Making A Personalized Pet Memorial For My Dogs

By Jean Cote | Posts

As many of you who have followed me and my training videos on this website for the last fifteen or so years, my dogs were my world.

Training them to do fun and entertaining tricks were my passion.

Perhaps you remember the weekly training challenges we used to do inside the community forums?

The Cop-Cop?

Fetch A Flower?

And who could forget Play Chess?

With that said, I am saddened today to announce the passing of both Onyx and Chase. They were the greatest dogs I could ever have asked for!

It’s an understatement that if it weren’t for my dogs, this website wouldn’t have existed.

They were my inspiration for creating it.

Now that they’re gone, it serves as a beautiful tribute to our dedication to helping other dog owners.

Like many other pet owners who have experienced the loss of a pet, I wanted to get a memorial to honour my dogs for everything they’d given me over the years.

I asked my vet.

I looked online.

Nothing truly appealed to me. Most of it was mass produced plastic and fake stone memorials that I knew wouldn’t last more than a year or two in the harsh Canadian weather.

I wanted something of high-quality.

Something that would last a lifetime.

That’s when I thought of granite. There’s a reason why granite is used for headstones in the cemeteries, that’s because it will literally last a lifetime!

How do I know this?

Well, not many people know this about me, but my father was a headstone engraver. He spent 40+ years mastering this trade, and before he retired in 2008, he taught me the tricks of the trade.

I never thought in a million years that I would use what he taught me to engrave my own dogs’ memorial.

But here we are.

After much research and contacting monument dealers in my area, all of which didn’t sell pet memorials specifically. They all sold large headstones for people in the cemeteries.

I just wanted something small, but the same quality you’d expect in a cemetery.

With my dad being involved in the industry, I was able to find an international granite supplier that could manufacture a small memorial for me.

Here’s what it looked like:

However, there was one problem.

The granite would come blank. Meaning, I would have to engrave it myself.

Not a big deal, since my father had taught me how to engrave it.

So, I spent hours sifting through all the photos I had taken of my dogs over the years (it’s remarkable how many photos I took of them, but so glad I did!)

Then, I stumbled on this one:

This photo resonated deeply with me. It truly showed their kind and playful demeanor just laying in the grass like that. Not to mention that I specifically remember taking that photo!

Next, I needed to figure out a way to personalize the memorial.

I knew that I wanted to place it in a garden in my yard so that every time I go outside, I would be reminded of my dogs and it would kind of feel like they’re there with me in spirit.

So, I decided to just dedicate my garden to their memory.

Here is what the final memorial looks like:

Not too bad, eh?

Engraving it personally was nerve-wracking.

I was mainly concerned (and nervous) about screwing up the memorial, but it all went smoothly and, in the end, turned out better than I could ever have hoped for.

Since I engraved my dogs’ memorial, everyone who knew my dogs and has seen it has complimented me on how beautiful and how lifelike it is.

Many of them asked me to engrave a memorial for their own pets who had also passed away.

After engraving a few pet memorials for friends and relatives, I realized just how much it means to them.

They all had a tear in their eye as I unveiled their memorial.

Now realizing just how much this means to people, I decided to create a new website called Furever Memorials where pet owners from Canada and the United States could order a personalized pet memorial for their pet who also passed away.

You can check it out by clicking on the link below:

Beautifully Crafted Custom Engraved Pet Memorials

Losing my dogs was one of the most heartbreaking events of my life.

Raising them from puppyhood, training them to do obedience, tricks, agility and even skijoring, and then taking care of them as senior dogs, just shows just how much they were loved.

How To Get Your Dog Into A Peak State

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


Inside this free dog training presentation, Jean Cote, founder of Success Dogs and the Dog Trick Academy reveals the importance of putting your dog into a "Peak State" before training your dog.

  • Why you should train in the "Sweet Spot" between low and high state of arousal.

  • Discover 3 ways you can get your dog into a "Peak State"... tugging, playing fetch or play-wrestling.

  • How you can sandwich your training sessions with two "Peak State" exercises.​

  • LIVE EXAMPLE: 2 min. of tugging → 5 min. of training → 2 min. of tugging.

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Improving The Efficiency Of Your Training Sessions

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


Inside this free dog training presentation, Jean Cote, founder of Success Dogs and the Dog Trick Academy reveals 3 factors that can greatly influence the efficiency of your training sessions.

  • 1. ACTIONS - Discover the "Wheel of Success" and how your actions create results, which are then analyzed which leads to a change in your approach.

  • 2. TIMING - How quickly you give your marker signal and positive reinforcement greatly influences how your dog understands why you rewarded him. The quicker, the better!

