Ringo- A short video of one of our foster dogs
Ringo is a year old Springer Spaniel who is being fostered here at the Family Foundation School by the Dog Corps. If interested in adopting this dog please visit our website!
Mom’s home!!!
Everyday i come home, you would swear i’d have been gone for years 
Makes you feel a little better about yourself doesn’t it??? Below is a short video shot of the pack, you’ll see most of them weave in and out of the kitchen happy to have me back home safe and sound. Take note of Otto the 9 week old GSD pup, hes new to the pack only with us a few days when this was shot. His body language in the beginning playing with the other dogs is great, he learned how to position his ears and what to do with his body to solicit play without coming on to aggressive or scary. This boy is amazing and my pack is incredible at giving dogs what they need.
No rest for the weary
Well the last month has been CRAZY. I cannot get all the seperate blog posts up that i would like to for the events that have occured over the last few weeks but i will try to update in one semi short post!
Some quick good news, we have a new car and i *think* the dogs will like it.
The new Canine Copilot mobile
It’s a holiday weekend?
Well of course we humans know its a holiday weekend but honestly the dogs have no idea. Despite numerous k9 injuries all weekend long (the human actually stayed semi healthy!) we still made the best of what we had. Friday was a quite morning and mom got to celebrate her birthday with a long pack hike. It was peaceful and relaxing. The dogs too enjoyed it even though mom always makes them behave during these things!!!
Obedience and focus is necessary in the Canine Copilot pack
The weekend was filled with an enjoyed balance of outside sun and fresh air and nice quite evenings by the fire in the backyard. As usual the afternoons were doggie nap time
And then back to the wilderness we returned!!!!
Girls
Sometimes words aren’t necessary…….i’m pretty sure the pictures say it all!
Follow you, Follow me
I have so much in life to be thankful for, and i’m not sure that i even realize it all yet! My work with canines is amazing, its groundbreaking, and it comes from within me. I feel like i have so much to offer, i just want to yell it from the roof tops……….this is how to live life with your dog!!!!!!! I try to express some of it on here, or in my video’s on youtube but i just don’t think i do it justice. I think, i hope, and from what i’ve heard, i am very capable of communicating it to my clients but i just want to reach more people, let them know that i can ensure they have a better relationship with their dog!
Pack member #10 Emeline
Weiss is our newest member, he was turned over to Life Long Tails and is being fostered by us in hopes we can groom him to be a search dog or detection dog of some nature. He and his brother were pretty shy pups last week when he came home, and weib (pronounced vice) did not know a single thing about how to “talk dog” with other canines. He would growl (yes growl at 12 weeks old) over bones, and challenge the adult dogs in the house without blinking twice. The look of confusion on his face when the stood over him and growled back, or offered a quick snap when approaching too fast when they were sleeping, or even when they play bowed to him in invitation to play he just didn’t get it. 5 days later and Weib play bows and chases the other dogs around the back yard, understands if he puts his ears back he can submit to the other dogs and release pressure from himself, and gathers he has a place in the pack. His barking and whining is now at a minimum as he feels more comfortable with himself as a canine. The difference in him is drastic, he loves to swim, go on hikes with the shepherd girls, search for cadaver and play fetch. What my pack of dogs can do is teach a pup how to be himself, they are miracle workers! Now don’t get me wrong my dogs are not perfect, they each have there own flaws like we all do but my pack has helped rehab hundreds of aggressive, neglected, abused, or plain confused pooches over the years. One on one with my clients they are impressive and provide the stability that is needed when i work with other peoples crazy canines, but as a pack, as my group of dogs in my house they are a group of educators, a collaboration of canines fit to help anyone with me, their leader in front. I’m not sure why i call them my canine copilot pack, the name just stuck around a few years ago and it fits. The pack is ever changing as we see dogs come and go but they are right there beside me every step of the way. Follow you, follow me, my canine copilot pack has built a reputation for themselves and they are ready to help!
If you are having problems with your canine and would like help please email or call us!!! Check us out online www.EliteInstinctCanine.com
Our morning routine
I love the “days off” i have because the morning routine is so much more fun! First off we sleep in till 6am (which is PRETTY AMAZING!!) then everyone rushes outside for a morning pee and i sit on the back deck taking in the air, trying to decipher if it will be a good day or a rainy one. We then move on in and i make coffee and get some work done on the computer while the pups lay around and chew or fall back asleep on the couch! A few times an hour a long nose will nudge me and one of the shepherds just reminds me they are still around and breakfast is still a necessity.
Oh Kendal!
