I would like to introduce myself to the communities of Vulcan, Norway, and Iron Mountain. My family recently relocated to the area a little over a year ago and I am currently training a puppy to be my Service Dog. I’m always looking for businesses, groups, and organizations that are willing to help me with public access training and in return I can offer training to your staff or group about working animals including service dogs, therapy dogs and ESA’s.
The current puppy that I am training to be a Service Dog is Azul, a Husky/German Shepherd puppy. I’ve been working with him since he was 6 weeks old. The first few weeks were all about developing a bond with each other and learning how to read each other. Then we spent a whole ton of time working on creating great experiences for Azul during his critical socialization period. And we are just starting our formal training that will lead to becoming a Service Dog to provide medical alert & response.
Meet the Trainer
I have over 30 years of experience training German Shepherds to be good mannered family pets. Over the past 10 years I have worked with rescues in lower Michigan to foster and train dogs in basic obedience, helping them to be placed in loving homes. I had my first Therapy Dog in 2007 where our main work involved developing a reading and mentoring program within an elementary school as part of an AmeriCorps mission to serve the community. My basic belief and the way I focus training is that dogs need to be taught proper manners to have positive experiences and become the beloved family pet. In the past I have worked with aggressive dogs, older dogs that never received basic obedience, and younger dogs that need to figure out their place in the family.
Current Need – How You Can Help
While working in public, manners are of the upmost importance. That means Azul needs to learn to ignore people and other animals when he is working. But he also needs to learn how to greet people and other animals when appropriate. We need people and people with dogs to help create positive learning experiences. We organize local Pack Walks where everyone is invited to join us with their pup for some basic leash manners practice. Pack Walks take place at Strawberry Lake on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 6:30 PM, with bad weather postponing until the following Tuesday. If your dog is not ready for a Pack Walk setting, I can set up a meet & greet individual walk.
I am looking for dog friendly businesses, organizations, and groups who would be open to having us visit. Azul needs to get used to hearing sounds, being pet by all ages, and work on improving his manners. Visits can be set up in a way that will work best for your business. This may include a general walk through to practice leash work, sitting near the front door to greet visitors, or a short training presentation. We can set up a specific time to visit and have a meet & greet with your staff or set up an open door for regular visits to your business. If you’re interested in arranging a visit, please contact me via email at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail at 906-399-0548.
Current Training Offered
At the moment I am not teaching any group classes. While I agree that these have a time and place, it is very hard to find a small group of people that have the time to commit to a 6 week schedule. Therefore, I would rather set up individual training sessions with you and your dog(s). My rates are very reasonable! I charge $20 for the first 1 hour session, then $10 an hour for each session after that with the 6th session free. This means you can get 6 hours of private lessons for $60. You won’t find that anywhere else!
Why do I offer my skills and expertise for such a low cost? Because the importance of helping you and your dog live a more productive, happy life together is more important to me then financial gains. I only charge enough to cover the expenses that I might have while doing this training with you including gas to meeting locations, treats that I provide, and any other resources that you may need.
All training that I provide is FORCE FREE! I want to help you and your dog build a bond that will last a lifetime. I do not allow choke collars, prong collars, or shock collars to be used at our training sessions! I suggest a flat collar or training harness for most sessions and I am happy to work with you to find the right equipment for you and your dog.
I also offer dog walking and puppy socialization practice while you are at work. I do not walk your dog in a large group of dogs as some walkers do. I will spend one-on-one time with your dog walking at an appropriate speed in an environment that your dog will thrive in. If your dog is dog friendly, I may bring my pup along on the walk for some additional socialization time. But this is based on a case by case basis with your approval. Again I charge just $10 an hour for this service and will happily work out a deal for repeat walks.
If you would like to discuss training options email me at [email protected] or text me at 906-399-0548. Due to living in the country between towers, phone calls are near impossible without setting up a time for a chat via email or text first.
