PIANO IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10//25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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WEEKLY PROMPT: WEEK 5

Piano had a good week here at PAWS. We believe Piano has fully settled into his spot here, which gives us the opportunity to see him and how he behaves when he is most comfortable. Waiting for this to happen is important because it gives us the opportunity to really see how he will behave when he is given a home somewhere new, and if there are any issues we can resolve those and hopefully extinguish these behaviors.

One thing that Piano does have an issue with is resource guarding. For those that do not know what resource guarding is, it is protecting a resource (food, water, toys, people) by acting aggressively toward those who would try and take that resource from Piano. This is a fairly common behavioral problem, but what is really important to understand is that the issue stems from fear, and scared dogs can be volatile. The process for training this behavior out of him can look different, but the route that we used with Piano was to approach the issue with patience and confidence. We started by sharing things – in practice that does not look like us chewing the same bone – but we would hold the bone while he chews it lending to the message that the bone is mine but we can share. Since we never lose possession of the bone it is much easier to take from him. Then we moved on to giving him the bone for a short duration (1 or 2 minutes) then coming back for it. Over time we have worked to longer timeframes of him having things, along with the perceived value of those things in his mind. This is a long process, but it’s important to remember that this issue stems from fear, so knowing that we moved forward by not taking the item for very long, just a few seconds, and giving it right back. We were hoping to instill in him the idea that we may take it for a moment but he will get it right back. This alleviates the fear that he has and therefore addresses the root cause of the problem – the fear that he will lose it.

Overall this week we have worked on exposing Piano to places that he typically does not go. We adventured out into the parking lot and played follow the leader with the whole pack of dogs here at PAWS. Because Piano is doing so great, he was the dog chosen to lead the pack. This is a fun way to expose the dogs to new environments and new things but also to show the dogs that we expect obedience in all environments.

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FOR MORE INFO ON PIANO? CLICK HERE. 

NINA IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10/25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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WEEK FIVE

Nina is a middle of the road girl—she is neither dominate nor submissive, when engaged in pack play she get along well with all; her energy also medium. When mischief breaks out she is quick to find a different playmate, or return to her human leader. This week I focused on recalling her out of playgroups and she responded very well. As much as she enjoys pack play Nina is truly loyal to her people.

New areas (physical places) need more work as Nina is very interested in her surroundings, especially what is going on in front of her. During a walkabout this week we ended up in the back of the pack. This did not sit well with her. She wanted to know what was going on up front. This required me to reset her multiple times, new areas are going to take more outings to generalize. Proofing in our common areas is going well, she’s become an excellent walker.

We’ve been working on a series of tricks, she knows: “center,” walking in the center of our legs. ”Weave,” in and out of our legs. She “sits pretty,” “rolls –over,” “jumps over and crawls under,” “backs-up,” goes to place, and fetches (with a release command of yes). She is an awesome training dog to our new apprentices, working patiently with them for 5 hours this week.

For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON NINA? CLICK HERE. 

CEASAR IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10/25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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WEEKLY PROMPT: Week five

Rate your dog’s week (low) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (high): 9

Please explain why you chose this number: Caesar gets a nine this week due to his improved impulse control. Being naturally hyper intense, Caesar’s attention span was little to none when he arrived here at PAWS.

What commands did you work on this week? (If the command same as the week before, what was different about your dog’s performance?): This week we’ve worked on Caesar’s reaction to inspection and grooming. He didn’t like his feet being touched and would playfully mouth our hand and the grooming brush when attempting inspections and grooming process.

What did you do for playtime with your dog?: This week Caesar played with Rocco a lot. He is checking in more and more during playtime sessions. When he does this, he is rewarded with kibble or a good scratch behind the ears.

What is one interesting thing you noticed about your dog this week?: Caesar see’s every moment as a time to play and goof around. He is a very happy and playful dog that views the world as his own personal playground.

What is one thing (training related) you believe you did good at this week?: The team did well as a whole this week. We stayed consistent in training operations and it shows in Caesars’ behavior. He looks to be back on track in all of his commands and behavior training.

