Rise Above Dog Training

03/03/2025

Temporary fosters needed! Help the shelter keep the animals in their care healthy 🐾💖🧼🧽🫧

After several weeks with over 500 dogs in the shelter, our kennels are in urgent need of extra cleaning. To help tackle this, PACC is kicking off a deep clean, and we're hoping to move 40 dogs out of their kennels so we can scrub, sanitize, and create a healthier space for them!

We’re looking for short-term fosters from Tuesday through Thursday to help us clear the kennels and ensure we keep the shelter as clean and safe as possible.

How You Can Help:

🧼 Take a dog for a 3-day spring break (Tuesday – Thursday)
🧼 Give them a cozy spot to relax while we deep clean
🧼 Return them Friday—or keep fostering if you fall in love!

PACC provides all supplies, and our team will help match you with a pup that fits your home. Even a short break makes a HUGE difference in their stress levels and adoptability - in fact, a 2024 study found that taking a shelter dog on a sleepover makes them 14 TIMES MORE LIKELY to be adopted!

Help us freshen up the shelter while giving a dog a break! Let’s clear those kennels so we can deep clean and keep PACC’s pets safe and healthy. All you need to do to get started is come on into the shelter, and we'll take it from there! 💙

03/01/2025

You can find us on a patio, perfecting the art of chill. Adoptable Duke made an awesome lunch buddy today ❤️🐕

02/15/2025

Look at all these good dogs at group class learning stuff and being very good! ❤️🐾 So grateful to everyone who’s attended and supported the class, but wanted to give a very special shout out and thank you to Stephen who worked adoptable Duke through the class today. I brought Duke along to demonstrate and Stephen ended up working him through the whole class. By the end of the lesson Duke was doing tricks he didn’t know before class and that weren’t even on the curriculum, like sit pretty 😂🙏 Very thankful for everyone who’s shown up, shared the info on the class with someone, helped me carry set up or break down equipment, or just laughed at my jokes. Couldn’t have this much fun without you all ❤️🙏🐾

02/10/2025

Oh the places you’ll go when you’re training dogs! Spyder and his mom are working on some transportation training in his service dog work and needed a good spot to acclimate to the rigmarole of riding public transit. drivers were so friendly and accommodating, letting us explore the bus during their lunch break to practice where Spyder will ride to keep him safe and out of the way in his service dog work. Very impressed with this boy and the way he bounced back from every new sound and uncertain scenario put in front of him. This team is putting in the work to navigate the world more comfortably together and I’m super excited to see them reach their goals!

02/08/2025

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the group class today! See you next week!

I of course forgot to snap a picture, but you’ll have to take my word for it that it happened and it was super fun! Here’s an unrelated picture I took of my nerds to catch your attention!

If you missed sign ups for this class our next one starts March 8th and is open to anyone with a non reactive dog. Just send us an email!

01/30/2025

The photo we used vs. The struggle it took to get that photo 😅

01/24/2025

10am February 8th- March 1st on the Northside! This 4 week obedience group class is a great way to establish foundational skills in obedience training. We meet once a week for four weeks as we walk you through the foundations of Sit, Down, Stay, Recall, and Loose Leash Walking. If you’re interested in joining send us an email at [email protected] to reserve your spot!

12/05/2024

Hey all! If you are looking for a charity to donate to to offset taxes this year I wanted to throw my suggestion and support out there for a cause I’m working closely with. In case you haven’t heard I accepted a job with Soldier's Best Friend this summer and am officially training service dog teams for the organization part time! This not only has been the perfect situation for me to ride the waves of being a small business with some extra income, but has also broadened my knowledge and experience even further as a trainer, and has put me in a position to do some truly meaningful work with people and dogs.

Soldier’s Best Friend is a 501c3 based out of Peoria who pairs combat veterans across Arizona with rescue dogs and provides the training and support the veteran needs to train their own service dog. It’s been half a year of shadowing, training, and learning from not only the staff, but the veterans themselves. There are so many powerful and deeply impactful stories I’ve heard and gotten to witness in my time with them so far and I feel very proud to be part of what they do!

Thanks to the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, you can donate up to $841 and get it right back on your Arizona tax return, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to support veterans and rescue dogs across Arizona!

11/30/2024

This one goes out to every dog that ever had to get a bath… Alexa, play “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan 🎶😔 Shout out to Fiona for being very brave at the DIY Pet Wash during her lesson today 🙏❤️

11/22/2024

Had to say goodbye to our personal dog Hobbes today. Hobbes is a dog I adopted off of the euthanasia list back in 2014 right before I went to dog training school. He’s seen us through so many iterations of this business and taught me so much. His smile was the thing that made me fall in love with him, and he was my unofficial emotional support animal for years. There’s a phrase we use in our house called “black holed” which means a dog cuddles up with you and before you know it you’re waking up from a nap you didn’t plan for. Hobbes was the king of that. His heavy cuddles are unmatched.

