Wanderlust Kennel

07/28/2024

What a gorgeous day to train!
Dobbs the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and his owner Todd met up with Matt today to run some drills and prepare for upcoming hunt tests this fall. Todd and Dobbs are prepping for their breed club’s Working Certificate Excellent (WCX). During this test Tollers need to retrieve multiple marks on land and in water, handle blind retrieves on land and in water, honor another working dog and perform a task for which they are named- tolling.

Hunting Retriever Training sessions are available as private sessions or in small groups. Each session is tailored to the individual needs of the dog/handler team and is focused on working on their competitive goals. Newbies and try-it’s are always welcome too!
The first step to signing up is scheduling a working evaluation and consultation. Please email us at [email protected]

07/13/2024

07/04/2024

🎉EXCITING NEWS🎉
We bought a farm and moved our family to Weare, New Hampshire!
We have been blessed beyond measure and are so thankful for the Lord’s provision throughout this whole process.
Even though we are sad to leave Burlington, we are very excited to be living more rurally, with tons of room for dog training (and eventual farm animals!)
Matt will continue to commute and see current clients in Burlington for the summer and start to build up a client base up here over time. He is thrilled to be able to offer more Hunting Retriever training and will start taking clients for that this summer. It has been his dream as long as he can remember!
We will continue to board dogs in our home and look forward to building a new kennel building in the next year or two.
This space has so much potential for all things dog related and we are excited to see what additional services we will be able to offer in the future!
THANK YOU to all of the folks who helped us move and to all the clients who have been flexible during this transition. Our prayer is that God will use us and this farm to bless others, we can’t wait to see what He has in store for us here!

06/13/2024

Welcome Tatum to our Day Camp Pack!

This “little” guy is joining us to continue proofing his obedience and building his confidence with distractions in different environments.

04/05/2024

Just over three weeks ago Matt and Lea welcomed Gabriel Joseph to the Wanderlust pack! Big sister Evie is (mostly) thrilled to have a little brother. Everyone is doing well!

We want to thank all the clients who have been so understanding and supportive during this time of transition for our family, we appreciate everyone being so flexible over the last few weeks! Your messages, gifts, cards and well wishes are so appreciated! We feel so blessed to have such amazing clients who feel so much like friends and family.

Looking forward to getting back into full swing next week and seeing all the pups on the schedule!

04/05/2024

Welcome Lycan to the Pack!

This “little” guy is joining our board and train program. His owners have done a great job starting his obedience foundation, so we are continuing to build off that and exposing him to different places and distractions.

02/27/2024

Welcome Ms. Izzy to our Day Camp Pack!

This little firecracker is joining us to continue improving her obedience around different dogs in multiple locations.

01/31/2024

Ms. Ruby doing some prepping towards her CGC test. If anyone has any questions or are interested in starting the process of scheduling a test our Head trainer Matt is an evaluator and you can send an email to [email protected]

12/15/2023

3 years ago today this not so little yella nugget and his 9 siblings came to this world! He’s taught me how to be a better handle running our own race and enjoying the ride.

Happy birthday to HR Rooster CGCA, Makenna, Eve, Vetzy, Kimber, Maple, Evo, Callie, Jubilee, and Rosie

11/30/2023

Welcome Eddie to our Day Camp Pack!

Over the past couple months we’ve been working with Eddie and his awesome family through our 1on1 training program. After forming a solid foundation with his leash manners and general obedience we’re excited to be continuing with his training journey. Our focus is to work on off leash obedience, exposing him to more places, and distractions.

11/22/2023

We’ve had some clients concerned about the news regarding the “mystery” canine respiratory virus going around.
➡️This has been something the veterinary community has been seeing since March/April of this year.
➡️We never ever recommend letting your dogs go to dog parks (for more reasons than just this, but that’s a separate post!) or letting them drink from any kind of communal water bowl or fountain.
➡️We are taking all the appropriate measures to limit all Wanderlust dogs’ exposure to new dogs whenever possible and cleaning crates and equipment frequently.
➡️As always, if your dog develops any kind of sickness, do not send them to camp/training and please contact your veterinarian.
🦃Praying everyone has a safe and enjoyable thanksgiving holiday!

11/01/2023

Welcome Sully to our Day Camp Pack!

This young Newfoundland is joining us to help work on his general obedience and leash manners.

10/17/2023

Keep any coughing or sneezing dogs home! And as always make sure your dogs are up to date on the kennel cough (Bordetella) vaccine.

Kennel cough is not uncommon and is easily transmissible between social dogs. Limit your dog’s exposure to other dogs during this time of year and quarantine for two weeks if you notice coughing. Call your vet when/if even mild symptoms arise.

Fever, lethargy, inappetence and respiratory distress are NOT NORMAL in a regular kennel cough infection and require immediate veterinary care. Do not hesitate to have your dog seen at an emergency hospital or veterinary urgent care if you observe these symptoms.