  • 3. CHALLENGE - Always set your dog up for success. This means, start where your dog is comfortable and gradually make it more complex and challenging. Aim for small "wins".

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Verbal Command Conditioning

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


Inside this free dog training presentation, Jean Cote, founder of Success Dogs and the Dog Trick Academy reveals his simple 3-step process to conditioning any verbal commands.

  • STEP 1: Reinforce the behavior until the dog has mastered it or can perform it with ease.

  • STEP 2: Say the verbal command just BEFORE the behavior happens.

  • STEP 3: Test the conditioning by first distracting your dog, then saying the command only ONCE.

  • PLUS... Discover a few more tips on conditioning verbal commands, including using proper tonality, avoiding body language, etc.

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How To Shape Advanced Tricks And Behaviors

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


Inside this free dog training presentation, Jean Cote, founder of Success Dogs and the Dog Trick Academy reveals how you can train advanced & complex behaviors by breaking them down into smaller trainable components.

  • Discover a simple way that dolphins are trained using Positive Reinforcements. (Hint: They give the dolphin fish as a positive reinforcement.)

  • SHAPING MAP: Discover our simple process to visualizing and creating a shaping map, which will allow you to train any advanced behavior your heart desires.

  • BEHAVIOR BREAKDOWN #1: How I taught my dog to Play Chess.

  • BEHAVIOR BREAKDOWN #2: How I taught my dog to stand on an object.

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The 3 Components of Positive Reinforcement Training

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


Inside this free dog training presentation, Jean Cote, founder of Success Dogs and the Dog Trick Academy breaks down the three main components of Positive Reinforcement Training.

  • CAPTURING: Capturing a behavior that your dog is already doing. Example: Yawning.

  • LURING: Putting a treat in front of your dog's nose and moving it until a specific position is achieved. Example: Turning Around.

  • SHAPING: Breaking down complex behaviors into simple components / steps.

  • PLUS... You will discover our unique dog training formula L+B+M+P=CT

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Roll Over

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


The "Roll Over" is an impressive trick that is destined to amaze your friends and family! This trick is perfect for energetic dogs or for those who just like to have fun!

Learn our 4-step training process that will get your dog to roll over on command while creating enthusiasm and energy for a great performance!

What's inside this free dog training lesson:

  • Getting your dog comfortable rolling over.

  • Building momentum for a more energetic performance.

  • Conditioning your dog to respond to a hand signal.

  • Associating a verbal command to the behavior.

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Figure Eight

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons

The "Figure Eight" is a fun and exciting trick that all trick-performing dogs must know! Whether your dog does freestyle, demonstrations, shows or if you simply want to impress your friends, this is the perfect trick!

Learn our 4-step training process that will get your dog to weave in and out of your legs on command.

What's inside this free dog training lesson:

  • Teaching your dog to weave in and out of your legs.

  • Conditioning your dog to respond to a hand signal.

  • Associating a verbal command to the behavior.

  • Increasing your dog's enthusiasm for a spectacular performance.

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Are You Shy?!

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


The "Are You Shy?!" is a cute and adorable trick suitable for dogs of all sizes and breeds. Whether you want your dog to master one of the world's cutest tricks, or if you want to include it in your next freestyle and/or demonstration... This trick is destined to impress and sharpen your training skills!

You will learn our 4-step training process that will get your dog to touch the top of his or her nose with a paw, on command.

What's inside this free dog training lesson:

  • Teaching your dog the behavior of touching his or her nose with a paw.

  • Getting your dog to perform the behavior on his or her own (with no action on your part.)

  • Fine-tuning the behavior until the trick is perfected to your liking.

  • Associating a verbal command to the behavior.

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Go To Your Spot

By Jean Cote | Free Dog Training Lessons


We all love our beloved dogs, but aren't there times when we simply cannot give them the attention they so desperately want?

Perhaps you are having guests over, and your dog simply won't leave them alone. Or you are watching a movie, and you suddenly notice a few toys around you with a dog eagerly trying to play with you. Or maybe you are on the telephone and your dog is barking mad at something in the window.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could simply get your dog to "Go To His/Her Spot" and actually listened to your command?

What's inside this free dog training lesson:

  • Building lots of value for being on the spot, using several kinds of positive reinforcements.

  • Testing the value by making your dog choose to go onto his spot on his or her own.

  • Building distance so that you can get your dog to "Go to his/her spot" from any room in the house.

  • Associating a verbal command to the behavior (so that your dog actually goes to his or her spot when you say so.)

  • How to get your dog to "Go to his/her spot" without having to bribe with a treat.

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