He was surrendered to the shelter a decade ago for “biting” and I can safely say after seeing his behavior for the last 10 years that was not true. This dog didn’t have a mean bone in his body. A true sweet heart who was an exuberant expresser of affection at his worst. I feel lucky we got to see him off in style and comfort with a last mosey through the park, a bag full of weinerschnitzle, and all the cuddles from his mom and dad. In his memory please take your pups on a hotdog date for my boy Hobbes. Forever our Hot Dog Prince. Run free buddy 💘🌭🐾

11/16/2024

A huge loss to our rescue community. I can only imagine the enormous pack who met him at the rainbow bridge.

John McLean, a Democratic candidate for the state Senate who lost last week's election, was killed in a traffic collision near Broadway and Houghton Road on Friday morning, police said.

11/10/2024

It takes a special kind of heart to love a difficult dog. In a world full of quick fixes and a “what’s in it for me?” attitude there’s no good reason to. It doesn’t add to your bank account, it’s not easy on your house, it’s not great for your social life… So when I meet people who love a “bad” dog, I pay attention. These hearts exist within people of all walks. I could never pick them out on sight alone. You can only tell which ones they are by the way they navigate difficult things, and don’t let the hard stuff change what they value. They’re loyal. They’re brave. They don’t cop out for convenience. So rare in this life.

A heart that can stand up to every single wave of hurt this world throws at it, maybe tired, maybe sad, but never wavering in letting the love it carries to shine through. That kind of love transcends every law of physics, reality, time, and space. Long after the heart stops beating the love carries on. It’s in the wind. It’s in the sun on your face. It’s in the rain drops on your garden. It’s in every flower and bird that makes your day more beautiful. And that’s just a corny (but true!) way of saying love never leaves.

I know this, because I loved a difficult dog who’s no longer here and I feel that love between me and him every day. In moments of doubt I feel that he’s here. In happy moments I know he’s around. Even as I type this out with a heavy heart I look up and see the angel number 444 on the clock that I associate with him. He’s telling me to be brave, and not to doubt myself in sharing this message. I loved that dog so much, and our love for each other is the tether between our two worlds until I see him again. Like the longest long line that never tangles, our hearts are forever connected and it will be the way we find our way back to each other when it’s time for me to go home.

And although it hurts to have to be here when he’s there, that love for my dog has led me to connect with people who love their dogs the same way. Unconditional. Unstoppable. As they say, “Real recognizes real.” and I’m grateful to know each of these humans and to bear witness to their love in action. It’s my own personal sun on my face moment. A time when me and my dog are close again for a brief moment, as I walk with people down their own path of loving their own difficult dog.

11/08/2024

Hanging out with adoptables Duke and Sasha today, and we’re out here frolicking at the park. What are you and your dogs doing with the cooler weather in full swing?

11/07/2024

Woola is a big beautiful bully breed girlie who is working on engagement to have more pleasant walks with her dad. They are the first family to take us up on our Rescue rate and we’re really excited to be able to offer this resource to the rescue pups of Pima County. Now until the end of the year rescue dogs get the rescue rate for private lessons which takes our $125 private lessons down to only $90. This is available to any rescue dog with their adoption paperwork from either a shelter or 501c3 rescue. New to the family or a long time member of your pack, all rescue dogs are eligible!

10/12/2024

Hi all,
In light of the unrelenting overpopulation at local shelters I’ve decided to offer discounted private lessons to shelter and rescue dogs new and old. Starting now until the end of 2024 our hour long private lessons (normally $125) will be $90 for rescue pups with proof of adoption from a local shelter or rescue org.

Below is our link to schedule a $45 half hour phone consultation to get started. The phone consult is an awesome resource full of training advice for people looking for affordable training support as well.

This economy is tough and I know that is a huge part of why the shelters are full. I want to make it easier for dogs to stay in their homes if money is a barrier to training, so I’m extending the rate I offer our rescue partners to the humans who have committed to homeless dogs in Pima County until the end of the year. I wish I could do more, but this is what I’ve come up with to contribute to the issue for now. Spread the word to those in need.

Any questions, feel free to touch base at
RiseAboveDogTraining@ gmail.com

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21500309&appointmentType=33129105

09/25/2024

Come find us on Nextdoor! Tag us in the neighborhood gossip. Tell your neighbors you think we’re awesome with a review. Support us as we try yet another avenue to market our dog training services to Tucson 🌵❤️🐾

https://nextdoor.com/pages/rise-above-dog-training-tucson-az-1?init_source=org_pages

09/14/2024

"Pima Paws for Life" animal shelter rescues sick and injured pets, at risk of closing due to lack of funds