Very Amazing Dog Academy LLC

19/01/2025

Such a fantastic class with some really wonderful people and really AMAZING dogs 😎🐾 Thank you all for coming out!

11/01/2025

Race season is here😎👊🐾 Join RMSDC for this awesome event atop the Grand Mesa🐕🐾

06/01/2025

Interested in dog powered sports, but not sure how to get started? Mushing 101 is the class for you! In this two class series you will learn everything from proper dog care, gear, dog training and more. Gear is provided for those who don't have any. Ready to get started into the awesome world of mushing? Register by clicking the link below or by emailing me at [email protected].

Learn everything you need to get started with any dog powered sport. This class is a two-part series online and in person. First get fully immersed into the world of mushing with a one-hour webinar. Then we will hit the trails together with a hand on training run.

29/12/2024

What a great day at the ranch and such a fun group of dogs!! I always love the "ah ha" moment the dogs get when they finally figure it out; stretch their body out and just go!

Want to learn how to skijor with your dog? In addition to Mushing 101 classes, VADA is also teaching skijoring lessons at Devil's Thumb Ranch twice a month till April🐾🐕

24/12/2024

Wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year🎄🐾

28/11/2024

Happy Thanksgiving to you, your families and all your taste testers 🐶🐾🦃

In the spirit of the holiday let me say how incredibly grateful I am to everyone who has supported VADA LLC and become apart of the VADA family 🐾

I too like to spoil my dogs on Thanksgiving 😝 Here is a quick list of things they can eat and things to avoid:
( make sure the food your give your fur baby is unseasoned)
✅ Turkey (boneless and skinless)
✅ Sweet potatos
✅Cranberries
✅Carrots
✅ Apples
✅ Peas
---
❌ Gravy
❌ Onions and Garlic
❌ Stuffing
❌ Any desserts
❌Ham or Pork
❌Rasins or grapes

Enjoy ❣️

25/11/2024

Pet Color Reflex Therapy (also known as reflexology) is a therapeutic technique that stimulates the nerves and increases the blood flow throughout the body. This technique is 100% natural, non-invasive is very effective and has no negative side effects. By combining manual therapies with color light therapy, homeopathy, vitamins and minerals, diet, etc., remarkable results can be achieved. Reflexology is technique developed from ancient Chinese medicine in acupuncture and acupressure, utilizes the face and foot maps from both Vietnamese and South American medicine and modern neuroanatomy. Reflex therapy can be supplemental with veterinary care boosting health and wellbeing for your pet.

Looking for a completely natural way to overcome health issues with your fur baby? Come check it out December 7th 1-3pm at VADA LLC main office.

20/11/2024

Mental stimulation ⚡️ It is somthing that most pet owners miss for their dogs( no judgement!) and can correlate to behavioral issues such as reactivity, agression, anxiety, hyperactive tendencies etc.

The truth is "the daily walk" doesn't always cut it with some dogs and adding even more exercise won't always solve the issue either. Don't get me wrong physical exercise is paramount for all living creatures well being. However, when it comes to your four legged canine companion this can not be the only focus. There needs to be activities to stretch their cognition and fire off those neurons.

What does mental stimulation look like?

It is anything from brain games, training, snuffle mats, lick mats, play, work and even just letting your dog watch wildlife out the window. Any activity involving sniffing and licking has a physiological calming effect on your dog which reduces stress. Problem solving increases oxygen to the brain and boosts cognition.

Tight schedule and looking for a more passive approach?
✅Feed your dog's meals in a puzzel toy or snuffle mat. The act of foraging can greatly benefit them.
✅Freeze a couple kongs and mats with peanut butter, yogurt, bone broth etc. for later use or after your dog gets back from a walk or right before you leave. SO EASY!

Want to actively engage with your dog? (you should😂)

✅Train your dog somthing new each week for 5-10minutes a day and add some sessions during a walk.
✅Play with your dog as an active participant which increases your bond and their brain activity. I am talking tug, fetch, hide and seek etc.
✅We all love purpose and job, your dog is no different. Getting involved in a sport with your dog is the ultimate form of mental stimulation, physical exercise and bonding! (plus it is just fun and so rewarding ❤️)

AND this goes for ANY dog, ANY breed, ANY age!!!
There are so many ways to increase mental stimulation and every dog is different 🐶

My absolute go to are lick mats. Not only can you add whole food snacks options to the mat to better their gut microbiome, but your dog also has to SLOOOW down their brain for a bit 🧠 ✨ Lets be honest, we could all use a lick mat once in awhile.

So if you are still reading this ( thank you)! NOW go forth and start exercising your doggos brain!!

Oh and if you ever get stuck, DM me. Together we can find a great choice for you and your dog🐾😎

12/11/2024

VADA LLC is jumping into the new age and making Mush to Learn dog training online. You won't have to brave a long journey into the mountains to attend a class! This course includes both an online webinar and a hands-on in person group class.
This class will not only get you started in the world but will also take a deep dive into dog care, trail etiquette and dog training and conditioning.

Register by emailing [email protected].

