Check Out Our New Class Page!

Holiday weekend?  Not for us!  Check out the changes we've made to the Class page on our website.  Click on the Class name and see lots of photos from our Wild Side Family!  Check it out by clicking HERE!

The Dodger Attack!

Took a break between sessions to play with the dogs.  Dodger ran up for a little smooch!

Smooches and hugs!

I think we are done, but no, here comes the attack!

Dodger is leaning on me to give me kisses!

Paws on the shoulders, slowly knocking me from a sitting position to the ground!

Dodger has landed!

He is quite happy with himself, and I am covered in smooches!

Do I detect a small smile on his face??

More snugs and a very content Dodger!




Dodger is twelve years old, but I have only had him for three years.  His face is scarred up from abuse.  The first month I had him, we sat with our backs to him in a room holding treats.  After waiting for hours, he would come get a treat and then retreat back to the corner and hide his face.  This is Dodger today!  Please spend time to train, play and love your dogs, it makes a difference!

NEW CLASS: Cool, Calm and Confident

Cool, Calm, and Confident is a class that is all about building up your dog's confidence, through the use of tunnels, arches, ramps, wobble boards and stairs. We will also do a small amount of scent work, which will allow your dog to build confidence by using his or her natural ability to succeed in finding the scent source. This class will help you with desensitizing your dog to sounds such as thunder and fireworks. You will also be introduced to tools that you can use in your home to help release stress and anxiety.

Date:  June 21st - July 26th

Time:  7:30 - 8:30 pm

Location:  Taming the Wild Side Training Facility

Cost:  $125 for an eight week class  (Cash or checks only please.)

Equipment:  Easy to eat treats for your dog, water, water bowl, six foot leash

To sign up for this class, please click the following link:  Sign me up!

NEW CLASS: Beginner Family Dog

A six week course designed for the family companion. Family dogs will learn basic cues (sit, down, stay, leave it, come, and mat training) through targeting, shaping and fun and games!

Date: June 21st - July 26th

Time: 6:00 - 7:00 pm


Location: Taming the Wild Side Training Facility

Cost: $100 for 6 sessions. Cash or checks only please.

Equipment: Easy to eat treats for your dog, water, water bowl, 6 ft. leash, flat collar

NOTE: This class will be limited to 6 dogs.

To sign up for this class, please click the following link:  Sign me up!

Weekly Taming Tip

Each week we'll share a Taming Tip for you, your family and your friends to do with your dog(s)! These tips will help teach your dog real world manners in a fun way. Leave us a comment and tell us how it went!

Taming Tip #13:

Call a friend and set up a training play date! On your date pick two different behaviors that you would like to work on. Practice each behavior a couple of times and then TRADE dogs. Now practice the behaviors with each other's dogs! You will be a great distraction when asking for the behavior that you have already practiced. Dare you try loose leash walking for a few steps?! Let us know how it goes. Remember, click and reward every time the dogs get it right!! Have fun!!

"My Best Day Ever!"

Well it has been a full day of working and training, it is 9:00pm and the night should be winding down, but as I look over at Glacier lying on the couch I realize he still has to have his bath for his therapy session tomorrow. I walk over to him, he wags his big tail and I say, “Let's go take a bath!” He is up and we are headed towards our 3 hour ordeal of shampooing, drying, brushing, teeth cleaning and nail dremeling. We both climb in bed at midnight, I can’t hardly wait for tomorrow!

It is now morning, some last minute touches then I grab Glacier’s Delta vest and suddenly he springs to life! I say, “You want to go see the kids?” He is barking now, tail no longer wagging but instead making huge circular motions, his eyes are shining and they are almost as large as quarters! We load up and we are off.

