Mighty Mutt K9 College

05/23/2026

Bailey is available for adoption at the Columbia County Humane Society Portage, Wisconsin. She's a one of kind girl! If you are looking for a sport type dog and have experience with dogs with drive, consider Bailey! I would love to have her as a training client!

Bailey decided her ball was way too hot… so naturally she dunked it—and her whole face!
This goofy girl keeps us laughing with her big personality and even bigger love for playtime. She takes her ball‑games very seriously… even when they turn into splash‑sessions.

If you want a dog who brings joy, silliness, and a whole lot of heart, Bailey is your girl.



Bailey-Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd/mix-female-spayed-2 1/2 years-75 pounds. Meet Bailey! This energetic, driven girl is a Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd mix — smart, athletic, and full of working‑dog heart. She has intense ball drive, loves jolly balls, tennis balls, and KONG toys, and thrives when she has structure, training, boundaries, expectations, and plenty of exercise. Bailey bonds deeply with her people, and once she trusts you, her loving personality truly shines. She is dog‑friendly but sometimes choosey with her friends. She would do best in a home without cats or young children, and with someone who has breed experience. Bailey is housetrained, knows sit, stay, come, and down, walks beautifully on leash, and even auto‑sits when you stop. She should be crated when left alone and will absolutely flourish with an experienced, active adopter who understands high‑drive breeds. If you love a dog with brains, drive, and a huge heart, Bailey might be your perfect match. Because of her drive and intelligence, Bailey is not ideal for a first‑time dog owner. Breed research and experience are STRONGLY recommended. In the right home, she will be an amazing, loyal companion. Apply to meet her at www.cchswi.org DATCP License #266742-DS

05/06/2026

Sava is feeling fabulous at 15!

04/06/2026

We technically call what Doc is doing, "recharging," but yes, he sleeps lol!

02/25/2026

Duncan always brings the best smile to training class.

12/17/2025

Fergal loves the place command. His owners utilize and practice it all the time for a great calming exercise in the home.

10/24/2025

100% I've met dogs in all the categories and the third category, if for lack of a better word, are scary. Dogs can be unpredictable and dangerous and genetics are more likely than not the root cause of the dangerous scenario.

Let’s review.

There are extremely easy dogs out there. Dogs who, even without any real training, (rules, structure, leadership)—will be sweet, safe, and make great companions regardless of the environment you put them in. They might be a bit nutty, naughty, and chaotic, but it won’t be anything worrisome. Of course they’d be far more enjoyable, and far happier with proper training, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Then there are dogs in the “middle.” These are the dogs, who if not given the proper training (rules, structure, and leadership)—will become messy. How messy? That’s a good question. It can go from mild to extreme. You might have (or get) reactivity, territoriality, resource guarding, separation anxiety, fear issues, human or dog aggression… and the degree of intensity could be anywhere from a 1 to a 10. These dogs require owners who will bring far more to the table than the easy ones. Happily, most, don’t fall towards the extreme end of the spectrum, and that means that most, if given what they need (the right people and training), can succeed. That said, you’ll find many of the more extreme cases living harmoniously with trainers or very skilled owners—but placed in a less skilled/experienced environment, and you’d have a very bad situation indeed.

Then there are the dogs who are simply dangerous—dogs beyond our ability to help. Of course no wants to admit these dogs exist, but that simply means you haven’t been around enough troubled dogs. We like to think that nurture—our influence—can be enough to transform even the most problematic dogs into something other than they are. But genetics are a powerful thing, and they will always have the final word. These dogs are often mentally unstable. They will move between “states” in split seconds— from calm and peaceful to… something terrifying. And what triggers the dangerous behavior could be something obvious and seemingly benign, or it could be something which we are unable to even observe/know/detect. As heartbreaking as it might be, these dogs are out there, and pretending they’re not is a terribly dangerous mindset.

When we dismiss reality, we place owners in very precarious, and often dangerous situations. Instead, let’s simply embrace reality, and give the dogs and owners the very best chance at a great life — by making reality-based decisions on who gets placed with who… and yes, who doesn’t get placed at all.

10/07/2025

09/16/2025

Working with Duncan on holding his commands and adding long distance. He's holding his down in this pic. His owners are doing a great job with training when not at class and are thrilled to have the freedom they have with him and that they're able to trust he will follow commands in any environment with distractions. Go Duncan!

07/17/2025

Freedom! Advantages of a fully offleash trained dog and having a farm! My personal dog, Doc, does very well running with the truck when checking fields on the farm. This doesn't teach him to chase vehicles. There's a huge difference between chasing vehicles as prey, herding vehicles or being territorial and being taught to run with the truck for exercise! He knows to keep his distance, pace with the truck or follow the truck. Training leads to so much freedom! I purposely slowed the truck to show he slows to keep pace and watches to make sure he's at a good distance. Happy Training all!

07/10/2025

Due to unfortunate messaging over the years, coupled with a lack of knowledge, and compounded by the human tendency for denial/delusion, what should be obvious and commonly accepted is anything but.

A few of the messages:
-There are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Wrong.
-Any dog can be “fixed” if you’ll get your energy right. Wrong.
-Every dog should be saved. Wrong.

The knowledge gap:
-We have a chaotic house, with lots of kids running all over, and we adopted a highly nervous but “sweet” herding breed. Bad.
-My dog challenges everyone in our family, and has bitten us all, but is great with my trainer. Bad.
-We got a guarding/working breed so it can protect the family, even though we’ve never had a dog before. Bad.

A bit of denial:
-He only bites us when we kiss/dance/move too fast/leave the house/vacuum because he had a traumatic early life. Delusion.
-She’s guards her spot on the couch, her toys, and her food, and will bite us if we get too close, but it’s only because she never had things of her own before. Delusion.
-He always growls at or bites my husband, but I’m sure he was abused by a man before I adopted him. Delusion.

Can people improve? Absolutely. Can dogs improve? Almost always. Does that mean that all fits can be made healthy and happy, or are wise? Nope. People and dogs come in many flavors, and many of these flavors work wonderfully well together, some work with certain other flavors, and some (human and dog) don’t work well at all. It’s a sad reality, but a reality nonetheless. We should be choosing the dogs we share our lives with based on an honest and informed assessment of who we are, what our lives look like, and what dog—both breed and individual personality—fits that reality best.

Ignore the silly messages, do your homework, and lose the denial.

Fairytales in dog land often end up as nightmares.