Have you HERD? The Collared Scholar's GRAND OPENING is HERE!

If you have been by The Collared Scholar campus recently, you have surely seen the massive amounts of construction going on. In the works is a new Dog Training Sports Complex. At The Collared Scholar, we realize that dog sports are an incredible outlet for your pooch. Not only do they help tire your dog out, but they help tremendously in boosting confidence and strengthening the bond between owner and dog.

Our new Sports Complex will open in April and will feature:

Herding

Herding breed and herding breed mixes can come test their instincts in this awesome sport! Our herding facility will feature a 50' roundpen for beginners and a large pasture for more advanced dogs. The facility is located on the corner of Poway Road and Sycamore Canyon Road in Poway.

Agility

The Collared Scholar has been offering basic agility training for quite sometime. We are excited to announce that a NEW agility field is in the works. We will have a competition regulation size field with brand new equipment. We plan to expand our offering with the help of Agility Instructor, Melissa Hubbs, to include training for advanced agility and competition.

Join us for our GRAND OPENING EVENT to help us celebrate our new expansion!

When: Sunday, April 17th, 2011
Time: 10am to 4pm
Where: The Collared Scholar Campus

Stop by anytime and take part in the festivities! We will have:

• Discounted Instinct Tests
• Trainers on hand answering all of your dog training questions
• Mini agility classes
• Agility, Herding and Bitework demonstrations
• Raffles, prizes and games

We are firing up the grill and will have plenty of food so be sure to come hungry!

Parking is available at the herding field on the corner of Poway Road and Sycamore Canyon. You can also park at the horse pasture or the horse boarding facility. We kindly ask that you please do not park on Sycamore Canyon Road.

Hope to see you there!

Patsy joins the pack!

Meet Patsy, an ADORABLE 5 year old Italian Greyhound/Border Collie mix at best guess. She arrived at the ranch from overseas. You see, Patsy lived the first five years of her life at Tuapa shelter in Taiwan. The Tuapa shelter is currently home to approximately 1000 dogs and cats. The shelter was created due to the overwhelming numbers of abandoned animals living on the streets of Taiwan. At Tuapa shelter, the volunteers LOVE the dogs. Unfortunately, although every effort is made to find the dogs and cats permanent loving homes, with so many dogs on such a small island, its not always possible. So the volunteers reached out overseas for help.

Patsy was taken in by a fellow animal rescuer here in San Diego who reached out to the trainers of The Collared Scholar for help. Her story was heartwrenching. She had been taken into the shelter where she had spent the last five years of her life in a small cage. She couldn't be put out into the yard with the other dogs because she was overly submissive and would regularly be attacked. Patsy's rescuer was touched by her story and made arrangements to have her flown here to sunny San Diego for a fresh start at life.

Given her long stay at the shelter, Patsy doesn't understand the world around her. It's all very new....and very terrifying. But even though she is regularly overwhelmed and terrifed by these new experiences, she still seeks affection and attention from her new found human friends. She is an incredibly sweet girl who has been given a fresh start at life and she is here to learn to have confidence and to have some help exploring this new world that's at her paws.

To learn more about the Tuapa shelter or to find out how you can help, contact Johanna at jo4tuapa@hotmail.com. Volunteers and foster homes are desperately needed. Contact The Collared Scholar if you are interested in adopting Patsy and we will put you in touch with her foster mom.

Collared Scholars to the rescue!

As you know, we at The Collared Scholar are passionate about dogs.....did I say passionate??? I meant CRAZY about dogs! We LOVE them! And we LOVE to help them. Over the years, we have been involved with several different dog rescue and animal welfare organizations. We are proud to say that we have helped over 200 homeless dogs find forever homes since we got involved in the Pet industry!

In November, we launched a seminar series designed to help us raise funds for rescue organizations. We partnered with Russell Rescue Inc to cross promote a seminar on the topic of Effective Communication. We reserved a small room at the Poway Community Center, expecting 15-20 participants. We were very pleasantly surprised when the seminar SOLD OUT and we were able to raise $440 for Russell Rescue! For our next seminar, we cautiously reserved a larger room. This time, the topic was on Fear and Anxiety. The room at the Community Center was large enough to hold 50 people. We weren't sure what to expect but this seminar, once again SOLD OUT (and then some!) and we had to cram the extra people into the tiny room! From our second event, we raised $594 for Russell Rescue bringing the total raised from the two events to over $1,000!

We were elated to be able to raise so much money for the group. They are volunteer run and do AMAZING things for Jack Russells in need and Lord knows they need all the help they can get!

After our first two events, we started scouting around the Poway area for a different venue. The folks at the Poway Community Center were extremely helpful, but the fees were high and tapped in to the money we could raise for rescue. Not to mention, the rooms weren't the most comfortable place to sit for a two hour seminar!

As we talked it over, we decided that, given the success of our first two seminars, we would take the plunge and open a training facility dedicated to providing support for dog rescue and animal welfare organizations. We secured a fabulous location in early January and plan to open the center February 1st, 2011!

The new center will offer workshops, seminars and training lessons with proceeds going to benefit affiliated rescue groups! We plan to expand our reach to help other rescue groups who need us and we will be significantly broadening our class offerings.

Join us for our Grand Opening Celebration Saturday, February 5th, 2011 from 11am-4pm and help us help dogs in need! Details to follow soon.

Home for the Holidays: Help for two VERY special dogs!