What is one thing (training related) you could improve on: Communication and consistency. Of course these two aspects could always be improved throughout the entirety of the dog training process.

WEEKLY SUMMARY (Five)

Caesar

This week was a good one for Caesar. He’s worked on impulse control and inspection and grooming, where he has shown much improvement. Caesar had a tendency to mouth our hands when attempting to inspect his paws, though it was in a playful manner, it is a response we would like to remove from Caesar’s behavior.

To help Caesar become desensitized the touching of his paws, we used the slow feeder to keep his attention while we softly touched the top of his paws. As he showed lack of interest in this paws inspection process, the more in depth the inspection process became. By the end of the week, Caesar is completely comfortable with inspections and grooming.

Caesar has begun playing with Rocco more and more. He still has fun with Nina, but gets along well matching Rocco’s energy during playtimes. We have been working on calling him away from play groups when things get too wound up. He is responding most times we attempt this. When he successfully recalls from group play, he is rewarded with kibble treats or a good scratch under his collar, and then allowed to return to play.

Because Caesar is very impulsive, we have been making him wait for his bowl feedings and initial release into play group. Once he exhibits a calm and patient manner, his reward is ‘’okay’’, which releases him to be free to feed or play. I can see this being a constant practice not only here, but after adoption as well.

For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON CEASAR? CLICK HERE. 

 ROCCO IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10/25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

 

Rate your dog’s week 7

Please explain why you chose this number

Dog’s number: The reason I chose this number was because we started to work Rocco in new environments around different distractions. It feels as if we took one step back and all of Rocco’s progress went out the window in these places, so it was a lot to work on.

What commands did you work on this week? (If the command same as the week before, what was different about your dog’s performance?): This week we worked on duration commands and also trying to work on farther distances. We worked lots on stand stays as well as inspections, working towards using minimal treats.

What did you do for playtime with your dog?: We have been doing pack plays with the dogs, one on one times with dogs.

What is one interesting thing you noticed about your dog this week?: This week I noticed that Rocco completely changes in high distracting environments, and simply new ones. When we worked out in the parking lot, Rocco was all over the place and was not willing to take treats or hear anything being communicated with him.

What is one thing (training related) you believe you did good at this week?: This week I believe I did great at being patient with Rocco and not feeling discouraged when I felt as if he was starting to go backwards with his progress this week. As the dogs get comfortable, they at times seem to not be as engaged overtime so it’s up to us to find new techniques to engage with the dogs and continue to make training fun!

What is one thing (training related) you could improve on?: We could improve on continuing exposure as much as possible before Rocco leaves as well as working him closer to other dogs, such as small proximity and dog on dog work.

WEEKLY SUMMARY (WEEK FIVE)

ROCCO

This week has seemed to be a little bit challenging as we have started to work in new environments and places that Rocco hasn’t been. We are wanting to get much more exposure in real life situations such as parking lots, sidewalks, up and down stairs, around cars, people, as well as grassy areas where Rocco gets completely distracted and won’t pick his nose up off of the ground. As we work on this we have been using lots more engagement through our voices and body language to get Rocco more interested in us than what is on the ground or around him. Rocco won’t take much treats in these sort of environments, so we have to rely on lots of contrast and capturing moments. For instance, when we are walking and Rocco forges past me and starts to pull I will do a bout turn and keep walking. Rocco will again forge past me and as soon as he hits the end of the lead I turn and keep walking. I do this over and over until he understands he isn’t getting anywhere and once he looks up and checks in with me while in the heel position I will feed him and keep his attention as he starts to calm down. Once I can get small victories like this with Rocco, I will release him and all0ow him to go and check out his environments as part of his reward.

For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON ROCCOI? CLICK HERE. 

JULIUS IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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WEEKLY PROMPT: WEEK FIVE

Rate your dog’s week (low) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (high): 9

Please explain why you chose this number

Dog’s number: Julius has been really good this week. We are honing in on his commands and really trying to sharpen them.

What commands did you work on this week? (If the command same as the week before, what was different about your dog’s performance?): We have been trying to work through all of the commands and perfect them.

What did you do for playtime with your dog?: Julius plays every morning either with ball playing fetch, or with Piano or Rocco.

