High Gear Heelers

07/05/2024

It is with a heavy heart, a million tears and a soul full of grief that I have to make this post….

The High Gear family has suffered immeasurable loss this year and it’s almost too much to bear!

Anela, our founding girl and my husbands best friend, along with Jack & Cooper (both Remy x Chester sons from the same litter) have all crossed the rainbow bridge before their time.

I won’t go into all the details but I will summarize best I can. Anela and Cooper were both lost in tragic truck accidents and Jack had an inoperable tumor on his spine that appeared out of nowhere. Every loss was absolutely tragic and there was nothing to be done, which honestly makes it so much harder to stomach when you are helpless and have no choice in the matter at all.

My heart goes out to both Jack & Cooper’s families, We unfortunately are in your shoes at this very moment grieving Anela and know the pain all too well. If you need us we are here, always, no matter what 🐾

To all our other High Gear family, I encourage you all to enjoy every second with your four legged family and hug them a little tighter tonight! life changes in an instant and we have no choice but to enjoy what we are given and accept what is taken away 💔

Rest easy Anela, Jack & Cooper. We love you more than you know and the world will never be the same without your presence, love and light.

12/23/2023

Waiting patiently for dad to dish out the breakfast goodies 🍳

Left to right 🐾 Chester, Anela, CryBaby & Tate

12/09/2023

Savage & Chester hanging out together on this chilly morning 🐾 these are the parents of the Yellowstone litter!

Feel free to post your Yellowstone puppies below ⬇️😊

11/16/2023

10/10/2023

Photos from our camping trip last month 🏕 the pack had a blast and slept out under the stars on their tethers. They swam in the river, chased squirrels, watched impatiently for us to catch a fish (which we didn’t 😂) and even took a hike and met some other dogs/campers.

Definitely gonna do more overland truck camping, the whole family benefited from the down time!

09/30/2023

Remember that no matter where you are at in your training, you’re better than you were the day before and slow progress is still PROGRESS!

Be easy on you and your dog, every training journey is different and not without its own struggles! 🐾

09/29/2023

When you walk under the truck and get oil slick eyebrows! 🤣

Easy breezy beautiful….covered-in-oil 💅

09/29/2023

Tater-Tot! 🥰 so handsome but I may be biased cause of how much I love him! 😝

Savage x Chester son - Yellowstone litter

08/09/2023

And the last puppy goes home! ♥️😭

Guage is finally joining his new parents today and while it’s bittersweet seeing him leave, we are so happy for him and his new parents! 🐾 can’t wait to see all the adventures you accompany them on and for you to meet your brother Radley for play dates!

06/12/2023

Minnow 🐟

This guy is the last of our puppies looking for a home. He’s a blue male with a HUGE heart ♥️ he loves kids, people, other dogs & horses!

DM us if you want to meet this cutie pie 🥰

06/07/2023

Gauge working on commands at the skatepark 🛹 such a smarty pants

He is spoken for already 🥰 but will be staying with us until his family is ready for him 🐾

05/28/2023

As always, work with your dog as an INDIVIDUAL 🐾 Every dog is different, even full siblings can be night and day for personalities and training motivators. Work WITH your dogs natural drives and instincts, the results will be much better!

Positive reinforcement isn't just about food. It's about the smart use of available reinforcers. Use them wisely!

05/27/2023

Watch out, red fur missile coming through 🚀

High Gear Gauge is all action now that he’s hitting his next growth spurt. He runs EVERYWHERE and no person or animal is safe from his lick attacks 👅 he is as brave and independent as they come, exploring is his middle name. Great hiking/biking/running buddy and fantastic with kids/cats/other dogs so a family home is welcomed also! He will be very similar to his father, Chester, when matured and will easily reach 50lbs & 18” in height like his daddy.

This big, bold boy is ready to meet some potential families this weekend! 🐾 DM us if you’d like to arrange a meeting with him or his siblings!

