Unleashed Academy

06/27/2024

Breed highlight!

These brothers are Spike and Leif, the Norwegian Elkhounds.

This breed is one of the oldest in Europe: they sailed with the vikings and appear in ancient Norse mythology!
They were originally bred as guardian and hunting dogs, protecting their owner’s livestock and hunting moose. In Norwegian, the breed is called Elghund which translates to “moose dog.” It’s hard to imagine Spike and Leif taking down a moose!

Norwegian Elkhounds are usually quite energetic and are happy with lots of exercise. This, paired with their intelligence, makes them a good choice for a service dog, or to compete in dog sports.

We’ve been lucky to care for both Spike and Leif since they were young and love getting to see them grow and learn. Spike is a star on our PEP squad and Leif can often be found relaxing with his tongue sticking out. Swipe to the end to see! 😛

06/18/2024

Join us for a pack walk! 🦮🦮🦮
Next week Tuesday, Brian and Meg will be hosting a pack walk at the Evanston Ecology Center. This 45-minute walk will focus on outdoor obedience and impulse control around other dogs. We’d love to see you there!

Sign up on Gingr, cost is $25

06/10/2024

Next week is doggy field day! 🏟️
This is an hour of outdoor obedience games in the style of our winter Merry Mayhem class to bond with your dog, test their skills in a new environment, and have fun!
Meg and Maddie will be leading the festivities at Clark Square Park right on the lake one week from today! Come out and play with us!

Sign up on Gingr. Enrollment costs $35

(If you can’t make it this time, we have more field days scheduled for July and August!)

06/07/2024

Today is national donut day!! 🍩
To celebrate, we’ve got pictures of a sweet girl named Donut! She’s only been with us for about a month but she’s quickly become part of the pack! She loves getting pets and cuddles from our staff and playing nicely with dog friends!
Today’s your day, Donut!!

06/05/2024

This is Scout. She’s a Labrador Retriever, which means she loves to play fetch. It’s in her genes.

Sometimes she gets so focused on fetch that her lips get stuck on her teeth or her tongue sticks out.

We call this…Ball Face…

06/03/2024

☀️June birthdays are here!!☀️

The start of Summer gives us a chance to celebrate all the special pups who were born in this month. We’re celebrating Berlin (turning 1), Mickey (turning 1), Theo (turning 4), Artemis (turning 11), Daisy (turning 4), Archie (turning 7), Aurora (turning 2), Frannie (turning 1), Avi (turning 5), Leo (turning 2), River (turning 1), Harper (turning 4), Scarlett (turning 4), Benji (turning 8), Lenny (turning 2), Bailey (turning 4), and Cooper (turning 3)

Let’s give these babies big, warm birthday wishes! 🎉🎉🎉

05/31/2024

This Saturday is Evanston Animal Shelter’s annual fundraising festival, Trot for Tails!
Meg and Maddie will be there running the agility course for everyone to try out! There will also be other fun and games for pets AND kids!

This is always a beautiful day at the lake and one of our favorite events of the year. Please come out to see us and support our amazing local shelter that does so much for the animals in our community! 💗💗💗

05/25/2024

Unleashed’s cutest new couple, Jasper and Daisy, was spotted holding (back) paws during playgroup!

05/23/2024

Summer training is starting up and we still have plenty of spots for you! 😎

Anything from the basics to more focused training, we’re here to keep your pup active and engaged this summer!
Email us with any questions or to get help registering!

05/20/2024

DOGS & BABIES WEBINAR
TONIGHT at 7:30
$35
Email [email protected] by 3PM today to register!

05/20/2024

🍖New treats in our retail section!🍖
Here’s what we have:

🍖 Crunchy O’s in a variety of meaty, cheesy, and peanut buttery flavors!

🍖 all natural jerky treats in the lamb and chicken & venison flavors!

🍖 lots of including their freeze dried heart treats and their Wild Weenies!

We love these treats for their natural, high quality ingredients, and dogs love them for the taste! These all work well to support your training efforts with your dog, or to be just what they are, a treat! Stop by UA to pick up a bag or two 🐶

05/16/2024

Lifelong clients Amy, Daisy May and Clifford auditioned for AGT!!!! Make sure to tune in for the premiere on Tuesday, May 28th!

