I have spent my entire professional career working in dog kennels. As a junior enlisted canine handler, I was tasked with keeping the Military Working Dog (MWD) kennels clean and sanitized long before I was trusted to hold the other end of the leash. In other words, I’ve cleaned up a lot of shit in my life. Figuratively and literally.

 

If you’ve ever been to a dog kennel, there are two things you might notice immediately: the smell and the loud, incessant barking. For a lot of people, walking into a dog kennel is immediately overstimulating and not always a pleasant experience. Those of us in the dog biz tend to be able to operate without being affected too much by these scents and sounds. There was, however, a period of time in my first trimester of pregnancy that cat excrement immediately made me barf. Thankfully, I’ve made an (almost) full recovery.

 

Working in the MWD kennels gave me the environmental desensitization I needed to cross over into the civilian sector and get to work doing what I loved most: training dogs. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that most civilian-owned boarding facilities were more concerned about making money than the quality of care their dogs received.

 

You want your dog to go outside? That costs extra. You want your dog to have the comfort of human contact while you are away from them? Pay up. You want Sparky to be able to play fetch with his favorite ball? Better take out a loan.

 

I was already pretty jaded and crusty from my time in the military. What I found in civilian commercial kennels downright pissed me off. Lack of oversight, regulation, training, and standards plague the dog boarding and training industry. After working in probably a dozen or more kennels, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with the quality of my training until I could control every variable. This is included in the environment where my dogs rest when they aren’t actively being trained.

 

So I opened my own kennel in 2019. I figured at the time that I ran small kennel operations with my eyes closed during my time in the military, how hard could it be to run a similar operation and turn it into a profitable business?

 

Spoiler alert: it’s really freakin’ hard. My operation today is far from perfect. But it’s been the object of my obsession for years now, and I’m more than proud of the organization we have formed with the team at Dog Training Camp USA.

 

To the layperson, it may not seem like a big deal when you walk into a room with 15 dogs and don’t hear one bark or smell any urine or feces. To me, nothing is more satisfying than a group of my dogs that are in an environment that isn’t familiar to them, separated from their humans, and sleeping soundly after their day of training. My first impressions when walking into my kennel are the gauge in which I can tell if our team accomplished their mission that day.

 

We have found over the years that training essentially becomes ineffective if the environment where training takes place causes too much stress for the dogs. While our primary mission is to enhance dogs’ lives through our training, this mission can’t be accomplished if the stress level is too high in the kennel.

 

Think back to a time you were learning a new skill. Were you able to grasp the concept when someone was yelling harshly at you? Were you more successful if you were demonstrated new tasks in several different formats such as visually learning or reading an instruction manual? Did you feel safe enough to experiment until you got the hang of it?

 

The principles for human learning aren’t really all that different for animals. We have to meet all of the animal’s basic needs before they are able to flourish and successfully grasp new tasks. This includes proper nutrition and hydration, a clean environment, and stress mitigation.

 

Because I prefer to remain totally transparent with our clientele, below is our Standards of Care Policy, which informs my staff of how we will treat each animal in our care, regardless of their training status.

Decorative graphic showing Dog Training Camp USA

Standards of Care Policy

 

Dog Training Camp USA is committed to the very best quality of care and cleanliness for the dogs in our care. Dogs will be unable to make progress in training if their environment is not conducive to learning. To achieve our mission of helping mankind connect to his best friend without unnecessary pain or confusion we are committed to the following:

 

  • Creating and maintaining a learning environment that is safe, clean, and nurturing

 

  • Always giving dogs free access to clean water

 

  • Mitigating unnecessary environmental stressors such as kennel placement, use of dividers, and proximity to other dogs

 

  • Going the extra mile to make a dog comfortable such as providing bedding, maintenance grooming, and safe toys for play

 

  • Never back-tying dogs with unsafe equipment such as prong collars

 

  • Monitoring dogs’ eating habits and administering prescribed medicines, making adjustments with approval of the client

 

  • Conducting routine weight checks and ensuring dogs in our care are maintaining their ideal weight range

 

  • Keeping a kennel environment that is free of urine and feces

 

  • Providing an area that is physically secure with appropriate fencing, locks, and security monitoring as well as 100% human supervision when a dog is not in their assigned kennel

 

  • Allowing dogs regular, daily access to fresh air and real grass

 

  • Only using cleaning products that are vetted and approved by a trusted veterinarian

 

  • Dogs will be free of collars and other training equipment while unattended in the kennel

 

This policy is copied straight out of our employee handbook, and employees are regularly given refresher training on this subject. Every member of our team is committed to keeping our dogs as happy and healthy as possible. If you’re looking for dog training done differently, you’ve found the right group of ladies.