I couldn’t wait to see who she was going to grow up to be. I could have never imagined a more perfect dog. Hey there everyone, I’d like to talk about our girl Elsa for a bit. If you follow me on instagram, you already know that yesterday was her birthday. This was a biggy, 13. It was even bigger because I truly wasn’t sure that she was going to make her 13th. Early this year she became extremely incontinent; the kind of incontinent that is shocking when you take the diaper off in the morning. There did not seem to be a reason that was obvious. When my dogs turn 10 years of age we do annual to ..read more

Hi guys, is it really almost 2 months since I last blogged. I can’t even believe it. Honestly. Well, it’s been a crazy three months since our home renovation started and we are (fingers crossed) hopefully nearing the finish line. Both Elsa and Riggs have been amazing and adjusted to almost everything we have thrown at them. Dogs are truly spectacular. So, now that I’m back (I’m actually sick so have down time to write) I’d like to re-address reactivity. As a trainer it is one of the most common issues that I’ve dealt with over the years, that and leash pulling which can go hand in hand. On Ri ..read more

Stimulation - something that arouses interest, inspiration, or incitement to action: This morning we surprised a woman and her dog at the park. We were walking along the creekside; then headed up a hill and over. When we got to the top of the hill, there she was. Her dog immediately reacted and so did the she. The guardian instantly yanked on her leash; yelled at her dog and made an abrupt turn and continued to yank.. The encounter caused the dog’s hair to go up from head to toe as it was clearly over stimulated by what unraveled by our presence. Too much stimulation (yelling, yanking, negati ..read more

Canines communicate very differently than we do. I have written about this subject a lot, but lately a lot of people are really getting it wrong.so I’m writing about it again. Dogs are all different; in how they look, in how they communicate and the level of their visual display of emotions. Some dogs have a very low rate of visual emotions; those dogs who seem to just go through life on one level. Then there are the dogs who show an average amount of emotions; who are fairly easy to read if you know what you are reading. Then there are the dogs like Riggs; the ones who have big feeling and w ..read more

We are on day two of a very large renovation. This has been a longtime coming, we have been prepping for months. We are now in the thick of it; and will be without a kitchen, dining room and living room for about 3 months. This of course has thrown a curveball at our routine and we’re just figuring it all out. Lucky for us both Elsa and Riggs are pretty use to having workers around the house. A year ago we put a new roof on our house which was the loudest procedure they’ve ever gone through. Not only did they have to remove one roof, but two. Apparently the previous owners thought it was a go ..read more

It has gone so fast. Here she is as just a baby. First, this is not our first rodeo with a dog in diapers. For those of you who have been following me for a longtime; you know that both Tilley and Jessie were in diapers in their senior years. We had two in diapers while my son and I made our way across the country with 4 dogs in December of 2011. This all began just two days ago but has progressed quickly. Saturday morning as I tidied up Elsa and Riggs bed area I noticed the slight smell of pee. This was extremely unusual so I sort of had one of those big question marks over my head. Elsa cam ..read more

We’re in this together. It’s January 9th 2024 and Riggs just had a seizure. This is the first seizure that he has ever had and as I sat holding him close while he got through it, I was almost in tears. The tears were right there but I didn’t let them come because I had a job at hand. But they were right there as Riggs seizuring brought me back to Luke. Riggs predicessor who had idiopathic epilepsy for 11.5 years of his 14.5 year life. The moment I sat holding Riggs until he came out of it was a surreal one for me. Poodles of all sizes are prone to epilepsy. Luke started his seizures at the ag ..read more

It’s been a minute. Where the heck has the time gone? As the title suggests, it is December 23, 2023; the day before Christmas Eve. I hope that everyone is nice and relaxed and ready for the big day. I am ready and I’m pretty relaxed. It’s been a very busy few months and now we are nearing the moment that many of us have been waiting for. I love Christmas, the whole season is my absolute favorite. So what’s up here at Just Dogs with Sherri? There is a lot in the works, and in the New Year I will be working very hard to get many things that I’ve gotten started…finished. I have a Know Your Dog ..read more

We had a great walk this morning; and on our walk I was actually writing this blog in my head. As we meandered up the hill and into the sun; which was already up due to the time change, I pondered my daily walks. I probably started thinking about my walks because a woman (who’d I’d seen just yesterday) walked by us on her phone. When I say on her phone I mean that it was in front of her and all of her attention was on her screen. This was the same view I got of her yesterday but today it got me to thinking. First, don’t be on your phone. If you have your phone out, hopefully you are taking pi ..read more

Following up on my last blog…WE GOT OUR LUGGAGE BACK! I’m actually shocked; I truly did not think after it went missing on October 5th, we would not be seeing it again. We have no idea if it ever left San Diego or it was lost in the shuffle but we have it back and I am VERY thankful for that. Now, I had wanted to talk about what I noticed when I was power shopping in Niagara-on-the-lake. Prong collars, they were everywhere and I have to say that I am saddened by this. I have written many blogs on the subject and this will not be the last. So many dogs were wearing prong collars. While we were ..read more