Happy New Year!
It is nearing the end of the 2025 Bark Commanders! Please drop me a note and let me know if you plan to renew by Jan 15th so I can save your spot. This is your reminder that the subscription will automatically renew for you on the day you joined last year, so if you don’t plan to continue next year you need to cancel your subscription by the end of this month!!! To cancel: when you log in where it says “my account”, there is a link that says “manage account” and there is a cancel link once you hit that.
A few pointers if you are canceling:
Download any pdfs from courses you are still working on.
Save YouTube links for those playlists
Go to the “Hiker Pup Tales” on the homepage and subscribe to the free blog!
We are not done yet! There are still training classes, support groups and Q&A’s left on the zoom calendar. So if you plan to cancel before the end of the month RSVP for those so you get the reminders and zoom links!
If you enjoyed the program and wish to send me a testimonial to help promote the new year, I would greatly appreciate that: dawn@thehikerpup.com
If you want to renew:
Please drop me a note to let me know you want to continue by Jan 15th so I know to hold your spot. You don’t have to do anything as it will auto renew. Just be sure your payment information is up to date. If you have any issues with your payment or change your mind after you have canceled, just email me (or message me on IG or FB if you forget my email is: dawn@thehikerpup.com)
You can also switch from Bark Commanders to The Academy if you feel like you want to stay in live zoom classes and groups but no longer need one on one sessions. To do that, cancel your current subscription before the day you joined last year and then rejoin when the Academy Launches on Feb 1st.
What’s new for 2026?
I will be updating and adding more content to the Foundations, agility and other Courses! Having a new puppy to create demo videos with means more new updated materials. The beautiful thing about Dog training is how we keep improving and expanding our knowledge so the courses will have new materials added.
New year equal more training challenges.
I am attending Clicker Expo again this year, which always means I come back with fun new ideas to share!
I am continuing to add to my tool chest for agility as I work with Julia and will be adding new demos to the courses.
As times change I have to keep adapting to pay the bills, which means I will also be offering more single event webinars and single courses for non-members, which will be free for all Bark Commanders and academy members!
Going on tour! As we head to Clicker Expo in March I will be setting up meet ups along the way. If there is enough interest, I might open up the possibility for in person training for members with me while I am in those locations, Bark Commanders will be given priority for securing spots! My route will take me through Salt Lake City UT, Boulder & Denver CO. Then along 70 to Kansas City. Up to Chicago. Then along 90 to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to NYC. Going to head out to Boston and possibly up into VT & Maine? If the weather allows I hope to swing through Minnesota & the Dakotas on my way back, if it does not I will take a more southern route. So if you are anywhere near these areas send me an email if you are interested in meeting up or working together!
Take a moment to reflect.
If you started a journal last year, take a look at what you wanted when you started vs where you are now.
Don’t beat yourself up about things left undone, this is just information for you!
Often we put things on lists that in the end we didn’t really care that much about, or maybe along the way more important things popped up, or life threw us curveballs. But sometimes we look back and realize how many things that seemed to important and hard last year as not so pressing now. We can see all the little victories we have forgotten about as we kept adding new things to our wish list.
If things remain on the list that are truly important to you, think about what stopped you. Was it because it was too hard or did we just fail to get going? Maybe it is something that will always be on the list, but now you feel more confident working on it? Look at the things you crossed off the list, think about why that was what you focused on, how can you bring some of that focus into the things you still want to tackle.
Maybe things remain on the list because you just thought they needed to be on the list and you actually don’t need those things, so now you can let them go? Maybe things remained on the list because you accepted these things about your dog and feel comfortable with the management you put in place?
Take a moment to measure in another way, rather than measuring specific behaviors or issues that seemed pressing at the start of the year, consider, is your relationship with your dog better? Have you grown closer? Understand each other better? If your dog just entered adolescence because they were a puppy at the start this might affect those answers, give both of you grace as this is the most challenging phase. Do you feel like you better understand your dog, their body language, their triggers, their motivations better? Growth is not always a linear process that is easily measured when it comes to relationships.
My goal with the program is to help you fall deeper in love with your dogs and with teaching them things. To show you into their minds and help you better understand who they are and what motivates them to do the things they do. To try to teach you skills to grow your relationships closer, I hope I achieved that with you.
For my reactive dog peeps, I want you to be able to keep getting the support you need. I hope you will renew and keep joining us in the Dogs with Big Feelings Groups. I totally understand if you can’t spare the funds, keep following me on IG as I try hard to keep sharing free content for people. And reach out to the others in the group, there is nothing stopping you from setting up zooms to meet outside of the academy group!
