at all.
GEO or Good Enough Obedience is what many owners experience with their dogs. Does this sound familiar? You put your dog in a down and they stay there for a few minutes maybe longer. Then they begin to scratch, stretch, sniff, reach for a toy etc. You don’t do anything because technically they are still in the down. Then they begin to creep ever so slightly but still you are okay with that because they haven’t gotten up. Now we are in the GEO zone. If you’re happy with that, okay. But remember this, the small stuff matters! What you don’t disagree with, you are agreeing with. And if you are agreeing with less than true obedience, you’ll get more of the same. [Read more…]
Living a life filled with fear or anxiety is no fun for humans or dogs. In fact, it is a terrible way to live. Feelings of anxiety, nervousness and fear flood the body with toxic chemicals and can shorten a lifespan. Helping your fearful dog gain confidence can be as simple as introducing exercise into their routine, implementing basic obedience skills, coping skills and using something pleasurable (food or toys) to change the way your dog feels about the fearful object or environment.
6 Potty Training Tips for Puppies and Adult Dogs
I receive many calls regarding potty training both for puppies and adult dogs. With the holiday season there will be many more calls as puppies and dogs are high on the Christmas wish list.
Most people know that a puppy must be potty trained. When adopting an adult dog, you may think that they should already be potty trained. However, if the dog is being adopted from a shelter
As a new puppy owner, you may have been told by your veterinarian, read on the web or heard from other dog owners that you should not socialize your puppy until they have been fully vaccinated. That socialization can wait.
If you heed this advice you will be missing a critical developmental period. Doing so can result in negative behavior issues as they [Read more…]
As reported by Nancy Hinkle, a veterinary entomologist at the University of Georgia’s Department of Entomology, “We’re seeing ticks in greater numbers than we have seen in the last decade.”
With shorter, milder winters and longer, warmer summers the tick population grows. The black legged tick, also known as the “deer tick” is common in Georgia and can live longer than you might expect. During its lifespan of 2-3 years it only needs to feed three times! Contrary to popular belief, the tick spends most of its time in the leaf litter, underbrush or on grasses and plants. NOT on a host. [Read more…]
It’s easy to have your dog become really good at performing the basic commands of sit, down, stay & come when called. Working these basic commands into their daily routine ensures that when you actually need them to perform one of these skills, your dog will be very good at it. This can be a lifesaver!
Think about it… if I taught you a new skill but you only had to use it once in a while, you would most likely not be very good at it. However, if you used that new skill every day then you would be quite excellent at it and could perform it whenever you needed to. It’s the same for dogs! [Read more…]
10 Important Questions to Ask When Hiring a Pet Sitter
I’m sure like most pet owners, you feel that your pets are not just animals they are family members. As such you want to make sure that whoever is caring for them is qualified to do so. As a professional pet sitter, I have heard many horror stories from new clients regarding non-professionals they have used in the past. From pets left for days without food or water, to their pet sitter canceling on them at the last minute, to the person bringing other people, friends or family members into their home, to medications not being administered correctly or at all, to complete no shows and more! These tragedies and more are what caused them to seek out a professional pet sitting service.
There a many pet sitting clearing houses online these days such as care.com, rover.com, sittercity just to name a few. On these sites anyone can sign up and present themselves as a pet sitter. While there are professionals who post on these sites, BEWARE, many are no more than hobbyists or folks who have little to no experience at all.