What is one interesting thing you noticed about your dog this week?: Julius is really smart. The longer he is here the more comfortable he gets and shows his intelligence.

What is one thing (training related) you believe you did good at this week?: My team has done well at being consistent with Julius when it comes to our expectations around people.

What is one thing (training related) you could improve on?: We could improve about communicating the issues that Julius has when each trainer does their training session with him.

WEEKLY SUMMARY (WEEK FIVE)

Julius

Julius has done really well this week. He is getting very comfortable in this environment and with the people in the facility. He is really showing his intelligence through the training process. Even though he is a puppy, and he does show it sometimes, he is very curious and food motivated. He picks up commands well. We haven’t had too many challenges with Julius this week. We have really been trying to perfect the commands that we have worked on the previous four weeks. His jumping has gotten a lot better. He still struggles in moments where he gets really excited, like when he sees one of his trainers, but we just have to settle him down and make him reset. We are going to continue to work on his commands and teach him a few tricks. We have been using the same markers that we have used the previous weeks.

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For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON JULIUS? CLICK HERE. 

AUTUMN IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10/25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino!

 

WEEKLY SUMMARY (WEEK Five)

Autumn

Autumn did a great job this week walking through new environments like the parking lot. She was very curious but did a good job of checking in and engaging. Food was her motivator.

Autumn is generalized to most commands. We are still continuing to work on her excitement when it comes to people. She does good at not jumping but may need a strong verbal no if she starts to. She responds great to no and will immediately stop. It is important to follow a negative marker with a positive one like good so she knows the difference.

This week for play we utilized her love for toys by playing fetch and tug. We had her stay in a down or sit and then would throw the toy while she stayed in position until we said okay and released her to go get it. This helps train while playing making it more engaging and rewarding.

Autumn will make a high pitch whine letting you know when she has to go to the bathroom. If she is making noise in the crate at all then she has to go. Otherwise she does excellent in the crate.

Our team did an excellent job teaching Autumn to be patient when playing. This helps her focus on the handler and enjoy the reward at the same time.

This week was a great week. Autumn is almost ready to be adopted. The best home for her is a home without small children because of her ability to be excited and nosey, possibly knocking them down out of curiosity and love.

For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON AUTUMN? CLICK HERE. 

BOBO IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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12/10/25: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino!

 

WEEKLY PROMPT: WEEK FIVE

Rate your dog’s week (low) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (high):

Please explain why you chose this number

Dog’s number: We chose an 8 for Bobo because he has improved so much over the past week, really coming out of his shell. He’s playful, loyal and super sweet.

What commands did you work on this week? (If the command same as the week before, what was different about your dog’s performance?): Bobo has been working on sit, down, stay, come, heal as well as proximity work around other dogs. We have found that the best time to work on his obedience is with another dog in the area that he trusts.

What did you do for playtime with your dog?: Bobo has gone out to circle and playtime all week and does well out with everyone, but where he shines the brightest is when he is outside with only a couple of people and a couple of dogs. He really comes alive, doing sprints jumping around just really being a happy dog.

What is one interesting thing you noticed about your dog this week?: Really just how alive Bobo will become when he is comfortable, really warms the soul.

What is one thing (training related) you believe you did good at this week?: We believe that pushing Bobo’s threshold in stressful situations is making him more comfortable when walking through the halls. Slowly but surely he is getting better.

What is one thing (training related) you could improve on?: We could improve on patience, always. When Bobo freezes up and becomes a statue it really makes training impossible, but we as a team persevere and do what we feel is best for Bobo.

WEEKLY SUMMARY (WEEK FIVE)

BOBO

This past week Bobo has shown more improvement with accepting strangers due to being forced into situations that push his threshold. Bobo will need consistent exposure to these types of situations due to his fearfulness of strangers. Bobo loves being outside, loves being with other dogs his own age, loves one on one time with a handler in a stress free environment and really loves his kennel. Bobo is a fun loving loyal dog when comfortable, it takes some time for him to get there but when he does he really comes alive.

For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON BOBO? CLICK HERE.