Cher Car Kennels

Cher Car Kennels Cher Car Kennels has been breeding & training dogs for lives of significance & service® since 1977. Founder CHERYL CARLSON of Cher Car Kennels in St.
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Johns, Michigan is one of the best known experts in the industry, and has been training and breeding dogs professionally since 1977; providing guard dog service, teaching family companion dogs (manners, problem solving and behavior modification), personal protection, and physical assistance dogs. She has trained and certified 54 police K-9's to date (many of her own breeding), with teams qualified

in patrol, narcotics and explosive detection. She has also certified many other dog trainers in police work. Cheryl's breeding program has produced more than 300 certified Police K-9s and over 100 SAR dogs, along with dozens of physical and blind assistance dogs. She has also produced more French Ring Sport titled dogs than any other breeder in North America. Our breeding success is attributed to knowledge gained through years of experience. We select our breedings to emphasize physical soundness, intelligence and temperament, and we carefully match each individual puppy to its new family based on your stated activity needs and desires. We only utilize x-ray cleared dogs (hips and elbows) in our breeding program, with OFA certification obtained at the appropriate age. We treat our dogs like athletes; feeding the finest natural foods to produce maximum healthy growth and proper nutrition. Our feeding regimen consists of a mix of organic dog food comprised of human-grade ingredients without dyes, additives or synthetic preservatives combined with poultry, beef or venison. Our 20 acre country farm with boarding kennel facility provides the perfect setting for active socialization of our puppies by exposing them to farm animals (goats, horses, sheep) along with other dogs, boarding and training clients, and lots of friends…ensuring a well rounded development. We offer an extensive variety of dog training programs to assist your puppy in growing and learning in a safe, stimulating and fun environment. Cher Car Kennels specializes in ALL breed training for the family pet, along with advanced training for sport, protection and police. Our combined 60+ years of training programs have graduated over 18,500 dogs from our facilities to date! We specialize in preventing dog behavior problems by educating dog owners through personalized private home visits, group classes or in-kennel "boarding school" training, using positive, praising methods of dog obedience instruction. We provide the knowledge, understanding and expertise necessary to teach your dog "good behavior" rather than simply punishing what you might perceive as "bad behavior". The overall well-being of the dog is then achieved through a special balance of loving attention, exercise and a sense of purpose derived through training. Our philosophy of offering the very best breeding and training possible works to insure each puppy buyer is happy with their Cher Car Kennels dog, and for it to be a loved member of the family for its lifetime. Visit our website www.CherCarKennels.net to get to know us, our values and our facilities.

11/02/2024
11/01/2024

Sharing this Fall beauty to wish Happy November to all.

Be a SUPERHERO in your dog’s eyes by keeping them safe this Halloween!1. Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets.2. Don'...
10/31/2024

Be a SUPERHERO in your dog’s eyes by keeping them safe this Halloween!
1. Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets.
2. Don't leave pets out in the yard on Halloween.
3. Keep glow sticks away from pets.
4. Keep Halloween plants such as pumpkins and corn out of reach.
5. Don't keep lit pumpkins around pets.
6. Keep electric and battery-powered Halloween decorations out of reach.
7. Keep pets confined and away from the door. If you confine your dog in the garage during trick-or-treat hours, make CERTAIN that all harmful chemicals ESPECIALLY ANTI-FREEZE are securely stored up and away from your pet. Anti-freeze has an inviting aroma and a sweet flavor, and its appealing smell and taste often tempts animals to drink the highly poisonous substance.

I dislike the fact that the sun now rises behind the trees in my pasture. I no longer get the glorious view from my back...
10/31/2024

I dislike the fact that the sun now rises behind the trees in my pasture. I no longer get the glorious view from my back deck, so I walked over to the dock of the pool to take these.

A bunch of us had a spooky, scary, nerve-wracking good time this past Saturday at the Lakefront K9 protection trial in H...
10/28/2024

A bunch of us had a spooky, scary, nerve-wracking good time this past Saturday at the Lakefront K9 protection trial in Hobart, Indiana called “The Purge 2: Election Year”. Several of our Cher Car Kennels training clients and many of our Capital City Dog Sport Association members participated, and no one lost any body parts or massive amounts of blood! The dogs all rocked the distractions which screeched, je**ed and jolted up and down, moaned and one even towered over the dog and handler teams standing about 12 feet tall! Thank you so much to all the goblins and ghoulish Lakefront K9 members, volunteers and judges for the privilege of participating, and all of us are, as always, eternally grateful to each decoy who offered themself as a chew toy for our dogs while applying their skill set to ensure no one was hurt!