Today I was fortunate to have been able to play a part in a holiday miracle. Meet Taffy and Sparky. These two pit bulls have had a rough start at life. Their paths never crossed until they ended up in the Coronado Animal Care facility. The two quickly bonded and sought security in one another. They had the hearts of all of the shelter staff as well as everyone they met on their daily walks. Unfortunately, life in a shelter environment was taxing on these two, high energy dogs. They began to get stressed and behavioral issues emerged. Nothing too drastic, just a few bad manners that made their chances at adoption very slim. In addition, they came with the stigma of being labeled a "PIT BULL". Many potential adopters looked right past these two bundles of love because of their breed alone, never even giving them a chance.

But a few days ago, an angel stepped in. Pooka, a former Collared Scholar dog who is now residing out of state, called in the help of his former temporary parents, with whom he lived last summer, and who just happen to live in the Coronado area. Pooka's temporary mommy was instantly smitten with Sparky, who resembled her Pooka in behavior and overall exhuberance for life. She then met Taffy, Sparky's girlfriend and, although she wanted to help Sparky, couldn't bear the thought of separating the two.

A few things became abundantly clear upon meeting the two dogs. The most obvious was they needed out of the facility. Although the shelter workers adored them and the facility is top notch, these dogs needed room to run! Second, it was obvious these guys needed training!

Pooka's temporary mommy called in the help of The Collared Scholar, who agreed to take the doggies into their in kennel doggy training camp to help improve their chances of adoptability. Pooka's temporary mommy and daddy, being the true angels they are, agreed to sponsor these two dogs to ensure all of their needs were taken care of during their time at doggy camp.

When I went to pick these two pups up, it was so evident how much these dogs were loved at the facility where they stayed. I was met with hugs and tears and I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of the entire experience.

These dogs will stay at The Collared Scholar's ranch for intensive training for the next four weeks. They will be taught all of their doggy manners both inside and outside of the house so they can graduate and become true ambassadors for their breed. Upon their adoption, these dogs will have LIFETIME training through The Collared Scholar and our trainers will be there to ensure every step of the transition into their new home goes smoothly.

Keep checking the blog for updates and video of their progress. Also, help us spread the word and find these amazing doggies the forever homes they truly deserve. They will come with lifetime training and can be adopted out separately or together.

NEW Training Program! "Home Schooling" for working dog Dads and Moms

The Collared Scholar is proud to announce the launch of a NEW training option for working pet parents! Home schooling brings the individual attention and in home training component of private lessons to working pet parents who find it difficult to work individual lessons into their busy schedules! Our trainers will visit your home midday and spend a minimum of 1 hour working on the specific behavior issues you are faced with while conditioning obedience and manners.....all while you are at work! At the end of each week, we will debrief you on the training that took place so you can reinforce and stay consistent.

Click here to view our fact sheet on our new Home Schooling program! Give us a call at 619-916-8710 or visit us online for more information!

The Littles have arrived!

This past month has been full of exciting developments. Of particular interest is the arrival of the littles. Who are the littles? Well, lately it seems we have been completely inundated with new tiny training doggies who have a lot to say about the world.

Meet the crew.....

Blossom is a Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix rescued doggy who is a little unsure about the world around her. She came to training for some fear issues she has with strangers (mostly men) and other doggies. Since being here, she has become best friends forever with Jolie, one of the other littles who came to us for training.

Jolie and her brother Jacob are two mini schnauzers who started doggy boarding school a few weeks back. Since they are now seasoned ranch residents, they took it upon themselves to show Blossom the ropes and Jolie in particular has really taken to our new houseguest and has become her constant companion.

Jacob and Jolie joined us for some fear and anxiety issues. They originally weren't too sure about other dogs or new people but these days, they have decided that playing with their canine counterparts is pretty much the best thing in life. They have become more accepting of strangers but we still have some confidence boosting work to do!

This weekend, we were also joined by Bernie, a rescued Yorkie who, like Blossom, Jacob and Jolie, is a little unsure of the world. Bernie is sleeping at the Casa de Collared Scholar for a few short nights where he is learning not to be so afraid of the other doggies and strange sights and smells at the ranch. It's tough when you weigh less than 10lbs and have to share your hotel room with 1000lb horses! But he's adapting very well and is getting the hang of life here at the ranch.

We also have two doggies here from Russell Rescue, Inc who are learning their doggy manners. Augie is an exhuberant and loving JRT who had a rough start at life. Abuse is apparent in this guy as he cowers anytime someone reaches over his head. He has undergone extensive confidence building and should be ready for his new home soon. Macy, another JRT from Russell Rescue is here because she has an ENORMOUS prey drive and has decided it is her mission in life to hunt and shred anything that moves. She is learning impulse control but will likely need to be placed in a home where she is queen of her castle and doesn't have to share her space with any other doggies.

As you can see, things around here have been busy and we have been surrounded by doggies that are tiny in stature but BIG in the personality department! Keep an eye out for their graduation videos!

Dog Training Workshop! How to Speak Dog.

Join us for an informative 2 hour workshop designed to teach you how to communicate effectively with your furry family member.

Topics Include....


•Understanding Canine Communication

•Dog Psychology 101

•The Role of Body Posture in Communication

•Effective Human/Dog Communication

•Training Techniques and Tips
 
Workshop Fee is $15/person and all proceeds go to benefit Russell Rescue, Inc., a national network of volunteers dedicated to placing unwanted, displaced or abandoned Jack Russell Terriers. Registration is required.
 
For more information or to register, visit our website or call 619.916.8710