As we entered the facility, I saw three children and I was told that they were the ones that Glacier was to interact with. The children were there for counseling, each one of them had been abused. Glacier headed to the children as fast as he could possibly go! All three children loved Glacier right away! Two of the children really watched him and had a lot of questions about him. The third child had questions and wanted to touch him and play! He wanted to know what tricks Glacier could do. I showed him how to use hand signals and verbal cues to make Glacier sit, down and rollover. Rollover was his favorite, he asked Glacier to do this about 5 times. Glacier was very willing, his eyes were shining and his tail was wagging! The other children watched and laughed at Glacier's antics!

The child asked him to crawl, toss a cookie off his nose, show him his tummy, pick a playing card, and then he asked to walk him, which we did together. With all of the fun we almost forgot where we were. However, someone stepped out of another office and called the children one at a time to come and speak with them. I saw the faces sadden and carefully off they went. I decided to stay and wait for them to come out. I thought maybe we could end their session with a little more play and they could leave on a much more positive note. Eventually they came out, two of the children got sidetracked and had to do other things, but the third child came out ready to play with Glacier again and Glacier seemed to be waiting for him too. We played a little longer, then suddenly Glacier laid down on the floor and the child laid down with him, using Glacier's side as a big pillow. They looked like a giant ”T”. As we were resting, the child said that he might like to be a dog trainer one day. I laughed and told him how good he had been with Glacier and told him to keep practicing with his little dog and if he wanted to, he could be a dog trainer! Suddenly, it was time for him to go, he got up with a big smile on his face, shook my hand and turned to Glacier and gave him a very large hug and said, “Glacier, this was my best day ever!” I was shocked and as he left tears came to my eyes and I thanked God for this most precious gift of a dog that could help a child who had to explain some terrible incident that had happened in his life to a stranger, yet Glacier made it his best day ever.

Not all of my dogs are therapy dogs but each one of them has made me feel like spending time with them has been “my best day ever" or "best moment ever". They are wonderful social animals that should not be neglected or left in a backyard. Take the time to train your dogs, play with them and be affectionate with them, and you might be surprised what you get in return!

Banjo and Penny

Moose

Katie and Glacier

Katie

Dodger and Katie

Check it out!

A big Wild Side shout out and thank you to Mary Beth and Robert H.  Robert painted a cartoon mural for our restroom door.  Doesn't it look GREAT?!?



Robert putting the finishing touches on the door



Gotta dot those eyes!

Time to sign it!

Thanks Robert for doing such a great job!

It's awesome!  We love it!

Robert and Jeep - Hey ... I think Jeep is eyeing that fire hydrant!

Fitness with Fido!

Our first Fitness with Fido class was a BLAST!  We'll be at Pecan Valley Park every Saturday at 9:00 am through June 18th.  We are still taking registrations for another week, come join us and get in on the FUN!  For more information, please call Terri at 817-333-4579.



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Scent-sational Sniffers Graduation!

Congrats to our first Scent class!  It was awesome watching the dogs use their natural instincts to hunt and find scent.  We had a super group of dogs and handlers and it was great seeing them working together.  Way to go Janet and Walker, Barb and Pip, Debbie and Luke and Ellen and Clipper!




Janet and Walker



Barb and Pip

Debbie and Luke

Check out their super video!





Now on to Scent-sational Sniffers Level II with even BIGGER and BETTER searches!!





Can't get enough of our Super Sniffers?  Click the following link for more pictures:  Show me MORE!

Tomorrow's the Day!

Don't forget, Fitness with Fido starts Saturday morning!  We did a short preview in our Intermediate Family Dog class today, check it out!




For more information on Fitness with Fido, please click the following link:  Tell me more!

If you would like to sign up for this class, please click the following link:  Sign me up!

Fitness with Fido!

Have you signed up for Fitness with Fido? Fanchee and Terri have been working on the exercise routines and we're gonna have a blast! We will have people size weave poles, ramps, tunnels, jumps and some great routines from Fanchee! Get ready to burn some calories with your companion!! Come join the fun!



Fanchee and Charlie




A unique way to do ab work!





Putting together the routine




Come see what we came up with!


For more information on Fitness with Fido, please click the following link:  Tell me more!

If you would like to sign up for this class, please click the following link:  Sign me up!