Cheryl took this beautiful sunset picture tonight.
10/27/2024

Cheryl took this beautiful sunset picture tonight.

Happy Birthday to our kennel manager Rachel Clark from all of us at Cher Car Kennels!
10/23/2024

Happy Birthday to our kennel manager Rachel Clark from all of us at Cher Car Kennels!

Another Cher Car Kennels Parson Russell Terrier doing "what a terrier's gotta do"! Thank you, Brittany, for giving her ...
10/19/2024

Another Cher Car Kennels Parson Russell Terrier doing "what a terrier's gotta do"! Thank you, Brittany, for giving her such a fulfilling life.

Rascal with the win yesterday morning.

Dad and son were hunting the night before and the boy took a shot at this big boy. Found very little blood and decided to back out and check again in the morning. The dad looked for over an hour and couldn't find anymore then the couple drops from the night before. Gives me a call for some help.

We arrived about 16 hours after the shot and from the way the dad described the deer's behavior after the shot, it sounded like it was a dead deer. Put Rascal on the ground and she took off on the line that the dad seen it go originally. After about 300 yards I could tell she was off on something that I didn't feel was the right deer. It was then the dad told me that when he was congratulating his son on his shot, he caught a deer heading the opposite direction but wasn't sure if it was their deer or another one. So I pull Rascal off and we go back to the hit site. I walk her along the other side of the trail just to see if my suspension was right. Sure enough, Rascal lines out and 75 yards later she was standing on this gorgeous 9 point.

Congrats to the young boy and his dad on this amazing UP buck. This was the boy's very first deer and what a whopper.

Cheryl, Lori and I took a road trip to “The Thumb” yesterday to bring a dog to a kennel in Palms, Michigan for breeding....
10/19/2024

Cheryl, Lori and I took a road trip to “The Thumb” yesterday to bring a dog to a kennel in Palms, Michigan for breeding. On the way home, we stopped at Stephens Park in Forestville to walk on the beach of Lake Huron. I personally have never seen Lake Huron, so I was excited to satisfy another accomplishment that I didn’t even know was on my bucket list!

For our friends looking for dog obedience classes in the Perry area, we recommend Jessica Fry and Amstel K9 highly.
10/18/2024

For our friends looking for dog obedience classes in the Perry area, we recommend Jessica Fry and Amstel K9 highly.

** Group Obedience Class **

Mark your calendars! Amstel K9 will be offering a 6-week group obedience class, start date Friday 11/01 at 6:00 PM. Class will be held in the indoor arena of Amstel Acres LLC in Perry, MI. This is a great class if you are just starting out, or even if you are looking for an opportunity to work the more advanced dog in a group setting.

Cost: $250

To enroll fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/9p2MevC6cPTUmAWKA
or send an email to [email protected]

Hope to see you there! 😁

Hunter's Moon
10/18/2024

Hunter's Moon

Continuing to prove that “little dogs rule”, this is a post from Lori Webster about showing her French Bulldog “Briar” (...
10/16/2024

Continuing to prove that “little dogs rule”, this is a post from Lori Webster about showing her French Bulldog “Briar” (MN URO2 CHER CAR YEAR OF THE DRAGONSFLY SPOT-ON) at the Capital City Dog Sport Association UKC Nosework Trials last weekend.

“Briar was able to achieve his complete Master Nosework title with passing his final leg in Master Interiors. He went on to complete his Elite Containers with a 2nd place finish and earning a leg in Elite Vehicles, also placing 2nd. The Elite level is the highest level a dog can earn in UKC nosework. It's a very challenging level as the owner does not know how many hides are put out by the judge (can be 1-4 hides) so the dog must clear the search area.

I love this little man so much as he gives me all he has when we work together."