Calling all Hounds! Daisy, Clifford and I auditioned for America’s Got Talent! Tune in for the Season Premiere on Tuesday May 28th on NBC! You won’t want to miss a slobbery second🤤🥰AAAARROOO!!!

05/15/2024

Our Summer Camp series is here 😍😍😍 and registration is now open!

05/14/2024

Photo dump from the last week at UA!

1. New dog Bucky hanging out with Roo and Rosie
2. Cosmo
3. Lily Mae, Watson, Cosmo, Theo, Frannie, Emmett, and Bleu
4. Donut with her best puppy dog eyes!
5. Kiara, Koda, and Zoe
6. Beau climbing the klimbs
7. Jasper and his relaxed elegance
8. English Creme Golden Retrievers Kaia and Neko
9.. Alma, Lottie, and Ernie

05/08/2024

Beau is here with a special announcement: Evanston Animal Shelter’s Annual Trot 4 Tails is coming up!!!

Date: Saturday, June 1st
Time: 9AM - 12PM
Place: Centennial Park

Please consider supporting this event. You can donate (link in comments), share our fundraising page and/or attend the event! Maddie & I look forward to this event and our Unleashed FUNgility competition every year. It is SO MUCH FUN and a great way to spend a Saturday morning with your family. We hope to see you and your dog(s) there!

❤️
Meg

05/07/2024

Dogs & Babies Webinar is here!!!!

Join Meg for a zoom webinar that covers everything from prepping your dog for a new addition, introducing your dog and infant, how to handle mobile babies and *gasp* toddlerhood.

Date: Monday, May 20th
Time: 7:30PM Central Time
Cost: $35

Email [email protected] to register!

Any questions you would like answered? Topics you would like covered? Drop them in the comments below and I will try to work it into the curriculum!

05/07/2024

We’re seeing double on twinning Tuesday!
Scout and Bean (no relation) boarded with us last night.
Can you tell who’s who?

05/05/2024

Guess what?!! Summer training calendar is online! Registration opens May 15th at 8AM

05/02/2024

Are you ready to celebrate May birthdays?!?!
🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

This month we have Lambeau (turning 3), Wylie (turning 2), Callie Bea (turning 4), Ernie (turning 5), Max (turning 5), Charkie (turning 4), Oscar (turning 7), Elmer (turning 4), Aldo (turning 4), Ringo (turning 2), Jura (turning 2), Evie (turning 4), and Ozzy (turning 1)

Send these birthday pups their birthday flowers!

And it’s another month where we recognize Unleashed Academy turning 4 with our original puppy program dogs turning 4! This month it’s Callie Bea, Aldo, and Evie!

04/29/2024

Hi everyone! We’ve been getting a lot of requests for private lessons to assist with new (human) additions to the household and how to help our furbabies adjust to the change. I’m thinking of hosting a talk/seminar on newborns & dogs, toddlers & dogs and maybe even older kiddos and how they can be (and should be) involved with the family dog.

Would you anyone be interested in an person talk? Or perhaps zoom? I was thinking zoom would be more convenient for those of you with tiny babes at home. Weeknight? Weekend? Any topics you would like covered?

I appreciate any feedback any of you have of how I can help with these big changes.

And congratulations to all of you who are expanding your families!
❤️
Meg

04/29/2024

This weekend’s boarding dogs loved basking outside in the beautiful weather! And then they promptly laid down to nap as soon as they got inside…

Frankie & Obi ➡️ Chelsea ➡️ Sebastian ➡️ Winnie ➡️ Moose ➡️ Tikka ➡️ Patti & Korra ➡️ Hadley & Tikka ➡️ Scamp ➡️ Moose & Korra

04/23/2024

Breed Highlight!
Today we’re talking about Boxers, which includes our very own Oscar!
Boxers were bred in the late 1800s as working dogs, but they can trace their ancestry back to warrior dogs from around 2500 B.C.! Some boxers today work as search-and-rescue or police/military dogs, but most of them are beloved family pets!

Boxers are smart and very energetic, needing plenty of exercise. Because of their working dog background, they do well when their owners give them a “job” to burn off some mental and physical energy. That can mean general social play with other dogs and at-home enrichment, or more structured activities like agility, obedience, or other dog sports.

