Team Crossbones is Heading to the 2024 AKC National Agility Championship

By |2024-03-05T16:30:58-05:00March 5, 2024|Dog Agility, My Dogs|

Ska & Anthem, the 2 dogs representing Crossbones Dog Academy at the 2024 AKC National Agility Championship.Dan and I are packing our bags and preparing for departure. Next week, we head to Perry, Georgia to compete against 1,300 dog and handler teams in the 2024 American Kennel Club National Agility Championship!

I’m running Ska, my six-year-old English Springer Spaniel, and Dan is running Anthem, his nine-year-old Shetland Sheepdog. This is the third National Agility Championship for both of these dogs, and we’re hoping third time’s the charm.

We qualified for this event last year by competing […]

Housebreaking Your Puppy: Top Tips for Potty Training

By |2024-02-28T14:22:01-05:00February 28, 2024|Training|

Here at Crossbones Dog Academy, I work with a lot of dogs that are relieving themselves in the house. Housebreaking seems to be one of those things that either goes smoothly or is really troublesome. A lot of it depends on how your dog was raised, both before and after you acquired him.

Fire Hydrant by Rachael Voorhees (rachaelvoorhees on Flickr) Photo Credit: Rachael Voorhees

Puppies raised on wire floor pens, such as dogs sold in pet stores, learn to relieve themselves where they sleep. This makes crate training and housebreaking […]

What Chew Should I Bring to Dog Training Class?

By |2024-01-29T15:30:09-05:00January 29, 2024|Blog, Group Classes, Helpful Hints, Tutorials and How-To Guides|

A sable Shetland Sheepdog puppy chews a beef tendon. She is lying on an orange mat. | What Chew Should I Bring to Dog Training Class in Providence, RIAt Crossbones, we have an unusual item on our group class “required equipment” list: an edible chew or enrichment toy. After many years of teaching group classes (Katherine started back in 2007!), we realized it’s difficult for owners to manage their dogs and listen to the instructor at the same time. To set everyone up for success, we now coach owners to bring something tasty that […]

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Getting Started in Our Dog Agility Classes

By |2022-12-12T23:58:58-05:00December 12, 2022|Group Classes, Dog Agility|

Katherine Ostiguy and her dog Ska at ESPN's Bark in the Park event in 2021.Are you brand new to the sport of dog agility? Do you live near Providence, Rhode Island? Great! You’re in the right place. 

I’m Katherine Ostiguy, the co-owner and head trainer at Crossbones Dog Academy. I have competed in and coached the sport of dog agility for over fifteen years. I teach agility classes for all experience levels: from total newbie to national-level competitor. And I love introducing people and dogs to this great activity!

Over the years, I’ve developed a very specific […]

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Training Your Dog to Come When Called

By |2022-10-24T15:49:09-04:00October 24, 2022|Training, Puppies|

Teaching Your Dog to Come When Called | Spring Forth Dog Academy in Providence, RI

Coming when called is a behavior that dog owners almost always desire. A great recall means the difference between participating in a lot of fun activities – such as romps on the beach, playing at the dog park, hiking off-leash in the woods, competing in dog sports – and sitting on the sidelines. We get asked about it so often that we have a class, Come This […]

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What Makes a Great Training Treat?

By |2022-08-15T19:43:45-04:00August 15, 2022|Helpful Hints, Training|

Dog Eating Treat Be sure to pick a training treat that your dog enjoys!

The number one question I receive from owners learning to clicker train their dogs: what makes a great training treat? Here are the things I recommend you consider when choosing treats to use while training your dog.

Size

You will be using a lot of treats when training your dog. In order to avoid weight gain, cut your training treats into the tiniest pieces possible. My rule of thumb is that treats should be no larger than the size of a pea; […]

Myth Busting: Dogs That Aren’t Food Motivated

By |2022-08-09T21:11:48-04:00August 9, 2022|Myth Busting|

Strata Gets a Treat We once thought Strata was “not treat motivated” when actually, he needed to lose a bit of weight and be offered tastier treats!

When dog owners find out that clicker training requires using a lot of dog treats, some express concern. They start to tell me that their dogs are not food motivated. I have good news: all dogs are food motivated!

Dogs have to eat. If your dog wasn’t motivated by food in some capacity, they would be dead. While this seems obvious, but many people don’t see the […]

Is your dog a Canine Good Citizen? (May 2022 Update)

By |2022-08-09T21:50:13-04:00May 9, 2022|Canine Good Citizen, Training|

Puppy Day School alum Ursus passed the CGC test! Will your dog be next?

Find out this summer! We’re excited to announce two new training opportunities this summer at Crossbones: a new format for our CGC Prep class and an AKC Canine Good Citizen testing event!

Not sure what the AKC Canine Good Citizen test is all about? Check out our blog post about it!

Commit to classes

Our spring experiment with Intro to Agility as a linear class has been very successful! We were inspired to use the format […]

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What to Expect at Your Dog’s Educational Daycare Evaluation

By |2022-08-09T21:46:13-04:00October 23, 2020|Educational Daycare|

 

Curious about what to expect when you sign your dog up for an Educational Daycare evaluation at Crossbones? Here is what you can expect, and what our team members are looking for from you and your dog.

 

Getting Started

 

The evaluation starts as soon as you and your dog arrive at Crossbones. Educational Daycare attendees must be under their owner’s control in the parking lot and lobby. A member of our […]

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Now Enrolling: Educational Dog Daycare in Providence, RI

By |2022-08-09T21:49:53-04:00April 29, 2019|Educational Daycare|

Educational Dog Daycare at Crossbones Dog Academy in Providence, RI

After four years of offering Puppy Day School for puppies in Providence, we’re thrilled to announce we now offer daycare for all dogs! Our Educational Daycare program launched April 1st and our team is having a blast working with the dogs each day.

What is Educational Daycare?

What does Educational Daycare mean? Each dog in our program is expected to demonstrate basic manners every day, like sitting for attention […]

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Spring Forth Dog Academy is now Crossbones Dog Academy!

By |2022-08-09T21:47:40-04:00January 6, 2019|Blog|

Crossbones Dog Academy in Providence, RINew year, new name. (Same shade of orange.) New for 2019: Spring Forth Dog Academy is now Crossbones Dog Academy!

So much has changed since Dan and I chose our business name “Spring Forth” in 2010. It was a play on words (think Springer Spaniel) accompanied by my pencil drawing of Tessie jumping. The logo was very personal.

Crossbones is a business name and logo combination I originally came up with in 2013. For a period of time, […]

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Remembering Tessie

By |2022-08-09T21:48:40-04:00March 30, 2018|My Dogs|

Tessie the English Springer Spaniel | Spring Forth Dog Academy in Providence, RI Tessie at 3 weeks old.

This started as an Instagram post but quickly exceeded 2200 characters, despite my best efforts to keep it brief! I hope you enjoy it. –Katherine

March 30th is always a special day at Spring Forth HQ. Today would have been Tessie’s 19th birthday. Tessie is the dog in our logo and the reason I became a professional dog trainer. Without Tessie, there would be no Spring Forth Dog Academy.

From Humble Beginnings

We did everything wrong with Tessie for […]

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