05/27/2023

High Gear Shifter

This pretty lady goes to her new home tomorrow and we are so happy for her 🥰 the last of our pups are leaving fast and while we are happy for them, it’s also always bittersweet as we love having them around ❤️

05/25/2023

📣 Important announcement! 📣

For those asking, Yes we do still have a few puppies/dogs available, I will list them below!

However, plans have changed and we will no longer be having any fall/winter litters. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be done breeding for at least a few years as we are moving out of the province. It isn’t a decision that was made lightly or without a lot of lengthy conversations but it’s just what is best for our family at this time. We are deeply saddened to have to do this but hopeful for the future of High Gear and the long term goals we have set. We want to still breed again once we get settled in a couple years but for now we will just be showing, working with and enjoying our own personal dogs while we navigate these new waters we find ourselves in.

So if you have ever wanted one of our puppies, now is the time as these are the last available dogs from our program. We are downsizing dramatically for the move but Tate, Chester, Anela & CryBaby will be moving to the west with us and will remain with the family FOREVER as they are extremely special dogs and the foundation of our program. Our foster dogs will all be signed over completely to their foster families and continue living their lives as they normally do now that they are retired from breeding.

Available right now is:

1 - red female from the “Truck Part” litter
1 - red male from the “Truck Part” litter
1 - blue male from the “Truck Part” litter
2 - 1yr old blue males (Yellowstone & X-Men litters)
1 - 2yr old red male (our first litter)

All our dogs/puppies are currently at an extreme discount in an effort to place them before the move. To get the discount you must have a vet lined up (or you can arrange with ours) for their next shots/boosters and pass the questionnaire. Former puppy parents of ours receive the discount automatically as we already know you are an amazing home 😉

Let us know if you’re looking for a new friend and from the bottom of our hearts: thank you to all our puppy parents and supporters! ❤️ We are so happy we have made an impact in all your lives with our puppies and hope you’ll continue to send us updates of your companions while they grow up, as we cherish every single update we receive.

We will still be posting regularly about our Heelers so we aren’t going away completely and as always, we are only a phone call away from any of our puppy parents should you ever need advice or just want to share how their puppy/dog is doing.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far and feel free to reach out if you have any questions 🐾

05/06/2023

High Gear Axle is off to his new home and we are so thrilled he’s just the next town over so we can see him occasionally ❤️ We always love when they are close by!

He is one special boy and it was so great to see his new owners think so too (they may have had a shopping spree in anticipation of his arrival 😂)

Enjoy your new home buddy 🐾

04/20/2023

Getting updated on his vaccinations before camping season! 💉🏕

Mr. Wi******er took it like a champ and got a clean bill of health! As always, big thanks to Dr. Craig for taking time to love up on our boy and watch him perform his tricks 😂 our dogs always enjoy their visits at Northland Animal Hospital!

04/18/2023

Anybody for a “Pup-Light” 😂🍺

High Gear Hitch is available, as long as you can handle his endless charm and quirky personality!

04/18/2023

😂 gotta protect the farms best workers! 🐾

04/16/2023

Good reminder! 🧠

Everything in moderation and don’t skip obedience/basic handling in favor of just high energy outlets, more often than not it will lead to more unwanted behaviours instead of fixing your original energy problem!

