Breaking Down Potty Training


Our guest blogger is Josh Aaron- 4th generation dog behaviorist and Lead Trainer at See Spot Sit.

The biggest obstacle new puppy owner’s face when bringing home their new addition is pottytraining. There are many different methods to achieving success in potty training. With any form of training the key to success is consistency, the more consistent and diligent you are with your puppy’s schedule the faster you will achieve success.

UsingProvidencePomskies1 a crate is essential in this time of your puppy’s life. A crate fulfills many basic behavioralneeds your puppy is going to need in their life. In this time it allows you to better control the puppy’sschedule and activity. Anytime your puppy comes out of their crate they go outside, before they go back in the crate they go outside. If you take your puppy out and it doesn’t use the bathroom (in a reasonable amount of time), You should put it back in it’s crate for 10-15 minutes and then try again. If you take your puppy out and it does not use the bathroom and you just bring it back in your house it’sgoing to mess. By putting it back in it’s crate it helps the puppy understand that it doesn’t get rewarded with playtime until it potties outside.

Controlling your puppy’s intake is equally important. It’s very easy to control their food intake and most people do a good job with this. Don’t allow your puppy to graze. Give them an ample amount of time to eat(10-15 minutes), then take the food away until the next feeding. This allows you to know exactly when your dog ate last, therefore you know exactly when your dog needs to go to the bathroom. The problem most people have comes from controlling their water intake. Treat their water just the same as their food. You will be putting water down more often during the day but by doing this you also know exactly when your dog had water last and when it actually needs to go to the bathroom.Be diligent with the schedule of your dog and you will quickly obtain success.
Use this sample as a base for potty training but adjust it to fit your family. In between potty breaks be sure to play with and socialize your puppy.

7:00 Take puppy outside for potty
7:15 Feed puppy in crate
7:30 Take puppy outside to potty, then allow them some play time outside of their crate
8:00-8:15 Put puppy back in crate

Repeat this at lunch time without the feeding
Repeat this at dinner time with feeding
Before you put your puppy in the crate at bedtime walk them one more time.

Josh Aaron, See Spot Sit


What’s a Dog to Eat?


Dog food is exhausting. What should you feed your dog? Raw, kibble, canned? What brand of food? And should it be holistic or grain free? How much and how many times a day? Breaking down the different kinds of dog foods and what to feed can really scare you away from what you actually should feed.

If you think about a wolf, they track their food and kill live animals in the wild. They eat raw bones with meat. They eat offal such as liver and heart. They eat raw eggs. They eat decaying material. They eat a wide variety of Insects, bark, soil, birds – complete with their tiny bones and feathers – whatever. Every meal they eat is totally raw. Not one bit of it is cooked. Ever. They eat vegetables including herbs, from the gut of their prey. This vegetable material is raw, totally crushed and partly digested. They eat feces. A wolf’s diet contain almost no grains. For a wolf – not one single meal consists of dry dog food. They don’t eat canned dog food either.

Now think about what you’re feeding your dog.

Kibble is generally higher in carbohydrates than canned foods, as a certain amount of starch is required for the food to retain its shape. Kibble also requires more preservatives than canned food does, to extend its shelf life. The better dry foods are higher in protein and use natural preservatives such as mixed tocopherols (a form of vitamin E).

Without going into too much detail on the history of dry commercial kibble diets, the short end of the story is that it was introduced in response to the high cost of meat during the Great Depression and was heavily promoted at the end of WWII when it gained popularity for its convenience, ease of distribution and low cost. If our pets have managed to survive off this cheap, convenient, low quality protein source for the last 80 some years, why should we be concerned about it? Even though our pets may be surviving off commercial kibble, can we really say that they are thriving on it?

The answer is pretty clear.


As pet professionals we are seeing a large number of dogs coming in with these issues. Hair falling out and not growing back properly. And that is the first among many problems we see.

For years, raw food enthusiasts have touted the health benefits of uncooked food for humans. Now, veterinarians and pet owners believe that a raw meat diet is best for pets. I believe it. If eating paleo is so great for us these days then why not try it with the dogs? Throw them a chicken breast or some ground beef. Play around with it for about eight weeks and see how much happier and healthier your dog is. 

Amanda Aaron
See Spot Grooming and Daycare

I am writing this from 10,000 feet above somewhere sunny as I return to Louisville following the first “check-up” visit on See Spot Florida store number one.  I am tempted to report on the gleaming beautiful new facility, the smiling thankful faces of customers discovering how we make the grooming experience just a little better, or the happiness of seeing Josh and Amanda (and their tiny family) thriving as they endure the trials of starting a new business. But I won’t.

Instead I find myself thinking of the vast differences between grooming from one area to the next. Grooming itself is a small world. It’s more like a sisterhood (or brother) of professionals who understand the hours, hard work, and passion that combines to create great grooms. That part doesn’t change no matter where you go.  The differences are in the customer experience. In the new See Spot store its apparent that grooming in Florida is a very different animal.

Customers are wary.  One by one they are finding us and the story is always the same. They have had bad experiences- a lot of them. These clients have been through the wringer. They’ve received poor quality cuts, or rude service, or their pets have had rough or neglectful experiences. As See Spot Team members we are pretty accustomed to getting pats on the back. We love our customers and they love us in return. We are told daily that we are really good at our jobs and it’s kind of addictive- we keep trying to be better.

I don’t think every groomer or shop these customers has experienced has been bad but I don’t think their recollections of experiences are exaggerated. I simply think that few shops have set a standard or set best practice standards that are non-negotiable for the customer and pet experience. I’ve met some wonderful groomers already in Florida. Some of the worlds best hail from nearby- but they can only service so many pets. As I fly back over this sunny place toward my old Kentucky home, I am prouder than ever of the commitment that Team Spot has made to every customer and every dog to provide the best experience possible.

Khris- the Original Spotimage

Service Dogs- the new Purse Dogs?


This was reshared from Jan Baldwin, Tulsa Oklahoma. Jan makes a valid point about the rights of service animals being overstepped. Help protect against fraud so that the REAL service animals can continue their important work!


Being involved in a service dog organization has taught me the dangers of people lying about their pet and calling it a service dog. Here’s a little 101 for you.

How can you tell the fakes from the real working dogs?

1. If the dog is confined or has restricted body movement due to being in a stroller or shopping cart, it is unable to physically perform tasks in order to aid their disabled handler.

2. If the dog exhibits poor behavior and the handler isn’t trying to correct it or isn’t removing the dog.

3. If the dog is ENTIRELY focused on interacting with its environment rather than the handler, it cannot be focused on assisting the person with their disability.

Certification, ID tags and vests don’t make a service dog. A dog is considered a service dog when it is trained to physically do something (performs a task or work) in relation to the handlers disability. The dog must be doing something for you, that you cannot do for yourself.

The law does NOT recognize ’emotional support’ or ‘comforting’ to be trained tasks.

There is no legitimate legal certification for service dogs, or emotional support animal.