Anna performs a round of ear cleaning and you hear content sighs from all around the living room of the dogs relaxing and succumbing to another day in the Canine Copilot pack. It’s mornings like this which i’m amazed. My dogs are the best, and I know everyone says that but they really are. When asked to go out and do a job, and save a life the girls will step up and perform like pro’s but when asked to “turn off” and lay around with a 6 pound chihuahua in their lap and not eat him…….they are much obliged. My group of dogs is a testament to what you CAN own, if you raise them and teach them that this is the way. I do not believe there are any certain “limitations” that must be put on working dogs and if they are raised correctly and trained properly they can coexist in a large group of other canines and be extremely happy!
I swear mom i am just gently "mouthing" his face!
Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday is a flashback of old pictures, enjoy!!!
A young titan
Puppy Valentine
Cosmic girls
My cosmic girls, that has a ring to it doesn’t it? Well they know they are cosmic, i mean they save lives right? And to make it better they are so gosh darn cute doing it!
Cosmic. Relaxing after the find
Last weekend was great, the girls worked problems 5 days out of the week and i really saw good progress with the quick refind and fast long barking. Whew i think my hand hurts from writing so many training log entries!
Epic
My girls are truly truly cosmic.
Everyone looking like stars
As always the girls impress me when day after day i ask so much of them! Just a short video clip of last weekends fun time after of course a day of work. More updates to follow!
Not spring thats for sure
Woke up at 6am this morning (got to sleep in whooo hoooo) to a whoping 2 feet of snow. I couldn’t even open the back door, had to slip out and shovel off the back porch so the door could open and dogs could get out. Most didn’t want to go it was over their head but the shepherds couldn’t wait and took off clearing paths for the smaller dogs. Poor Fugly got lost in the snow banks!
With a state of emergeny in Broome County plans of in town training was demolished. Instead we played in the backyard, went on a short but tiring hike and did some small scent problems. The girls were still happy.
All in all not a bad hang around the house snow day. Man and we could see green grass yesterday…………..
I think i’m sore!!
Another good weekend done, and boy did this one leave us sore. We headed down to Tech city again in Kingston to work some building stuff. The snow that melted re froze as ice and it is rough out in the woods for the pups paws! The building work was great, it gives a good tight area to work quick refinds and some really weird scent pictures. I was able to run all the “pups” and younger dogs multiple times on problems of varying length depending on their skill level. The girls blew me away like usual. Eme worked some longer hard blind problems and even with other dogs off leash distracting her work still came back and indicated like she should.
Raina off working the scent
Raina did some great blind problems and it was amazing to watch her work the scent. She worked it perfectly with no bad habits in place, you could really tell where the scent was being carried and where it wasn’t. She had some great head pops into rooms and even the stairwell the subject was in.
I got my toy
One of the hardest problems of the day was up on the 4th floor which was essentially the roof. Due to the nature of the building as an old IBM plant the huge cooling fans and big metal fan rooms where a perfect creepy place to train the dogs. Eme worked a great blind problem up there and after climbing 4 huge flights of stairs (perfectly with no hesitation, mom on the other hand had some burning legs!) she was unfazed by the huge metal air ducts she had to search and the bomb shelter like rooms! Once she found the subject she gave a few whines before actually jumping into the airduct but then did a perfect refind, with her machine gun bark!
Dark dark room
It was also mr felix bleu’s first time doing building work and he did great. The boy was knocking down doors to get to his subject and we even incorporated a recall back to Kara during this training. From here on out his find will now end at kara after he has found his subject. She is working on his bark indication and we should be able to put that in pretty quickly. An amazing boy that felix bleu!
I LOVE my ball!!!
It was a great day and the dogs love the building work. Thank you tech city and we will be back!!!!
Tech City Kingston NY
A busy weekend for us all
Friday saturday and sunday brought the Petsmart adoption even where people get to meet and great all our wonderful animals and talk with volunteers about us and what we do. Thanks to a grant from Greg Biffle the nascar driver we were able to order some great tshirts, banner, new business cards, and other vital items to use at our fundraisers!!!
We managed to get some applications and do a few adoptions too! The ferrets where a hit and the dogs all did great. We were able to make some new friends and meet some potential new adopters!!
It was a wonderful weekend and we were able to help even more animals!! Thank you to the support from the community!!
In Loving Memory
This post is in loving memory of Camo, the aussie border collie mix we pulled from death from Darlington animal shelter in SC. Camo slipped his collar on his way up here to us and was hit and killed by a speeding train while on the run. Camo was a great dog and we were thrilled to be able to save his life, rehabilitate him and find him his forever home. Unfortunately this poor boy is now at the rainbow bridge with our other lost Life Long Tails dogs. Rest in Peace my little man who we never even got to meet.
