Yes!!! It did happen!!

The wedding was spectacular, the people were amazing, the bride and groom were beaming with joy and happiness, and the dogs were a sight to behold.

I am sure you have all had these perfect moments where everything fell into place just so and you felt nothing but gratitude, pure joy, and happiness.

The dogs did come out during the wedding, they were allowed to run around and get absolutely filthy dirty, and say hello to the wedding guests, who took it all in stride!

Here’s a short video clip to commemorate the great event

2 dogs and a wedding, or maybe 5 dogs and a wedding?

two dogs and a wedding!

or maybe even 5 dogs and a wedding!

This is going to be an exciting weekend.

 We have a wedding planned on our property for one of our coworkers.

Today the tents are going up, the parking arrangements are being  finalized, and our 3 dogs are all out of sorts due to the unusual activities on our property.

They knew something was up a couple of days ago when their normal daily routine of walks and playtime was altered in favor of accommodating the various comings and goings of new people!

My dogs LIKE new people and will gladly announce their arrival with some woofing and tail waggings. 

Lucky for us all, they know that : THANK YOU means : "I am aware, and we heard enough of that! "

The bride and Groom have two dogs, and the plan is to have them ( and possibly my three dogs) join in the wedding fun and be guests at the event for short periods of time!

Here is our dilemma, the big event tent is set up near our pond, a pond where the dogs are usually allowed to go in to swim, AND the bride has a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, who LOVES  WATER!!!! to the point of loudly and sometimes obsessively complaining if he doesn't get to run into the water and swim swim swim....

Soooo , what is a dog trainer to do.... manage and control the dogs with simple commands, some favorite tricks and exercises they know well and are stars at performing, or let the dogs have some real fun, allow them to run into the pond, swim around and splash and frolic, get muddy and then promptly go hug all the wedding guests??? 

If it was just up to us DOG People, the choice would be an easy one: Get the official ceremony and dinner over with and then when everyone is happy, dancing and singing, to RELEASE the HOUNDS!

BUT........ Not all 90 plus wedding guests will be as dog friendly as our dog loving friends and as much as the dogs are People Friendly, it may raise a few eyebrows. .  

So we need your help, tell us what YOU would and would not do if this was YOUR BIG EVENT with YOUR dog in attendance. Tell us you past experiences or your future plans and how much fun ( or not) it was or will be!

We promise to fill you in after the weekend on what we actually ended up doing. 

Personally, I hope the bride and groom will opt for Active Dog Participation, I know it will make the event more memorable for all!

Comments:

I have just read the blog and the plight you were trying to decide which direction to go.

Trying to keep all guests, happy and fed and enjoy everything is a thought, but it is the bride and groom day, and others are invited to be part of it.

That being said the two dogs are part of their family and should be included. Granted it would not be a good idea before dinner to have them join the group, one will immediately go swimming for even the bride and groom is a joyous occasion to see how happy it makes their dog.

I would wait until after dinner after the speeches to release the hounds you could even give everybody a plastic tarp to be wrapped around them so their clothes won’t get dirty  but worn the not dog people That this will give the dogs, the greatest joy in the whole wide world which will add to the joyous occasion.

I can hardly wait for the pictures and to hear the outcome. Send special hugs to the bride and groom and the dogs

Leslie

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What is new with us???

What is new with you????🐕

You have probably noticed that our classes and private lessons have moved to two new location for the summer months!

We are very excited to be able to host our sessions at the Nanaimo BCSPCA on Westwood road on Tuesday and Thursday night, and at Beban Park on Wednesday and Friday, with the Weekend classes and additional Wednesday night and daytime sessions at Various Cedar locations!

There are exciting program additions and changes on the horizon for late fall!

Right now the options are extensive: Scent work and Tracking foundations, Rally, REAL LIFE and the Good manners level 1 PUP AND UP is one of our most popular classes , with the NEXT LEVEL 2 class rounding out a good foundation for all youngsters!

Just like children go through kindergarten, elementary, high school and beyond, so do we need to guide our dogs from pups to youngsters to well adjusted adults with great social skills by using our brains, not our brawn !

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR YOUR DOG?

Most clients have realistic expectation, and understand that a 4 or even a 6 month old pup does not know how our rules apply to them, but with just a little bit of SMART TRAINING, using resource the dog enjoys to guide them into good manners we can accomplish absolutely amazing results in a short time frame!

Just the other day I met a young cattle dog, who had been taken in from a rescue, with a history of being rehomed several times in the past 6 months....

The story was that the dog was unruly and barky with reactivity towards noises and dogs.

What a revelation the new owner had when we had our first session and quickly discovered that this dog is so incredibly quick in learning new skills, that it only took two repetitions before it completely understood what the goal of the various exercises was. No wonder he was action up and action out, he was continuously frustrated due to a lack of clear communication between handler and dog...

Often we are too quick in labeling the dogs with terms like: aggresive, unruly, obstinate, dumb....

Our mission is to help you to help your dog , to empower your dog to make choices you both can live with while working through our Force Free, Pain Free and Fear Free programs!

The BEST DOGS in Nanaimo Always Come to BEST PAW!!!!

Hope to see you soon in class, or on a walk in one of our beautiful parks!