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Pet Photos with Santa
Santa is busy checking his list. Will your dog be on the naughty or nice list?
Find out at our upcoming 2nd Annual Pet Photos with Santa. Photographer Annie Robertson from Off the Leash Photography will capture your dog with Santa, and he'll take home a yummy treat from AnimalSense.
Stop by for some holiday cheer on:
Saturday, December 7, 11am-1pm
AnimalSense Office
1407 N. Wells St. Chicago
Your $10 donation benefits ALIVE Rescue.
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Learn to Speak Dog Trainer
Have you ever sat in class and as the trainer is talking, wonder "reinforcement what" or "luring who" or "attention seeking whatchamacallit"?
Senior Trainer Alison Spanner decodes training terminology in her latest blog.
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Have you Heard?
AnimalSense has a Mobile App!
You'll be able to:
-Reference training tips
-Contact our trainers -Get GPS directions -Sign up for classes -Get exclusive offers -And much more! Available in iTunes and Google Play.  
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Our Amazing Paw-tners
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Greetings!
As we approach the next week of thanks, we'd like to say a big THANK YOU to our clients. Next year, AnimalSense will mark our 15th anniversary in business. Wow! That's a lot of dogs our trainers have touched over the years.
 As you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends, remember to keep your four-legged friends safe. Instead of feeding scraps from the dinner table, stuff a Kong with their usual dinner, perhaps with a few added tidbits of boneless cooked turkey, sweet potato, green beans and gravy. It's fine to give your dog a little nibble of the holiday meal, but they shouldn't overindulge. Keeping your pets on their regular diets during the holidays is always a good idea. Now, if we could just do the same...
Happy Thanksgiving!
The AnimalSense Gang
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Holiday Session Begins Soon  We all know the holidays can be crazy, so who has time to train their dog? With our shortened session including classes that last just three weeks or even one day, you do! Don't wait until the new year to get your dog's behavior in check.
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New Trainer on Track to Behaviorist
Nate Herman recently joined the AnimalSense training team after graduating from the University of Illinois in Urbana. He's working on earning his CPDT-KA and wants to become an Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (ACAAB).
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Nate Herman
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An issue with his cats first sparked Nate's interest in animal behavior. "I realized that a lack of understanding an animal's behavior sometimes led to a family giving up their pet, so with my interest in the animal mind and having my cats nearly experience that same fate, I decided to make it my mission to bridge the communication gap between people and their companions, working to ultimately strengthen the human-animal bond,"said Nate.
Nate spent a year studying monkeys in Costa Rica. "Each day, my group would go out and follow the capuchins in the rainforest, gathering data to use for research projects. One day, while we were following the capuchins, a small group of howler monkeys settled down in the tree above us to eat. While the rest of my group members tried to get a better view of the capuchins, I stayed in our original spot under the howler monkeys. Of course right after the rest of my group moved, a howler monkey pooped and his excrement fell right on my shoulder. What a crappy experience! Needless to say, my group joined the monkeys and howled with laughter," recalls Nate.
One of Nate's favorite behaviors to teach is barking on command. "You get the dog really excited to the point that he will bark at you. Right before he barks, say "Speak!" with the hope that he's able to learn the association after several repetitions. It's a fun process, but it can also be very worthwhile if you're trying to teach your dog to only bark when you ask him to," said Nate.
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How Do you Get 150lbs to Focus?
AnimalSense loves our clients so much that we want to share their awesomeness with you. We're profiling them in our newsletters, on our website and through our social media channels. So, keep an eye out for your dog, who could be in the spotlight next!
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Andrew, Cass & Ashley
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Meet Cass. This 18-month-old Newfoundland is a recent Focus graduate. Cass is named after an English movie character named after Cassius Clay, and at 150 pounds, he lives up to his name! His parents Ashley and Andrew share his story with us.
How did your dog come to be a part of your family?
We searched for over a year for the right type of dog to add to our family, which already included two cats. Rescue? Lab? Mix? Saint? Pyr? Finally, after a ton of time and research, we settled on a Newfoundland.The temperament was a perfect fit for us, and we could not be happier with our choice.
What are you hoping to achieve by training?
We hope to achieve the ability to get Cass to seamlessly focus on us on walks and in public when he sees other dogs, because in Cass' world, every dog is his best bud. He loves everyone and every dog, and wants to play. We hope to pass CGC and therapy dog tests soon, and Focus will really help!
What's the most valuable thing you've learned in class so far? Already, the first level of Focus has helped with long term down stays. This is something Cass struggled with previously, so we are really excited about this. What's your dog's favorite part of class?
Cass is a social butterfly. Going to class is his favorite thing! He also LOVES our trainer Sarah.
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