Vail Magazine (mid winter/spring 2009 issue) publish an article by Joy Overbeck called “A Dog’s Life, The Hard Working Canines of the Vail Valley.” In this article Overbeck includes a write up on Officer Ryan Millbern and his canine partner Star who was trained here at Highland Canine and donated to the Vail Police Department. Star is doing great so we thought we would share all their accomplishments as a team so far.

The Vail Police Department’s Canine Officer, Ryan Millbern, has a Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd mix called Star who brings a similiar enthusiasm to her job as a tracking and narcotics detection dog. In 28 narcotics arrests last year, Star’s expert nose, not the human officers, found the drugs hidden in the home or car, according to Millbern. A few years ago, the officer was trolling the internet for a dog he could work with at a price the VPD could afford, but a well-trained police dog often costs up to $15,000.00 an impossible figure. He cam across the website run by dog-trainers Jason and Erin Purgason who own Highland Canine Training in North Carolina, and read about Star, a “second chance” hard-luck case that the couple had taken in after an abused puppyhood.

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That’s what my HM calls me now because I keep going and going and going. Two weeks ago today they gave me two weeks to live when they diagnosed my cancer, hemangiosarcoma. Well, I guess they got that wrong, BOL! I decided to celebrate with a small game of catch.

Throw it, throw it, throw it, THROW IT!!!

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Highland Canine Training, LLC in conjuction with the American Police Dog Tactics Association will be conducting a Canine Supervision and Management Seminar at the Marietta Police Department in Marietta, Georgia on March 23, 2009. This one day (8 hours) seminar is great for Chiefs, Sheriff’s, Administrators and Managers of Police Canine Units. Listed below is an outline for the course:

Choosing the Right Handler
Choosing the Right Dog
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Highland Canine Training and the Fultondale Police Department will be hosting a Police K-9 and SWAT Applications Seminar in Fultondale, Alabama on May 11-15, 2009. This course will teach the proper methods of integrating a Police Canine team into a SWAT, ERT or tactical team. The course teaches proper searches, extractions and how to effectively work on a perimeter. The course also discusses the limitations of Police Canine Units in SWAT Applications. Space is limited so call 866.200.2207 or email us today to sign up.

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Dog Training - No, YOU Down!

‘Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed’ said Francis Bacon. Nowhere more true than dog training. Dogs have a natural tendency to seek and adhere to a hierarchy with an alpha (leader) at the top on down to an omega at the bottom. ‘Down’ is one effective technique for enforcing your alpha status.

It also has practical benefits. When a dog is in the ‘down’ position, it isn’t knocking over the furniture or small children. It also leads naturally to subsequent behaviors such as ‘rollover’, ‘crawl’ and other keen tricks.

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Highland Canine Training, LLC started 2009 will a successful round of group classes in January and February held in Mooresville. Because of the request for more classes, we have schedule more group training.

Advanced Obedience Class is for the person who would like to have their dog trained off leash and under voice control. Your dog must know sit, down, come and heel on leash before beginning this course. We will teach how to gain your dogs focus so that your dog will successfully obey the above commands off leash.
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Dog Training - Training Styles - Part I

Contrary to popular belief, there are not as many training styles as there are trainers. Despite individual differences, people handling dogs fall into clearly recognizable categories. And no matter your individual style or that of your dog, there remain certain truisms.

The Too-Easily Frustrated

No activity apart from human childrearing requires as much patience as developing cooperative behavior in a dog. And most individuals don’t spontaneously possess that much. So, along with training the dog, self-training is usually necessary.

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Hi everyone! I thought I’d give you an update on me…I’m still doing mostly well. I have times when I feel just like my normal self and times when I slow down a little. But it’s still  pretty good and I am a happy dog. 

It’s been raining in Los Angeles this weekend so I nap when it’s raining.

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The Importance of Microchipping Your Yorkshire Terrier

Each year, Yorkshire Terriers go missing. Most of those are actually stolen, because these dogs are worth a great deal of money to a savvy thief. If you have not already considered Microchipping your Yorkshire Terrier, you absolutely must consider this immediately, and make arrangements to have this done.

On average, Microchipping can cost somewhere between $40 and $70, depending on the area where you live, and the microchip that you order, as well as whether or not you are injecting the microchip yourself or having it done for you. The small microchip contains a number, which when put into the computer system returns information about the dog and his owner, including your name, phone number, address, and the name and phone number of your veterinarian.

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2008 was a very productive year for Highland Canine and our Second Chance Program. For those of you who may not be familiar, our Second Chance Program provides pro-bono work for our local dog rescue groups and humane societies. The dogs we worked with suffered from such behavioral issues as: lack of socialization, fear aggression, dominance aggression, dog on dog aggression, potty training issues, and simply no manners or strucuture at all. Highland Canine worked with 42 different dogs in 2008 from various rescue groups in our area, and we are proud to say the majority of these dogs were adopted out to their forever home with little or no issues.

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