Boarding and Training options

from $2000 for a 2-week stay at the ranch

payment plans available include:

* qualifying for 4 installments at checkout at 0% interest

* half down at booking and second half due at pickup of dog

(second option only available if you first try the first option and are declined)

 

 

* NO CHOKE CHAINS

*NO PRONG COLLARS

*LIFETIME SUPPORT

 

 

BALANCED OFF LEASH TRAINING!

Most dogs will leave here walking off leash and with an excellent recall

 

YOU GET LIFETIME SUPPORT AFTER TRAINING!!

 

 

28 years of experience

Former vet tech

Over 10,000 dogs trained

I do not care how bad you think your dog is -- they can be helped! 

 

 

Wecome to Shambala Dog LLC's

Board and Train Program! 

 

Congratulations on taking the first step in helping your dog be a better-behaved member of your family!

 

 

About Me

 

I’m Dawn, your trainer. I’ll be working with both you and your dog. I have more than 27 years of experience working with dogs of all breeds and mixes thereof. I’ve trained more than TEN THOUSAND dogs in my career!

I started working as a vet tech in the 1990s. I quickly became more interested in their minds, especially as I saw dogs with severe anxiety or aggression come into our clinic. I began learning from other trainers and offered free classes to gain experience. I even taught group classes through a park district in Sterling, IL, where I grew up.

Eventually, I worked at a “big box” pet store chain, where I was able to work with a LOT of different breeds and personality types. I didn’t like their methodology in training though. I also was very frustrated that trainers with them were often hired with no experience at all. This is when I moved on to working with a puppy raiser for Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, FL. We started a service dog training program. Dogs were eventually working in over 5 states across the country.

Eventually, I moved to Arkansas to attend UALR in Little Rock, where I studied anthropology and specialized in behavior. I was honored to volunteer with the university’s program at Little Rock Zoo, where we worked to develop primate enrichment programs. Eventually, I returned to the first love of my life – dogs.

Since those days, I’ve trained dogs as service dogs, helped rehabilitate dogs that were so aggressive they literally wanted to kill me, helped puppy mill dogs find their way in a new world after never leaving a kennel or touching grass for the first several years of life. I’ve trained mobility assistance dogs, psychiatric service dogs, scent detection dogs, and everyday dogs that just needed some help with house manners.

I use balanced methods of training, across many different methodologies that include clicker training, lure training, positive training, and e-collar training for fine tuning off-leash skills to dogs so that they can enjoy the true freedom of running and playing, off a leash (where it is appropriate). I’m proud to have helped many thousands of dogs and look forward to helping yours too!

Shambala refers to a place of well-being and peace, whether in your heart or where your physical body is.

 

 

Training Checklist

 

  • Come or Here
  • Sit
  • Down
  • Place
  • Street heel (relaxed heel)
  • Focused heel
  • Leave it
  • No counter-surfing
  • Stay
  • Behavioral issues to address:
    • Reactivity with other dogs on leash
    • Resource guarding
      • Owner
      • Car
      • Food
    • Counter surfing
    • Jumping
    • Mouthing
    • Fence chasing/barking at windows

 

**ALL owners will undergo a minimum of 1-hour orientation training with their dog before the dog goes home. This is to include learning how to use the e-collar properly, as well as how to handle the dog and work together as a team. This is to be scheduled at drop-off of the dog for training.

 

Once you drop off your dog, you are not allowed to come visit your dog. This is because it will only upset them and get them thinking they are going home. This can severely set them back in their progress. Especially for some dogs that are here for behavioral issues, they can be negatively impacted by visits from family.

 

I spend the first few days just getting your dog acclimated and used to routines here. They need to forget everything they know from home and learn how to do things the right way. This is a process that means pushing them outside their boxes (mentally) and wiping their slate clean, so we can rebuild them the way we need them to be.

 

It’s PROCESS. I ask that you trust this process. I always have your dog’s best outcome in mind. I have no problem sending updates regularly, including videos of them in training, which I generally post to Instagram too. IG @Shambala_Dog_LLC

 

Your dog will get training sessions daily; they will live in the house with me, using their kennel for afternoon naps and nighttime sleeping. They will have access to play areas, a small swimming pool, and a climbing gym built just for them. They are allowed on the furniture here, have several dog beds they can plop on, and are treated like members of my own family. I become fully invested in their overall well-being, mentally and physically.

 

Most dogs go home having gained muscle. Most will be toned up and at their peak fitness. This happens naturally from the focus being on them and playing with other dogs. Having the advantage of training in a home environment vs a kennel makes it possible to work on staying out of the kitchen when someone is cooking, learning not to steal food from counters, and simply learning how to be calm and relaxed. This is LEARNED BEHAVIOR!

 

Your dog will become more mature. You will learn how to correct them appropriately at home by doing a training session when you pick them up. Teaching you both to coexist is my mission, so that every dog has a home, and every dog KEEPS their home.

 

Thanks so much for your business and support. You’re a part of the family, with lifetime support now. People often inquire why my cell number is an Illinois area code. Because all these years, as long as your dog is alive, you can call me. That’s my promise and commitment to you and to them. I have people call me more than a decade later.

That’s the way it will ALWAYS be.

 

~Dawn