Our home pack is currently under quarantine after an exposure and we are taking extensive steps to avoid any contact with outside dogs including changing shoes and clothes before seeing clients each day. Vehicles and crates have been disinfected and are thoroughly cleaned after each set of day training dogs. Boarding dogs for the next 2-4 weeks, have been contacted privately.

10/06/2023

Welcome Bruce to our Day Camp Pack!

He’s joining us to continue with his basic obedience and proofing it in different environments.

09/29/2023

Our rowdy Rainy Friday crew

09/25/2023

As we enjoy the last few days of September, we wanted to remind everyone to reach out for holiday boarding as soon as possible!

Because we care for your pets in our home like our own dogs, we have very limited spaces available for boarding dogs.

The month of October is fully booked for boarding already but we still have room most dates in November and December!

We require an evaluation/ meet and greet for any dog that is not already a client dog. Dogs must be housebroken, crate trained and dog & child neutral.

Please email [email protected] for reservations or any boarding questions!

08/18/2023

This is so me!

08/15/2023

Welcome Kenai to our Day Camp Pack!

He’s joining us to continue proofing his off leash obedience and recall in different environments and distractions.

08/08/2023

Lovely weather to be a Duck (Tolling Retriever) today 🦆☔️
Welcome Dobbs the NSDTR to the pack!

07/26/2023

Welcome Milli to our Day Camp pack!

She’s joining us to work on general leash manners and eventually off leash obedience.

07/04/2023

Happy 4th of July from Wanderlust Kennel! Stay safe and let freedom ring 🦅🎇

06/17/2023

These 3 happy pups wanted to wish everyone a happy Friday!

06/01/2023

Ever wonder what to do in an emergency with your pet?
Here is an updated list of veterinary urgent care and emergency hospitals in the greater Boston area. It’s worth a save or print out and keep on the fridge, God forbid anything happens to your pet.
Stay safe out there in the heat!

🏥 EMERGENCY/URGENT CARE UPDATE 🏥

To our clients & friends, please see our revised emergency & urgent care facilities list (photo below). Several new facilities have opened in our area, providing more options to pet parents in need of care outside of our normal business hours. If your pet requires medical attention when we are not open, please refer to this list. If you are unsure whether your pet should be seen at an urgent care versus an ER, this article courtesy of Ethos Veterinary Health explains what the difference is and how to determine where your pet should be seen: https://www.urgentpetdoc.com/animal-urgent-care-vs-er/
As always, if you have questions regarding your pets' care, please feel free to give us a call at 781-233-1340.

05/09/2023

Tongues out Tuesdays! Enjoying the beautiful New England weather

04/20/2023

Tongues out Thursday! Everyone enjoying the beautiful spring weather

04/14/2023

Welcome Zoey to our Day Camp Pack!

Zoey is joining us to work on continuing to proof her general obedience and to begin collar conditioning.

03/08/2023

ONE YEAR! Today marks the one year anniversary that Wanderlust Kennel and Training has been in business!

This has been a truly amazing year full of opportunity, growth and success. We wouldn’t be where we are today without all the amazing people that have believed in us and trusted us with their dogs. It has been a blast helping each family strengthen their bond with their pups.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has supported us along the way.
We look forward to seeing what the next year brings!

-Matt and Lea Johnston

03/07/2023

How do you meet your dog’s needs?

You cannot “train out” behaviors that are mainly a symptom of a dog who is under enriched and under stimulated.

If you are not meeting your dog’s physical, social, and mental needs, and they are “demand” barking, jumping up, destroying things, barking out the window, chewing inappropriately, or any other “problem behavior”, no amount of training will help until you can get more mental and physical stimulation on board.

It’s like taking a human child, never giving them the opportunity to play outside or go to the park to see their friends, and sitting them down in front of math problems in an effort to “calm them down”. They can't do the math problems until they've had their needs met! And your dog can't learn from "training" until they've had THEIR needs met!

So, if you’re dealing with a lot of “behavior problems”, ask yourself if you are really meeting your dog’s needs, or if there is something else you could be doing to enrich your dog’s life. It’s not always easy, but it will be worth it!

Not sure where to start? Check out these books for some good info:
- Canine Enrichment for the Real World: https://amzn.to/3mwF4oj
- Canine Enrichment for the Real World workbook: https://amzn.to/3muAozk
- Canine Enrichment: The Book Your Dog Needs You To Read: https://amzn.to/3SWguJO

02/28/2023

Snow day, shmow day! Like our friends at the post office, neither snow nor rain nor sleet or gloom keeps the pups at home!

Henry the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog joined us for (snow)Day Camp and Maverick the GSD is staying with us for a long weekend. Their owners are childhood friends, but these young boys hadn’t met yet, until today. They have become fast friends and had a blast romping in the woods in the snow!

We have limited availability for home boarding or boarding with training this spring, so be sure to reach out in advance if you’re planning a getaway.
We also have room for a few more Day Camp dogs in the schedule too!