About Us
About Our Business
| RiverDog DayCampers on a nice fall day! |
| Deluxe Guests at RiverDog Ranch having a blast! |
After graduation from high school and attending one year of
collage, I joined the United States Navy and was fortunate to
travel the world--free--for 10 years. I am proud to be a veteran
and proud to have served my country. After leaving the
service for family reasons, and performing many odd,
although well-paying jobs, I went back to college and after
graduation from Shasta College, I worked as an Office
Manager/Legal Assistant for one of the busier law firms in
Redding. After more than 17 years in the legal field, I found
myself wondering how I "got stuck" behind a desk, and not in
an "out of doors" type job. It was around this time that my
husband, Pat, and I lost our two best friends, Tara and
Chance, in the same year! We lost Tara at age 13 to a
ruptured tumor on her spleen in March, and Chance
succumbed to cancer the following August. He was only 8
years old! We were devastated to say the least. But that's
how we found ourselves with Nani, a typical high-energy,
focused on whatever moves, border collie. Although I had
taken many obedience classes with dogs over the years in
my life, I found the "old ways" of "jerk and release, choke
chain" training had zero effect in training this type of dog-let
alone getting her to bond with us. I felt we needed (and that
there had to be) a better way.
It all began, innocently enough, when Nani and I began by
enrolling and attending a Puppy Class at Haven Humane.
Nani and I did great. Then we took Family Dog I, then we
took Family Dog II, then Agility, then several more Family Dog
classes, a Tricks class or two thrown in here and there and
a couple of Rally "O" classes, in the middle of all that I
volunteered assisting the awesome trainers at Haven. I
started reading whatever books and articles I could get my
hands on that were recommended by them, I joined APDT
so that I could become informed on new techniques, and I
began attending seminars on different training techniques.
Well, as you can see, what began innocently, became an
Obsession-i got hooked on training and the rest is history.
Nani and I had found that "better way" of training that we had
been looking for. And so, on July 9, 2005, in pursuit of my
dream of working with dogs and their owners, I opened
RiverDog Agility & Training Center (RDA). Nani was the
catalyst for my business, and my husband and I are
fortunate to have her in our lives.
Nani is not the only canine companion we are fortunate to
have in our household. Two weeks after opening RDA, I
found Libby-Girl wandering the streets of Cottonwood. We
posted fliers, contacted all the proper authorities and finally
found her owners. Unfortunately, they were forced to leave
the area for employment reasons and had to leave Libby-Girl
behind with one of their neighbors. Libby didn't want to stay
and ultimately escaped, and that's how she found us. Of
course, by the time we found her caregivers, we didn't want
to let her go, and we were able to convince them to sign her
over to us and let her stay. She, like Nani, is an awesome
canine companion and when Nani is tired of playing with the
Deluxe Guests that visit our home, little Libby-Girl is there to
pick up the slack and entertain our guests. We are fortunate
to have two incredible canines in our home.
RDA is a full-service pet center. At RiverDog, we offer doggy
day care (DayCamp), Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays, for
owners who want to provide their best friend a safe, friendly
outlet for exercise and socialization. Additionally, I provide
Kennel-free boarding at RiverDog Ranch. Boarding is
offered in two categories: BunkMates (overnight only) and
Deluxe Guests (DayCamp + Bunkmate). Deluxe Guests are
treated to DayCamp during the day and then they get to stay
the night in our home after a long, fun day of playing with
fellow DayCampers.
I also offer obedience classes: Puppy Classes (9-1/2
weeks through 5 months); Pet Manners Classes (5-1/2
months and above); Playful Pet Manners Classes (for
graduates of basic obedience classes-a fun and games
class); Manners & More (advanced obedience); Agility
Fundamentals; Beginning Agility I, II & III.
| Deluxe Guest "Max" sleeping at his "Home Away from Home" RiverDog Ranch |
| Libby-Girl showing Karl the good places to sniff at RiverDog Ranch |
| Good friends taking a snooze, piled one atop the other at RiverDog Ranch are, from left: Buster, Bodie, Rowdy & Libby-Girl |
| Libby & Nani resting up after a run on the "South Forty" at RiverDog Ranch December 4, 2006 |
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