SUNSTAR All-Breed Dog Training

11/24/2025

Here is our 2026 class schedule that just came out in our Des Moines City Currents! We would be happy to have you and your doggo join us sometime, we have classes running year 'round- please see www.desmoineswa.gov or https://apps.daysmartrecreation.com/dash/x/ #/online/desmoines/programs? for more info and to register online, or you can call Field House staff during business hours 206 870 6527 to register over the phone. Holly, Daisy, Violet and I hope to see you in 2026, and please everyone have a great Howl-iday season! 😊🐾🐾🐾

11/08/2025

I just renewed my AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator certification- I realized it has now been twenty years, here is my certificate from 2005! Such a great program- we welcome all types of dogs, mixed breeds and purebreds, AKC registered and unregistered, etc. I feel that all our dogs should be trained and socialized well enough to be able to pass the CGC evaluation, as that is what the program is all about- being good citizens, human and canine! Love our doggos~🥰🐾🐾

10/30/2025

Our Basic Obedience/Good Manners class graduated last night, with all the dogs and their families doing great! They have come a long way from the first week of class, Great Job All! They each did individual heeling with auto-sits, slow and fast and figure 8 heeling, recall with auto-sit, and then group sit stay, stand stay, and down stay. Congrats to all eight doggos and their people! Peanut, Rufus, Mocha, Willie, Ollie, Cosmo, Ranger, and Ellie! 🥰🐾🐾

10/22/2025

I love our wonderful Rotary club, and I am a proud Rotarian! 😊

10/17/2025

Dogs are such amazing partners, here is our Friday Smile~ 😊🐾🐾

The 2-year-old left her fenced yard and wandered in the New Hampshire woods for hours as search parties tried to find her.

10/12/2025

BIG NEWS!!! My sweet Holly passed her AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluation test on Friday and is now "Sunstar Holly of Chowchilla, Canine Good Citizen", I am SO PROUD of her! Thanks to Natasha Ann Komen with Family Dog Training Center for doing her evaluation test! This precious doggo has come such a long way from the starved, scared, traumatized puppy she was when Animal Control took custody of her in CA. It has been a challenge for her to adjust to life here, and also a big challenge for me as a trainer to get her to trust me, other people, other dogs, and to trust life in general. I have had her for about 1.5 years now, and I have noticed her being much more settled just in the last six months or so. I walk her almost daily, usually 2 or 3 miles, and do daily training, play, and enrichment (and cuddle time at home of course), and she is also my demo dog when I teach my dog training classes. Thank You Dog Gone Seattle Rescue for my sweet girl, I am so happy I can give her the loving home she so deserves! 🥰🐾🐾

10/08/2025

Happy Autumn! The cooler weather is here and the rain will be returning soon (maybe tomorrow?) Let's remember that here in our beautiful PNW, we and our dogs need to dress for the weather! Doing walks and training most every day is important, even when the weather is chilly and a bit wet. Happy Daily Training Everyone! 😊🐾🐾 Holly, Violet, Daisy, and Jan~

10/07/2025

This is a cute article that made me smile today~ 😊🐾🐾❤

Duke, an 11-year-old golden retriever, has gained Instagram fame for the bizarre items he diligently gathers and hoards.

09/18/2025

Our Summer session of our Basic Obedience/Good Manners classes graduated last night, and everyone had lots of fun and did really well- Good Job All! They did their individual Heeling with Auto Sit Stay, Recall with Sit Stay, Figure "8" Heeling, plus group Sit Stay, Stand Stay, and Down Stay. All these folks and their doggos have come a long way- Nice Job DJ, Toast, Mae, Sasha, Teddy, and Walter, and their families! 😊🐾🐾

09/07/2025

Here is my SUNSTAR All-Breed Dog Training booth at our Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market "Dog Daze" today, before we opened (we still had a bit more set-up to do). Today was SO much fun- I got to visit with lots of nice folks, and pet and give treats to lots of sweet doggos! 🐾🐾 I gave out dog training advice and info about my dog training classes at the Field House, plus I did a free drawing for a cute dog stuffy- the kiddo who won it was so tickled! 🥰 I also helped promote our city's new DocuPet licensing along with our DMPD Chief and Assistant Chief, who had a booth right next to me. After we closed, I came home and took my 3 girls for a nice stroll at Marvista Park. Now we are all back home relaxing and getting supper...I am tired out for sure! Such a fun day~😊

09/04/2025

I am looking forward to Saturday! 😊🐾🐾

Thank you to our Friend of the market Sponsor Jan Magnuson who will be joining us for Dog Daze. Here is a message directly from her....

“Hi, I am Jan Magnuson, the owner of SUNSTAR Dog Training and I instruct Basic Dog Obedience/Good Manners Group Classes and Individual Dog Trainings at the Des Moines Field House. I am also retired after thirty years as the DMPD Animal Care and Control Officer. Please stop by my “Dog Daze” booth, next to our City of Des Moines booth, for free dog treats, free dog training advice, and a free chance to win a cute dog stuffy- I hope to see you (and your doggo!) then, Thanks!” Jan~

We can’t wait to see tails wagging, paws pattering, and everyone having a paws-itively fun time at the Market. Thanks again to Jan for helping make Dog Daze a day our furry friends—and their humans—won’t forget!

09/02/2025

I loved my thirty years with DMPD💙🐾🐾 Animal Care and Control Officers have a very tough job- we deal with a lot of stress, negativity, and tragedy in our jobs that much of our public does not realize. However, we do what is needed to help people and animals 24/7, as best we can. And, there are a lot of fun parts too- like being able to return this super-cute lil' guy who was accidentally lost, back to his beloved family! Please let's all keep a DM license tag on our pets all the time (I do!) and have a microchip with updated data too (I do!)- we ALL want our pets to stay safe, and if accidentally lost, we want to get them back safely to us right away! Our pets thank us~💗