Our Live Virtual Puppy Classes are meant for the youngest puppies, allowing them to learn in the safety of their own homes.   To our knowledge we are the only trainers in all of NYC offering this service to new puppy owners.  Has your veterinarian recommended that you not take your puppy to group class until they have all their shots?  Have you read that early socialization is critical to raising a happy and behaviorally healthy pup?  Do you live in an area that does not offer puppy classes that meet your needs due to training styles used or accessibility? At Pumpki ..read more

My vet says I can’t expose my puppy to other dogs.  This is a common refrain and we have the answer, our virtual Puppy Essentials classes!! Many veterinarians are laying down strict rules for their clients about exposing puppies to pathogens before they are fully vaccinated.  With current vaccination schedules this means waiting until your puppy is 4 or sometimes even 5 months old.  That is like keeping a child home until they are 3 years old.  Something we would never consider for humans. Our classes coach you in all your need to know about raising a happy, well rounded pu ..read more

We recently learned firsthand that sending our dogs to daycare could yield surprises if you don’t read before signing any contracts, agreements, or waivers. Picture this: Your dog goes to daycare for fun, play, or to manage separation anxiety on a long day when you are gone.  You are looking at photos shared by the daycare and notice that your dog is wearing a collar with a box on it. You have not been told that your dog is behaving in a way that the daycare needs to address.  We don’t know exactly what kind of collar it is, we do know that it is meant to stop a behavior with ..read more

We recently learned firsthand that sending our dogs to daycare could yield surprises if you don’t read before signing any contracts, agreements, or waivers. Picture this: Your dog goes to daycare for fun, play, or to manage separation anxiety on a long day when you are gone.  You are looking at photos shared by the daycare and notice that your dog is wearing a collar with a box on it. You have not been told that your dog is behaving in a way that the daycare needs to address.  We don’t know exactly what kind of collar it is, we do know that it is meant to stop a behavior with ..read more

News about the new canine respiratory virus that has been seen in a number of states around the US is concerning, but let’s not panic! PumpkinPups is paying close attention to the spread of this new virus. We will use our public facing spaces to update you on the latest recommendations for our area.  As of this writing, there have been no reported cases in NY state, but we will undoubtedly see it at some point in the future. These are some ways you can protect your dog: 1.  If your dog goes to daycare, boarding, or in-person classes make sure that your provider uses broad spectr ..read more

PumpkinPups Dog Training is proud to announce that the training team has completed their coursework and are all Certified Family Dog Mediators. Viviane took it to the second level and is licensed in Behavior and Training.  Family Dog Mediators carefully examine all the elements of a dog’s life with their family and the wider world in order to create a plan that fits and is customized for that particular family unit. We look at: Learning - Prior learning experiences of both the dog and the humans as it relates to relationship between the animal and the humans. Environment - The environ ..read more

By Julie Wintrob, CPDT-KA, FFCP, FDM When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, like many people we had to switch from teaching in-person classes to virtual classes. I know that was true for many others in different fields of work from teachers to doctors and even judges.  Even though we are no longer in the grip of the pandemic, the benefits for both the dogs and the humans that we discovered during COVID remain! Here are some benefits of virtual classes I have observed for dog owners: Comforts of Home Many puppy owners found it easier to meet their pups’ needs from home where they could offer a tr ..read more

By Julie Wintrob, CPDT-KA, FFCP, FDM There is a lot online already about the benefits of attending a puppy class for your puppy between positive socialization, building trust, and creating a foundation for training. I’m here to talk about how attending a puppy class can be beneficial for you (the human)! For context, I regularly teach a virtual six week puppy class through PumpkinPups Dog Training. Each class runs for an hour and at most I have six pups per class. Accountability Whether you are a first time dog owner or an experienced long time dog owner. Raising a puppy takes a lot of work an ..read more

Original Post June 27, 2022 WAYS TO IMPROVE OUTDOOR SAFETY AND INDOOR CALM. In July 2019, in her 4th of July Blog post for PumpkinPups, Kizz Robinson Lead Trainer for PumpkinPups classes asked the reader: “What one day of the year are the most dogs lost in the US? If you guessed the 4th of July, you're right!” Unless you know your dog is bomb proof in the presence of loud booming sounds and chaos, leave them home and/or stay home with them on the 4th. When it comes to outdoor safety, we have a number of tips in our blog series about dogs that are flight risks.  We want you to be prepare ..read more

Original Post Nov 27, 2022 PumpkinPups founder Viviane Arzoumanian joins Nihal Salah on the Rescue Tails Podcast for a chat about why our dogs bark, and what you can do about it. You can hear a snippet here on Facebook Watch or listen to the full podcast episode here ..read more