23/10/2024

Very Amazing Dog Academy LLC now offers pet reflexology🐾🎉
What is reflexology, you may ask? It is therapeutic technique involving working the reflex points on the feet, hands and face ( paws or hooves and face for our four legged friends) This helps boost circulation and healing throughout the body. As mom always says " it is like a tune up for the body" ( yes I am following in her footsteps). In conjunction with veterinary care, reflexology offers a natural boost to maintaining over all wellbeing and helping the body to heal your pet and their conditions. Best of all there are NO negative side effects to this sort of treatment. We have been using essential oils raindrop and reflexolgy techniques on our animals for years. What we found were healthier and happy pets, with less stress both physically and mentally🐾🐶

We are just scratching the surface to the magic behind reflexology and pets! This service is open to all four legged friends from the canines, felines and equines. Heck I would even be open to a chicken or two 😂🐾

Big thank you for Lone Sorensen for all her guidence and mentoring during my certification process🙏🙏

15/10/2024

BEER AND DOG TRAINING! WHAT COULD BE BETTER? JOIN US FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF BASIC OBEDIENCE AT THE BREWERY!!

04/10/2024

Just let puppies sit and observe. Take in the world. So often we push them to be perfect in situations, the most social and most well behaved. We tend to take " socilize your puppy as much possible" too seriously and throw our little fur balls in situations they do not have the tools to work through. Instead have small postive experiences with your puppy, building trust with you and confidence in themselves. The way you socialize your puppy is just as important as how much you do.
Miss Wynter is doing fabulous. Instead if having her meet all those seemingly friendly dogs at the park, we are letting her observe them. No stress.
It has been a joy working with Wynter and her parents on her puppy training these last few weeks and watching this little one blossom🐾❤️

30/09/2024

You know that moment when you see somthing click with a dog? All apprehensions fall away and boom, they got it!

The first training run of the season for team VADA and the maiden voyage on bikjoring for these happy folks! What a beautiful fall morning to run🐾🍂 Thank you for coming out, you guys really were total naturals!! I hope to see you all at the races!

Side note this was my little Lyras FIRST TIME on the truck line and actaully seeing what her future may hold 😎she did SO good!

Double side note: Ms.Shilo got a taste of being a sled dog this weekend. While I don't really like flooding a dog while working on reactivity, I felt she was a point in her training where ahe could hold it together. Yes there were lots of barking and confusion, yet even in the choas she was way more centered and could calm herself quickly. Progress!!!

We are just getting started on the season! More Mush to Learn classes will be coming soon. Check out for announcements🐾🍂

26/09/2024

Thank you!!!🙏🐾

26/09/2024

Meet Shiloh. My new in home project🐾 Shiloh is one of many dogs who has, let's just say "behavioral baggage". So naturally when her mom left on a 3 week trip my ding d**g brain was like "sure I will bring this agressive dog into my home with my own dogs and family, because why not?"
To be honest it has been less of an knee jerk impusive decision and more of a upclose observational study.

For starters I have been tasked with seemingly "curing" a dog of her behavioral issues. Which is a fools errand in itself since most agression and reactivity is a long term thing and requires TIME. If they ever get over it.

So start small. If you are to stay under my roof you will adhere to my guidelines. You must also not lay a single paw on one of my kids. You are guest in this house. We will work on learning to calm yourself around triggers and we will train the basics everyday. Early morning walks, afternoon runs. Routine. You know chop wood carry water...

Our environment is by no means a tranquil space. Infact it is shear chaos 90% of the time, but my dogs can rely on clear structure, stability and routine but we also let loose and have FUN. Run through the woods, play in the river, roll in deer p**p.... You know dog stuff. Oh and here at the VADA kennels we dabble in homecooked meals and fresh baked treats 😉

So far she is flourishing in this evironment🙏🙏The odd behaviors she was struggling with seem to be slipping away( she still maintains her quirky spiciness). Is it rehabilitation? A change in scenery? Time will tell.

For now she is happily chillin with the team. Calm and content🐾❤️ Stay tuned. There is more to this dog then meets the eye.

13/09/2024

Fall Mushing Classes 🍂🐾🐕

Visit https://www.veryamazingdogacademy.com/mush-to-learn

See you on trails🐾🍂

10/09/2024

Adolescence occurs between six months and 18 months of age—a time when guardians typically struggle the most with their dogs. Some guardians are so overwhelmed and underprepared for this developmental stage of their dog’s life, they choose to surrender the dog to a local shelter or rescue group. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found that the majority of the surrendered dogs (47.7 percent) ) were between 5 months and 3 years of age (M.D. Salman,John G. New, Jr.,Janet M. Scarlett,Philip H. Kass,Rebecca Ruch-Gallie &Suzanne Hetts, 2010)

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, changing s*x hormones effect the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to process information they are receiving from the environment including the presence of dogs, vehicles, people, or really anything around them. They behave in ways that might feel frustrating or upsetting for the dog’s person.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control. We see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

So what does this mean? This could mean that what was once no big deal to the dog now feels scary; what was once easy to do is now stressful; what once made sense is now confusing. At times, the world can feel like ‘too much’ for the adolescent dog.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, our own frustration and impatience can cause us to act unpredictably. This adds to our puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for our dogs to adjust.

If you have an adolescent dog, what can you do? You can give your dog the time and space to observe what is going on around them when on leash at a distance away from the activity when possible. You can give your dog long walks to sniff and explore in nature, giving their brain time to decompress. You can offer your dog a quiet space to sleep so that they can consolidate memories effectively. You can continue training various skills, breaking them down into easier steps that can be generously reinforced.

By understanding what our adolescent dog is experiencing we gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best adult selves.