This is a candid shot taken by our club photographer Kelly-Reed Lucas of me and Ritter after we exited the ring and I wa...
10/14/2024

This is a candid shot taken by our club photographer Kelly-Reed Lucas of me and Ritter after we exited the ring and I was telling him what a good boy he was. You can see I am wearing my trialing vest which contains a whole big bunch of liver bait in the front pocket, as handlers are allowed and encouraged to reward their dog after each correct “alert” of a found scent. Ritter is also still wearing his black rubber boots as dogs that “reach out and touch” the vehicles during the search alert MUST wear protective covering to safeguard the vehicles from being scratched. Ritter alerts by putting his big front paw up on the car at the precise location of the hidden scent.

HE DID IT!!! My German Shepherd Dog “Ritter” completed his Elite Nosework title yesterday in trial 1 of the Capital Cit...
10/14/2024

HE DID IT!!! My German Shepherd Dog “Ritter” completed his Elite Nosework title yesterday in trial 1 of the Capital City Dog Sport Association Nosework Trial Elite Vehicle class.

To earn the EN-Elite Nosework title, a dog and handler then must earn 2 qualifying scores in 4 separate elements (container, interior, exterior and vehicle) in EACH of the 5 scents (birch, anise, clove, myrrh and vetiver). The higher the level, the greater the number of hides which must be found (1-4 odor hides) and multiple distractions (1-3 distractions of food or toys) must be ignored. Therefore, the ELITE NOSEWORK title is a combination of 25 individual title certificates. Amazingly, my boy Ritter has earned 24 of these individual titles in the last 6 months (actually 25 weeks to be precise from April 20 to October 13, 2024). This rate of achievement is NOT normal. My dog is a truly gifted super-sniffer, especially when you consider he is not yet 2 years old!

I am so incredibly proud of his monumental achievement and at the same time, I marvel at how the sun and the moon and the stars all seemed to align to allow this to happen in an extra special way. Somehow, when CCDSA hired their judges for this trial last January, Cheryl Carlson was assigned to judge the vehicle class. Then in another twist of fate, Ritter managed to earn all but the last one title by the time this October trial rolled along, and the one remaining leg he needed was in that same vehicle class. Therefore, Ritter’s breeder and my training director was the judge that we ended up showing under! I was nervous, yet terribly excited all at the same time, and figured it would take us at least two tries to achieve this last title. Ritter had other ideas and blew me away by earning his title with a first placement in trial 1, then earned an extra insurance leg in trial 2.

Many thanks to all the UKC Nosework clubs we showed at this year and all the judges we trialed under. I am also thankful for all the encouragement I have received from my fellow nosework competitors along this journey, and for the constant cheering Ritter and I have received from my fellow Capital City Dog Sport Association club members. I am eternally grateful to Cheryl Carlson for breeding Ritter and for her incomparable skill in teaching me how to work this genius of a dog. Lasty, I must “give props” to my dear friend Kelly-Reed Lucas for standing in the rain yesterday to compose this photograph that I will cherish, print and frame!

Address

4215 S Lowell Road
Saint Johns, MI
48879

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 7pm
Tuesday 11am - 7pm
Wednesday 11am - 7pm
Thursday 11am - 7pm
Friday 11am - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm

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Videos

The moon tonight.

We received this wonderful video tagged #TeamCherCar from Brittany up in Sault Ste. Maria, Michigan. This team is made up of 4 Cher Car Kennels bred dogs! Nika (Multi-HIT AI AC NN PTS CAX UMJCH CH Cher Car's Scrappy Doo SPOT) and Isis (Cher Car’s Sugar Island Egyptian Goddess) are both Dutch Shepherds. Nika has been Brittany’s service dog since 2015 and new puppy Isis is in training to become her new service dog when Nika retires. The two smaller dogs in the lead are Parson Russell Terriers Rascal (UNSR CA Cher Car’s Sugar Island Rascal) and Flynn ('PR' Cher Car’s Sugar Island Flynn Rider). Besides participating in skijoring, sled dog racing and UKC performance events (nosework, lure coursing, dock jumping, conformation) with these dogs, Brittany also competes in Nite Hunts and Bench Shows with her coonhounds. Brittany and her husband operate “Black Dog Homestead” (poultry, sheep, goats, cows) and “Tiny but Mighty Big Game Recovery” (Wounded game tracking and recovery with the Parson Russell Terriers). These dogs are certainly living an action packed life… plus they are the BEST snugglers and guardians to Brittany’s two children!