When they’re not working, they are big cuddle bugs and are very loyal to their people. They also tend to do well with kids.

Oscar the boxer is an extremely beloved part of the Unleashed family! His special talent is that he can walk himself! He often grabs his own leash and walks right into daycare!

04/15/2024

Photo dump!

1. Leo and Frankie
2. Penny, Jimmy Dean, Wylie, and Leo
3. Siblings Milo, Lola, and Leo
4. Twix and Daphne
5. Penny, Frankie, Kaia, and Daisy
6. Rosie and Jasper
7. Kaia

04/07/2024

For those of you that know her, Debby has been a part of the Unleashed family for many, many years. Please join us in helping her with this big life change. Thank you ❤️

https://www.spotfund.com/story/4954f3af-9c66-467f-8cd5-463e507318c2?created=true&fbclid=IwAR36-P95kVDJgmIHKYMzddJ8F16Q0ugNW6I7I36tELeJr0txh9HIbU0qeFA_aem_AaATx4bKtzf60_5DJ8pDTCeWibAZANilzPH6lpTHNiLSK8kxhoknZoZEAcfITaBVep4&referral_id=f2b060e0-2651-4a5d-8f4e-fce4dceb76d5&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

My close friend and long-time employee at Unleashed in Evanston, Debby Gallivan, has decided to move to Kansas seeking a better life for her son, Patrick. Patrick, who is now 28 years old, is diagnosed with a rare chromosomal anomaly; 3q29 deletion syndrome and autism, both of which are also complic

04/03/2024

Back in February, our staff participated in a national Daycare Games competition. The three events consisted of group sits, individual recall and gate boundary (having dogs sit and wait at gates while you open them). We are SO PROUD of how well our team did! Read below for results:

Group sits

Gold intermediate - Quyn
Silver intermediate - Sondra

Gold advanced - Becky, Joey, Kyren, Shannon, Lexi
Bronze advanced - Amanda, Maddie, Tally

Recall

Gold intermediate - Jason, Quyn, Sondra, Kayla
Bronze intermediate - Josh

Gold Advanced - Lexi, Becky, Joey, Lila, Maddie, Shannon
Silver Advanced - Amanda
Bronze Advanced - Kyren, Tally

Gate boundary

Gold intermediate - Kayla Bailey
Silver intermediate - Sondra Williams
Bronze intermediate - Josh & Quyn

Gold Advanced - Lexi, Becky, Maddie, Jason, Shannon, Lila
Silver Advanced - Amanda & Kyren
Bronze Advanced - Joey

Special shout out to Becky, Lexi & Shannon who earned gold medals in ALL THREE EVENTS!!!!

Unleashed competed against 33 other facilities across the nation of comparable size and came in 7th place!

Please show some love to our incredible staff in the comments!

04/01/2024

April birthdays are here! We are celebrating this group of lovely pups who are all turning one year older this month.

We have Oliver (turning 2), Tosca (turning 3), Beau (turning 4), Jake (turning 5), George and Gracie (turning 5), Zara (turning 4), Sophie (turning 3), Ricky Bobby (turning 4), Monty (turning 5), Ruby (turning 6), Bristol (turning 4), and Frannie (turning 2)

And this month has more original members of the puppy program, Zara, Ricky Bobby, and Bristol, turning 4, marking 4 years of Unleashed academy!

03/28/2024

Sign up now! There are still plenty of spots open to get your training on this spring! 🐶🌷

Register through our website!
Please email us with any questions, we are here to help find the best fit for you and your pup!

03/27/2024

Breed highlight!
Here we see our girl Theo, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, in all her lion hunting glory! 🦁
Rhodesian Ridgebacks were originally bred to hunt lions and protect livestock in southern Africa. They are easily recognizable from the ridge of fur that goes all the way down their back which comes from the DNA of the native dogs of the Khoekhoe people that were a part of the original Rhodesian Ridgeback breed mix.
As we can see, Rhodesian Ridgebacks are very active, but they are also the sweetest pups who are very loyal to their people!

03/25/2024

This weekend started our busy Spring Break boarding week! We have a full house of dogs and extra staff on hand to make sure everyone gets the cuddles and care they deserve when they’re away from home!
Our boarding dogs made no exception to this weekend and followed their usual “play hard, sleep hard” mantra