Desert Dog Obedience

08/16/2024

08/09/2024

Congratulations to our Beginner 1 class graduates. Good work. Jordan and Doodle, Maverick; Darlene and Bichon, Ivy; Donna and Doodle, Winnie; and Heather and Briard, Shelby. See you in Beginner 2 class.

08/01/2024

JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR!

With our outdoor classes on summer break we have missed seeing all of you!

Friday, August 2nd at 5:00 p.m.
The Hub
14205 South 50th Street, Phoenix
(50th Street, south of Ray behind Petco).

Come to eat, drink and be merry!

https://www.hubgrill.com/mainmenu

Let us know if you can make it so we can look forward to seeing you! Spouses, significant others, etc. are all welcome. Sorry the dogs have to stay at home!

07/31/2024

Get ready for Fall. Announcing our upcoming classes. Join us. Email Jean at [email protected] for more information or to sign up.

07/17/2024

Congratulations to our newest Beginner 1 class graduates; Brenda and Thomas with Beagles Leah and Rue; Kathleen and Terv Levi; Sandy and Golden Sully; Sharmaine with All American Caramel; Colleen and Kelly with All American Stevie; Charisee Lucille and Dobie Remmy; Isaiah and All American Bella; Matt and Tatum with Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Buck; and Dick and Val with Irish Setter Aiden. Good work. See you in Beginner 2.

07/16/2024

Congratulations to our newest Beginner 2 graduates; Anne and Donald with Corgi's Shadow and Storm; Sandy with Golden Sully; Melissa with All American, Nyx. Looking forward to seeing you in the fall in Advanced Beginners!

07/04/2024

Have a great 4th of July and keep those pets safe indoors. Would love to see your dog's festive holiday attire. Here's Kix. Post yours in the comments.

06/25/2024

DESERT DOG OBEDIENCE FEATURED INSTRUCTOR

Dawn Clark has always had a gift for working with dogs. When 4-year-old Dawn decided to have a cookies-and-Kool-Aid tea party with her Australian Shepherd, Bingo, her mother warned that the dog would steal the cookies and make a mess of the tea party. But Dawn was determined. Her mother waited for disaster. When no screaming, crashing, or crying ensued, Mom couldn’t resist peeking around the corner. There was Bingo seated politely at the table, calmly awaiting instructions from Dawn, the future dog trainer.

Although Dawn grew up with dogs, she didn’t hear about Rottweilers until she was an adult. At first curious, and then fascinated, she researched and got to know the breed better. In 1998 Dawn got Max, her first Rottweiler.

In addition to Max, Dawn has shared her life with three more Rotties; Obi, Leia, and Sky. Together they have participated in regular Obedience, Rally, Agility, Carting, Barn Hunt, Tricks, and Therapy Dog work.

Leia and Dawn have earned their Rottweiler Club “Versatility” and “Versatility Excellent” titles. Together they recently completed their Rally Championship, and have qualified for the 2024 AKC Rally National competition.

Dawn loves working with her students. Her primary goal as an instructor is to help each student and canine team develop the skills they need to fully enjoy their lives together. She especially enjoys seeing the sense of accomplishment a student has when she’s helped them work through a difficult exercise or sequence.

06/18/2024

NOW is the time to fix your fences, lock your gates, microchip your pets, ID on collars- (a phone # written with a sharpie if nothing else) and contact your veterinarian NOW for meds if needed.
DON'T WAIT UNTIL JULY 3RD!!!

06/13/2024

Congratulations to our recent Beginner 2 graduates. Elizabeth and BC, Freya; Alex and Aussie, Kai; Christian and Golden Retriever, Leo; Tracy and Bearded Collie, Takeko; Aaron and Doodle, Koda; Denise and Lab, Winnie; and Jason and Doodle, Cooper. Good work all! Looking forward to seeing you in Advanced Beginners.

06/06/2024

Congratulations to our Beginner 1 graduates; Pam and Lab, Hank; Jacqui and All American, Simon; Jason and Doodle, Cooper; Melissa and All American, Nyx; Denise and Lab, Winnie; Gayle and Lab, Winslow. Good work all! Keep it going.

06/05/2024

Congratulations to our recent titled Trick dogs. Here's Michele and Novice and Intermediate Trick Dog, Cedar; Mark and Intermediate Trick Dog, Sunny; Karen and Novice Trick Dog, Louie; Laura and Novice Trick Dog Syd; and Heather and Novice and Intermediate Trick Dog, Howie. Good work all of you!

06/03/2024

Thank you all for coming out to help celebrate last night. It was great seeing old friends and new. The food was delicious. We truly have some genius dogs and the photo booth (thank you, Robin) was a whole lotta fun. Here are just a few pictures from the evening. I'd love to see yours too.

05/30/2024

Today's the last day to RSVP. Email [email protected]. RSVP Required!

05/30/2024

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures of their dogs over the last four weeks. I have loved looking at each one and seeing the accomplishments and fun you have had and continue having with your dogs. Thank you for sharing them.

We have a winner of the drawing for free 6 week class.
And the winner is Mallory Jade! I'll get your certificate to you. Congratulations!