The birds were holding a town meeting in this tree tonight during Obedience class. Good distraction!

Dock jumping class
Dock jumping class

Fun at Cher Car Kennels dock jumping class! This is "Amy", an Australian Cattle Dog mix who jumped off the dock the first night of class and is now jumping without hesitation. Her mom is working on her throwing skills while Amy works on achieving greater distance in her jumps. What a good team they are!

Best of luck to Greg Wessel and “Jury” (GRCH Sandcastle Verdict is in at Cher Car) as they compete this weekend at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York! “Jury” is a Belgian Tervuren co-owned by Sandra Shaw, Cheryl Carlson, Lori Webster and Greg Wessel. The Westminster Dog Show is the US’s second-oldest continuously running sporting event (behind only the Kentucky Derby) and begins with 2,500 dogs of 209 different breeds competing. The Show will be televised on FoxSports channels this weekend, with Herding on June 12 (Group judging: Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding from 7:30-11 p.m. eastern on FS1) and Sunday, June 13 will have the remaining Group judging (Sporting, Working, Terrier, and Best in Show from 7:30-11 p.m. eastern on FOX). We are keeping our fingers crossed for Greg and “Jury” to have a successful showing. Cheryl is already sky-high as she has now accomplished another thing on her bucket list… having one of her dogs show at Westminster!

Timber "take down" at Fall Brawl
Timber "take down" at Fall Brawl

Rush take down of decoy
Rush take down of decoy

Bushel of Blessings
Bushel of Blessings

St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day

Happy Howl-o-ween from Cher Car Kennels!
Happy Howl-o-ween from Cher Car Kennels!

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Breeding & Training Dogs for Service since 1977

Founder CHERYL CARLSON of Cher Car Kennels in St. Johns, Michigan is one of the best known experts in the industry, and has been training and breeding dogs professionally since 1977; providing guard dog service, teaching family companion dogs (manners, problem solving and behavior modification), training alert/assistance dogs, personal protection dogs and Police K-9s.

Cher Car Kennels breeding program has produced more than 350 dogs (German, Belgian and Dutch Shepherds) that have gone on to certify as Police, Sheriff and Government Department K-9s (US Dept of Defense, US Dept of State, US Dept of Homeland Security, US Drug Enforcement Administration, USAF Security Forces,) working in patrol, narcotics and explosives detection. In addition, more than 100 dogs have certified in Search and Rescue applications (wilderness, disaster, cadaver, avalanche and drowning rescue or recovery) along with over 4 dozen privately owned service dogs providing mobility, alert, emotional or physical assistance.

Our breeding success is attributed to knowledge gained through years of experience. We select our breedings to emphasize physical soundness, intelligence and temperament, and we carefully match each individual puppy to its new family based on your stated activity needs and desires. We only utilize x-ray cleared dogs (hips and elbows) in our breeding program, with OFA certification obtained at the appropriate age. We treat our dogs like athletes; feeding the finest natural foods to produce maximum healthy growth and proper nutrition. Our feeding regimen consists of a mix of organic dog food comprised of human-grade ingredients without dyes, additives or synthetic preservatives combined with poultry, beef or venison. Our 20 acre country farm with boarding kennel facility provides the perfect setting for active socialization of our puppies by exposing them to farm animals (goats, horses, sheep) along with other dogs, boarding and training clients, and lots of friends…ensuring a well rounded development. We offer an extensive variety of dog training programs to assist your puppy in growing and learning in a safe, stimulating and fun environment. Cher Car Kennels specializes in ALL breed training for the family pet, along with advanced training for sport, protection and police. Our combined 60+ years of training programs have graduated over 20,000 dogs from our facilities to date! We specialize in preventing dog behavior problems by educating dog owners through personalized private home visits, group classes or in-kennel "boarding school" training, using positive, praising methods of dog obedience instruction. We provide the knowledge, understanding and expertise necessary to teach your dog "good behavior" rather than simply punishing what you might perceive as "bad behavior". The overall well-being of the dog is then achieved through a special balance of loving attention, exercise and a sense of purpose derived through training. Our philosophy of offering the very best breeding and training possible works to insure each puppy buyer is happy with their Cher Car Kennels dog, and for it to be a loved member of the family for its lifetime. Visit our website www.CherCarKennels.net to get to know us, our values and our facilities.

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