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Welcome! This new version of the Positively experience has been years in the making, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. We’ve built this community for you and your dog - to help you live your best life together with your dog, no matter where you are on your journey. From everyone at Positively who helped build this for you, we hope you make yourself at home here. It’s yours, so dig deep! Share content. Enroll in courses. Connect with our trainers. And come back often, because we’re just getting started! Thank you for being a part of the Positively experience. We - and your dogs! - are glad that you’re here.

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Monday, September 14, 2026

PHONY RESCUES AND OTHER SAD SECRETS OF PUPPY MILL DOGS

RECOGNIZE RED FLAGS AND REAL RISKS WHEN DOGS ARE HIDING A GRIM PAST

Careful, conscientious breeding of dogs takes knowledge, time, and commitment. By contrast, irresponsible dog production operations cut corners at every turn. They count on our soft hearts and weakness for cute puppy faces to make a fast buck. Called “puppy mills,” these factory-style breeding operations crank out dogs with a disregard for their physical or emotional welfare, long-term health, and behavioral outcomes.

Puppies offered for sale on social media may look adorable, yet their slick photographs or sad stories could be a cover for lies, a history of substandard care, and a heightened potential for future health problems and behavioral issues.

A puppy’s upbringing and past do matter, not just to their own early life, but also to their future ability to integrate successfully into our families as adult dogs. Learn to spot the telltale signs and true costs of puppy mills.

Dog in a kennel looking out from puppy mill

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Featured Trainer

Irith Bloom
  • The Sophisticated Dog, LLC
  • Los Angeles, CA, United States

Irith Bloom is a popular speaker. She is faculty at VSA and FDSA, on the Advisory Board for Pets for Vets, Chair Emeritus of the Education Committee of the APDT, and a volunteer for National English Shepherd Rescue. She served on the CCPDT board from 2019 to 2024. Irith owns The Sophisticated Dog, LLC, which helps animal guardians and pet professionals worldwide, and co-founded Carefree Companion, which helps people teach greater stress resilience and emotional regulation to non-human animals.

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