All Big Canines

All Big Canines Esperanza’s Sanctuary offers force-free training, behavior help, and dog sport enrichment. (previously All Big Canines)

Same heart, new umbrella, helping dogs and their people thrive with science, compassion, and community. Esperanza’s Sanctuary Farm Sanctuary & Climate Justice Hub
A nonprofit farm sanctuary in Sky Valley, CA offering animal rescue, regenerative agriculture, composting, and community education. Visit us to learn about food sovereignty, sustainable living, and healing alongside animals and the land.

A calm dog at your feet. A hot coffee that stays hot. This is not a fantasy. This is a skill, and skills are taught.Smal...
08/29/2026

A calm dog at your feet. A hot coffee that stays hot. This is not a fantasy. This is a skill, and skills are taught.

Small groups. Short sessions. Real practice in a real coffee shop, because a dog who is calm in a quiet room and a dog who is calm near a stranger's dropped croissant are two different dogs.
Graduation happens outdoors, on an actual patio, once it is cool enough for the rest of you to enjoy it too.

Enroll in our group class (link in comments)

I do not make jokes about snakes. I have never made a joke about anything, but especially not snakes.Six sessions. Your ...
08/29/2026

I do not make jokes about snakes. I have never made a joke about anything, but especially not snakes.

Six sessions. Your dog learns the smell, the sight, the sound — and one very clear job: go to the spot, or stop and hold. No live snakes are used in this training. I would not allow it. I do not allow much.
Desert life does not pause for anyone's nerves. Neither do I.
Enrollment is open. Spots are limited.

-Serious Goose
BTW the photo was created by our social media goat 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 my approval

Someone (we believe 🧊) dumped Haley with nowhere to go, and she responded by bumping her way (she is blind) along 600' o...
08/26/2026

Someone (we believe 🧊) dumped Haley with nowhere to go, and she responded by bumping her way (she is blind) along 600' of our fence through culverts and not easy for someone who can see the obstacles to traverse toward the sounds of our farm. We found her in the sun with a little sweater and a nice leather collar on. This is Haley's story so far.
She was microchipped and her owner in Indio is nowhere to be found. Her prior owner as she was adopted from the San Diego Humane Society moved to British Columbia. So here she is, safe at Esperanza's. Blind and 12 years old but just a sweet little lady. She does not bother a single farm creature in a negative manner but prefers to avoid the smog humans like they bring the plague (valid). If you happen to be looking for a senior friend who is travel sized and just wants to share a couch spot with someone let us know.

Follow for updates on Haley

08/26/2026

The #1 mistake well meaning dog owners make.
Training Tip: if you only reward your dog when they're already calm, you're not rewarding calm you're rewarding whatever came right before it. Catch the moment your dog chooses to settle on their own and mark it, even if it's not perfect. That's the behavior you actually want more of.
Want help with this in person? Our next Coffee with Canines cohort is filling up, link in bio.

New Coffee with Canines cohort forming now. 8 spots, small groups on purpose, real behavior change instead of a certific...
08/25/2026

New Coffee with Canines cohort forming now. 8 spots, small groups on purpose, real behavior change instead of a certificate you never look at again. First come, first served. Grab a spot the links in bio. Reserving for September 12th 6:30am.

Fall lineup at Esperanza's Sanctuary 🐾 Three group classes are opening enrollment, and there is a seat with your dog's n...
08/24/2026

Fall lineup at Esperanza's Sanctuary 🐾 Three group classes are opening enrollment, and there is a seat with your dog's name on one of them.

Snake Smart: Desert life means snake life. Six sessions teaching your dog to recognize a snake's smell, sight, and sound, and to move to a specific target spot or refuse to move closer the second they notice one, on trail, in the yard, anywhere it counts. No live snakes, ever.

Patio Manners: For anyone who has wished for one calm meal out with their dog settled at their feet instead of pulling at the table. Small group, short sessions, real coffee shop practice, and a graduation on an actual patio once the weather cools down.

Speed Dating for Dog Sports: Nose Work, Agility, Treibball, and Rally O, Canine Freestyle one sport a session, five sessions, zero pressure to pick a favorite before you have actually tried them all.

Spots are limited in every class. See dates, pricing, and enroll at https://esperanzassanctuary.com/groupclasses

See you on the training field. 🐍☕🐾

08/23/2026

Meet Haley. Twelve years old, fully blind, and somehow still out here enforcing personal boundaries like she invented the concept.

At 4:22am, someone pulled up in a blacked out car and left her with nowhere to go. We have a hunch 🧊 about why, because instead of staying put, she bumped her way along 600 feet of fence line and culverts she cannot see, straight toward the sound of our farm, like she was hunting down whoever did this. We found her sitting calmly in the sun around 11am on a warm day in a little sweater and a very nice leather collar, waiting for someone worth her time absolutely unbothered by the livestock guard dogs.

Turns out she's microchipped. Turns out her most recent owner, in Indio, is nowhere to be found 💔. Turns out before that she was adopted through San Diego Humane Society by someone who has since moved to British Columbia. So Haley has officially outlasted two households and one attempted dump and run likely by an overgrown man child Gustapo, and she remains completely unbothered by all of it.

She gets along fine with every farm creature we've got. Small humans, on the other hand, are dead to her. She will avoid your under age 8 child like it's carrying the plague. Valid, honestly.

If you're looking for a senior, travel sized roommate with zero tolerance for nonsense, no need for her humans to be anything but kind, and one simple request, a couch spot and never having to find her own way anywhere again, we'd like to talk to you.

Follow along for more Haley updates.

A Note From Our Legal Team (the goose, now with reading glasses because this got complicated): Some things at Esperanza'...
08/19/2026

A Note From Our Legal Team (the goose, now with reading glasses because this got complicated): Some things at Esperanza's Sanctuary are 100% free volunteer opportunities, including the rage room, the animal listening sessions, reading to the animals, feeding the animals, and general plant organizing. Other things, like dog training and behavior programming, workshops, seedling reservations, garden bed reservations, and composting memberships, are paid programs with real pricing, because soil, seedlings, and staff time all cost actual money. The goose supports both models equally and remains unlicensed for literally all of it.

Tired of throwing your banana peels in the trash like some kind of monster?Join our community composting program. Drop i...
08/19/2026

Tired of throwing your banana peels in the trash like some kind of monster?

Join our community composting program. Drop in whenever the mood strikes, or lock in a monthly membership and make it a habit instead of a resolution. Either way, your scraps become soil that grows real food right here at the sanctuary. Full circle, minus the smell you are picturing right now.

Drop in rate: 10, Monthly membership: 30/mo, 3mo/72, 6mo/141, 12 mo 270

Sign up or ask questions: https://esperanzassanctuary.com/products-list?ep_no=1

Address

22600 Larsen Lane
Sky Valley, CA
92241

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