Yesterday I saw a video from a well-known trainer on social media that discussed how there is no such thing as “too much exercise” for dogs. This discussion was accompanied by b roll of dogs fetching balls in a variety of places.
I don’t usually get involved in trainer arguments but I need to say something about this.
There ABSOLUTELY is such a thing as too much high-arousal exercise. And you probably don’t want to find out for yourself what happens next.
Activities that tend to *physically* wear dogs out the fastest are also the ones that create the highest excitement levels. Fetching balls. Playing frisbee. Racing around at the dog park. Chasing water from the garden hose. Running next to a bike.
All of these are physical exercise, but they also create intense arousal states. And if you put your dog into high-arousal states repeatedly you better know how to train around this, too.
I have a lot of students who fell into this trap. They got a high-energy dog (a GSD, a herding breed mix of some sort, a retriever etc.).
They figured out that the fastest way to make the dog physically really tired (the tongue-hanging-to-the-floor-kind-of-tired) was by playing chuck-it for half an hour. Or by taking the dog to the dog park every day for a wild romp.
The dog started to crave these arousal states (as programmed in their DNA).
But at the same time, no impulse control training happened. So now we have a dog who knows the fun of adrenaline and who seeks it, without having been taught to listen and regulate when in a state of high excitement.
This dog will start to show other problems. They might get frustrated to the point of redirecting when they cannot access fun immediately. They might be vocalizing or unable to settle and then I get messages that say “My dog just cannot be normal in public”.
If your dog gets to enjoy a high-arousal activity every time they leave the house, they will start to expect (and eventually demand) a high-arousal activity every time.
And this is not fun.
Your dog needs a balance of high-arousal and low-arousal activities. Furthermore, the more high-arousal activities your dog has, the more you have to balance these with impulse control training. It’s not fair to make our dogs crazy without teaching them the skills to un-crazy ;)
“Exercise” can have four quadrants:
- Low-arousal, not physically demanding (sniff walks)
- Low-arousal, physically demanding (hiking)
- High-arousal, not physically demanding (excited waiting while another dog works)
- High-arousal, physically demanding (fetching)

Make sure you are aware which type of exercise you are providing for your dog, and try to reach a balance that works for your dog.
If you are unhappy with your dog’s arousal level or impulse control in daily life, look at whether this is amplified by the type of exercise you are providing.

04/16/2023

High Gear Axle!

This boy is BIG 😳 Not only in size and structure but also in personality!

He is a bold and brave guy with a big voice (and he’s not afraid to use it!). He is also incredibly friendly and very used to kids, cats & livestock. He likes four wheeler rides and being wherever the action is. He has a free flowing gait with big tireless strides, able to cover a lot of ground quickly and with ease. Very driven and motivated, would be a great sporting prospect 🎾

He is available to a working farm or active family home! DM if you’d like to be a part of his very bright future ⭐️

04/16/2023

Caleb & Lou after a hard days work! 🐾

So happy these two from the “Heartland” litter ended up together, it couldn’t have worked out better and I’m loving all the updates!

Post your siblings from the Heartland litter below! ⬇️

04/16/2023

Handsome boy Cam has found a home 🥰

Congratulations to this chunky little blue sweetheart and his new family! Can’t wait to see all the adventures you get up to 🐾

04/05/2023

Vet appointment went great for these little land sharks! Everyone got a clean bill of health and lots of cookies 🍪😝

Huge thank you as always to Dr Craig and his amazing team at Northland Animal Hospital for always being so fantastic and thorough with these little ones first appointments. Setting them up for many successful vet visits in the future and making sure they are all ready to head off to their new homes!

ALSO….We will be hosting a meet & greet with the remaining available puppies this Thursday, Friday & Saturday at GoldenPride Kennels in Echo Bay. So set up an appointment to come meet the puppies in person and see if a heeler is the right addition to your family this Easter! 🐰🐣

04/01/2023

High Gear Guage ❤️‍🔥

This stunning deep red boy is absolutely the happiest pup around. He loves to play and his exuberant happiness is seriously contagious, he’ll have you smiling like a fool constantly with his antics.

When he’s not being the life of the party and entertaining his adoring fans, he has a pretty good off switch and is a fantastic cuddle buddy who will happily nap in your lap. He’s used to kids/cats/other dogs and isn’t bothered by any of it. He is very brave and loves exploring new places, nothing phases him and he makes friends wherever he goes.

Guage is well suited to an active family home with lots of people and action…where he can be the entertainer he was born to be! 🤩

DM us if you think Guage is a good fit for your family or if you have any questions at all 🐾

03/30/2023

🐾 Guage, Axle & Cali 🐾

03/30/2023

It was photoshoot day yesterday…

And Guage understood the assignment! 📸