Remember our Celebration Party is Saturday, June 1st at the Ahwatukee Swim and Tennis Center Park. Food, drawings, games! Bring the dogs, bring the family. Let's celebrate.

Last day to RSVP is Thursday.

05/27/2024

I'm loving all your pictures. This has been so much fun. Here's our final week of drawings. This week is for a free six week class.

To enter just post a picture of your favorite, best, most inspiring, funniest accomplishment with your dog(s).

All the same fine print from previous weeks still applies. Drawing will be on Wednesday.

And don't forget the celebration on Saturday evening, June 1st at the park. There will be food, games, and more drawings. Bring the dogs, bring the family. We'll have some fun! Watch here and in your email for details coming tomorrow.

I’ll get us started for this week...

05/23/2024

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures of their dog's family this week! I love looking at all the pictures! They're all wonderful. Thank you.

We have a winner of the drawing for 1/2 off a 6 week class.

And the winner is Vicki Lipski! I'll get your certificate to you. Congratulations!

Watch on Sunday night for the next drawing!

Remember our Celebration Party is next Saturday, June 1st at the Ahwatukee Swim and Tennis Center Park. Food, drawings, games! Bring the dogs, bring the family. Let's celebrate.

05/21/2024

Check out our summer class schedule below. These summer classes are held inside the Ahwatukee Swim and Tennis Center (yeah for air conditioning). Contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in any of our classes.

05/20/2024

Another wonderful response to our second week celebration drawing. On to week three’s drawing, The week three drawing is for ½ off a six week class.

And I still want to see more pictures of your dogs. To enter the drawing this week post a picture of your dog family (past, present, human, pet, whatever).

All the same fine print from last weeks still applies. Drawing will be on Wednesday.

And don't forget the celebration on Saturday evening, June 1st at the park. There will be food, games, and more drawings. Bring the dogs, bring the family. We'll have some fun!

I’ll get us started for this week...

05/17/2024

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures of their dog's favorite activity this week! What a lot of great action (and some non-action) shots you all have posted. I’ve enjoyed reading each post and looking at all the awesome dogs. Thank you.

We have a winner of the drawing for the 4 week class.

And the winner is Sharon Girardin! Sharon, I’ll see you in the next month and get your certificate to you. Congratulations!

Watch on Sunday night for the next drawing!

05/13/2024

We had a wonderful response to our first week celebration drawing. Ready for the week two drawing? This week’s drawing is for a free 4 week class.

And I want to see more pictures of your dogs. To enter the drawing this week post a picture of your dog’s favorite activity, action shot or trick.

All the same fine print from last week still applies. Drawing will be on Wednesday.

I’ll get us started…

05/10/2024

Thanks to everyone who posted their heart dogs this week! I’ve enjoyed reading each post and looking at all the pictures of the lovely, lovely dogs. Thank you.

We have a winner of the drawing for the 50% off a 4 week class.

And the winner is Val Pagone! Val, I’ll see you next week and get your certificate to you. Congratulations!

Watch on Sunday night for the next drawing!

05/06/2024

The 10-year celebration giveaways starts today. We love dogs. Your dogs, in particular. We love everything about dogs. We love to see pictures of dogs, lots and lots of dogs. And we want to get to know you and your life with dogs better.

This week’s giveaway is a drawing for 50% off any 4 week class. To enter the drawing all you have to do is post a picture of your all-time heart dog. You can also tell me something about your heart dog but you don’t need to.

Even if you aren’t presently our student, show us your heart dog anyway. We would love to see him or her.

Here’s the fine print; you can only be entered in the drawing once but you can certainly post more than one picture. DDO instructors can’t enter but we would love to see your heart dog. Post in the comments section below. All posts are public. Winner will be announced on Wednesdays on Facebook and next giveaway announced on Sundays.

I’ll start it off.

05/05/2024

I trained my first dog with Desert Dog Obedience in the early 80’s. I became a trainer for Desert Dog Obedience in the early 90’s. Around 2007 Beverly Stephens and I took over Desert Dog Obedience from Tanya Roche. And 10 years ago, I quit my day job and began working as a full time dog trainer.

I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished in the last 10 years. We’ve grown, welcoming 4 new instructors, Donna (who sadly passed last year), Dawn, Mari and Dana. We’ve added several workshops, a seasonal conformation handling class, and indoor summer Beginner classes. In 2014 we had classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. Now we conduct classes every night of the week and two mornings a week. We’ve added student obedience and rally matches and our page was initiated. It’s been quite a 10 years.

It's time to thank those who have helped us along the way, to celebrate with our friends and students and to look forward to the future.

We will be celebrating all month with contests and giveaways and on Saturday, June 1st you’re invited to our anniversary party and to help us thank all those who have supported us through the years.

Watch for contest announcements every Sunday evening on Facebook. All you have to do to enter the drawing is post a picture. More details will be included on Facebook and in our classes.

We invite you to celebrate with us. Stay tuned.

05/03/2024

Congratulations to our newest Beginner 2 graduates: Kendra and All American, Piper; Stephanie and Golden Retriever, Nes; Alyssa and All American, Nocs; Mark and Frenchie, Bea and Sharon and Aussie, Bear. Good work everyone!