ABOUT US

   American Dog Shopper came about mainly from my own desire to share my thoughts and feelings about dog products and the treatment they received from my less than gentle Australian Shepherd puppy Cassie, her older sister Lilly and my mother's little boy Tobey.   Lilly has sadly passed away, but we've added Handel to the group who is a little difficult to interest in toys.  He'll spend more time testing out our Behavior Modification tools, as he's happy as long as there are tennis balls in the world.  

   I (Jessica, the American Dog Shopper) work at very fun and exciting place called Peaceable Paws, which is a training center in western Maryland owned and run by an amazing woman named Pat Miller.   At PPaws, I help out in the office and around the farm and wrangle the Puppy Social classes on Tuesdays.  In the fall I'll be acting as instructor for my first set of Good Manners Classes, which is going to be equal parts terrifying and exhilarating!  As an apprentice at Peaceable Paws, I've gained so much knowledge about Positive Reinforcement Training and dogs in general.   After completing several trainer academies (I'm one away from my PMCT1), I know in my heart +R is the only way I want to work with dogs, especially dogs like Handel who need special treatment (though we use a lot of CC/D for Handel, which doesn't really have an operant quadrant).  


   This blog isn't really about training, though I will from time to time throw some advice out there, but know that when I tell you about products it will be with a very Positive bent.  You won't see tools that are coercive or aversive (not on my dogs!) - unless they are offered as a demonstration of what doesn't work.  Please don't ask for reviews of  - bark collars, electronic collars, e-collars, whatever you want to call them there is no getting around the fact that they are all SHOCK COLLARS - and we don't do that here...If you want to see a worried or excited dog become aggressive, go ahead and put one of these on your dog and then give me a call when you're ready to start fixing the trouble you've caused (I'll be happy to make you an appointment with Pat).  


Also, I won't often write about dog food (there are some really great sites for that already) though I will discuss certain treats and chews on the market. I will also try to avoid links to obscure products that I don't think the average dog owner will enjoy. Most of the items I'll bring before you can be purchased at your garden-variety mega-mall pet stores (Petco, Petsmart etc) or online from Amazon, though don't count out the value of your small local Pet and Feed store (that's often where the best stuff hides). When I do direct you to something outside of the general market it will only be because it was wonderful and I think your best friend will really enjoy it.