There is a version of play that exhausts your dog. And there is a version of play that fulfills them.

They are not the same.

At Auntie M Dog Training here in Asheville, we see this distinction matter every single day. Play is not just about getting energy out. It is not chaos. It is not frantic ball throwing until your dog collapses. It is not waving the toy in their face until they grab it.

Okay y’all, one of my favorite months is coming up—October! That means we’re going to have so many more opportunities for chaos… I mean, training! The decorations, the costumes, the falling leaves and ACORNS, giant trash bags of leaves on the curbs (sometimes with faces), haunted houses, loud noises, costume parades, and so many other spooky distractions appear almost overnight. I absolutely love it all—but my dog, Sage, has historically not loved it. She’s had to overcome a few of these challenges to be where she is now.

I have always had an interest in training dogs. This began in childhood, raising Border Collie puppies on my family’s cattle farm. I pursued a professional career in dog training when I moved to Asheville and acquired my second cattle dog, Sage. I thought I knew how to raise cattle dogs, but Sage was different from any of my other puppies and I was struggling with her high drive/arousal, prey drive, and assertiveness.