Dog Training Tips for Toronto Dog Owners
Browse our library of actionable dog & puppy training articles
Actionable advice for Toronto Dog Owners
Five Tips to Keep Your Dog Exercised and Enriched When It’s Freezing Outside
As a dog guardian, you know how important exercise and mental stimulation are for your furry friend. But what do you do when the weather outside is frightful? Keeping your dog active and engaged during the cold months can be challenging, but it's not impossible. Here...
Scary or Supportive? Puppy Socialization Done Right
Am I doing it right? Everybody that gets a new puppy has one thing at the top of their mind: socialization. But what IS it? HOW do you do it? WHEN should you start? What is socialization? From Oxford Languages: the activity of mixing socially with others.the process...
My Dog is Bored and is Driving Me Crazy – Enrichment During Social Distancing / COVID-19
By Dr. Sarah Shapiro-Ward Enrichment describes all the activities our dogs do which fulfill their mental, social and physical needs. Toronto dogs are typically accustomed to getting their social time through daycare, dog walkers, playdates and dog parks. Physical...
Is my dog playing, bullying, or fighting?
In our Puppy Socialization classes, one of the lessons we try to teach new puppy owners is how to recognize the signs of appropriate and healthy play between dogs. On one hand, we have some owners that are "helicopter parents" and at the onset of anything more...
New Puppy Help! Expert Advice from When Hounds Fly Dog Training
Congratulations on your new addition! Bringing home a new puppy is a big event and it’s your job to raise them to be confident and successful in the world. Having helped over 12,000 dogs (and their owners) since 2010, we’ve been asked a lot of questions from new puppy...
How to Successfully Trim Your Dog’s Nails: A Step-by-Step Guide
Nail trimming is an essential part of dog care, yet it can be a daunting task for both pet and pet parent, especially if your dog has a history of discomfort or fear associated with it. Keeping your dog's nails short is crucial for their overall health and mobility,...
Understanding Your Dog’s World: Preparing for a New Baby
Welcoming a new baby into your home is a life-changing event, not just for you but for your dog as well. As your family grows, your dog will face adjustments to new sounds, sights, and routines. Understanding these changes from your dog's perspective is crucial for...
That Time I Sent My Parent’s Dog to a Choke Chain Trainer
When I was a new dog owner, I thought all training was positive reinforcement based and I had never heard of or seen aversive training techniques. My parents, who lived in the Vancouver area at the time, were eager to adopt a Beagle mix named Cooper. To ensure a...
Five Tips to Keep Your Dog Exercised and Enriched When It’s Freezing Outside
As a dog guardian, you know how important exercise and mental stimulation are for your furry friend. But what do you do when the weather outside is frightful? Keeping your dog active and engaged during the cold months can be challenging, but it's not impossible. Here...
New Year’s Training Resolutions for Your Dog
Every year at this time, people worldwide make New Year's resolutions: returning to the gym, beginning a meditation practice, saving money, eating healthier, and many others. Unfortunately, 80% of these resolutions fail by mid-February. So, why not make a resolution...
My Friendly Dog is Now Reactive! Help
By Rachael Johnston, KPA CTP As someone who works a lot with dogs and humans in the context of private lessons I commonly hear this story from many a confused and exasperated client: “My energetic puppy used to be friendly to all the dogs he met but now that he is a...
The Secret to Helping Your Reactive Dog
Written by Rachael Johnston, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, Family Paws Educator If you are the owner of a leash reactive dog, you are not alone! In fact, many dog guardians in Toronto struggle with leash reactivity in their dogs. It is certainly not an uncommon sight...
Why We Refuse to Board and Train
Just this month I was asked by two people (a fellow Karen Pryor Academy trainer, and a Toronto veterinarian) whether I do board and train or whether I had referrals for trainers that did. My response to them was this: "Most board and train facilities are terrible and...
If Not You, Then Who?
Dear Dog Training Professional: If I know you're good, you've gotten referrals from me. I don't travel far to see clients, and neither do the other trainers here. My general rule of thumb is, if I can't bike there in 20 minutes from one of our locations, then it's too...
My Dog Barks at Dogs and People Out The Window
Perhaps you know the house on your street where as soon as you walk by, you are greeted by a frantic and not-so-friendly sounding bark and bump on a glass window? Oh look, there's that dog - he always barks at us when we walk by this house. Many owners think that...
Understanding Your Dog’s World: Preparing for a New Baby
Welcoming a new baby into your home is a life-changing event, not just for you but for your dog as well. As your family grows, your dog will face adjustments to new sounds, sights, and routines. Understanding these changes from your dog's perspective is crucial for...
Five Tips to Keep Your Dog Exercised and Enriched When It’s Freezing Outside
As a dog guardian, you know how important exercise and mental stimulation are for your furry friend. But what do you do when the weather outside is frightful? Keeping your dog active and engaged during the cold months can be challenging, but it's not impossible. Here...
New Year’s Training Resolutions for Your Dog
Every year at this time, people worldwide make New Year's resolutions: returning to the gym, beginning a meditation practice, saving money, eating healthier, and many others. Unfortunately, 80% of these resolutions fail by mid-February. So, why not make a resolution...
Boxing Week Sale
Get ready to bring out the best in your pup with our exclusive Boxing Week Sale! Purchase any Puppy Start Right or Foundation Skills package during this period and enjoy a bonus 30-minute Flash Sale private lesson. It's personalized training, just for you and your...
Moving to Riverdale (836 Danforth Ave)
East End folks! We are moving our classes effective January 1st, 2024. We're looking forward to seeing you at 836 Danforth, Unit B, inside the new Pack of Paws Riverdale dog daycare. Conveniently located on the Bloor/Danforth subway line for transit users (check the...
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When Hounds Fly is proud to have the largest number of Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partners (KPA CTPs) and Certified Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KAs) on staff of any training organization in Canada.
You can count on us to deliver
Training You’ll Feel Good About – A Commitment to Positive Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement methods are the most effective way to change behaviour, and make the learner (both human and dog!) feel supported and have a fun and enjoyable time learning.
An Experience Both You and Your Dog Will Enjoy
Every time you train this way with your dog, they’ll light up and come to you with this look of eagerness, joy, and anticipation. Working with us means that training changes from something you do to your dog – into an activity that you and your dog can’t wait for. The connection you build with your dog through our training methods is something that you have to experience.
In Your Neighbourhood, When You Need Us
We believe every dog (and their owners) should benefit from socialization and training as part of their health and wellness. We’re in convenient locations, with classes nearly every day of the week, at convenient times. To keep you from waiting too long, our core classes are “Start Anytime”, so enrollment is on-going. For private lessons, we continue to grow our team (currently over 12 instructors) so you can see us as quickly as possible.