Pathfinder Dog Training and Mobile Vet Tech Service

09/27/2026

It was a busy day yesterday!! Three new classes began with another three classes filled and scheduled to begin in a few weeks.

This was a small but mighty group. We started out with 3 people and 4 dogs but unfortunately one person had to drop out due to a family emergency.

So please congratulate Jocelyn with Hazel and Jasper and Chris with Choti on blasting through their final agility course for Graduation and both making it look easy!! Congrats to all, well done!! 🐾💜👏🥳

09/25/2026

Pathfinder has made it down under!!! Thank you Michael for modeling a new Pathfinder shirt on a beach in Australia!! Wow!

Anyone else have a cool place to model a new Pathfinder shirt?

09/24/2026

I gave a big shout out to my Advanced agility crew a little while ago and have finally collected group photos of both Intermediate agility classes as well.

Advanced and intermediate agility run all season long, so we all get to spend a lot of time with each other and have a whole lot of fun. It's amazing watching the huge arc of improvement in each team throughout the year.

Outdoor agility season is slowly coming to a close but there will be plenty of agility for the agility addicts once we move to the indoor arena! Introducing two amazing intermediate groups who deserve a big shout out for their dedication, good humor, and fun that they bring to every week! 💜🐾

Names on each photo.... photos are super dark because we meet in the evenings and are rapidly running out of daylight by the time class finishes!

09/22/2026

I recently encountered a study that found that dog p**p can change soil chemistry and therefore make a friendlier environment for invasive weeds. There are a number of hiking areas in the valley that do not provide any sort of p**p bags or garbage cans to put bags in once you've picked up dog p**p. I recognize that this can be frustrating, but the worst thing you can do is pick up the p**p, put it in a bag, and leave it on the side of the trail. Plastic is not biodegradable! I spoke with the forest Service employee recently and asked if they could provide dog p**p bags and garbage cans at the different trailheads at Larry Creek and he said no, because people would just pick up the p**p and leave it on the side of the trail in the bag. This made me sad and frustrated as I think if we make it easier for people to pick up dog poo, more people will do so, and loose dog p**p is clearly harmful to the environment, despite being biodegradable.

There are no trail fairies that cruise along and pick up your bagged dog poo - actually there actually there is at least one - me! Somebody in the Larry Creek/Bass Creek road and Day Use Trails has been leaving their bags of dog p**p on the side of the trail and road all summer long. They are always in green plastic bags with about the same volume of poo in them. I carry a Dog Doo Tube with me and I have taken to picking them up because I find them everywhere! Today on a short two and a half mile hike I encountered two of them. Please do better people! A Dog Doo Tube costs about $12 to $20 and completely entraps the dog poo smell. It's easy to hook onto a backpack or hiking bag and is a great place to put bagged dog p**p until you either get home or you get to a forest service trash can.

If you are leaving your dog p**p out in a bag hoping somebody will pick it up- it's not going to happen unless I stumble across it. I'm hoping at some point the Forest Service changes their mind about providing bags and receptacles for dog p**p, in the meantime it's up to us to police ourselves, keep our trails and surrounding areas clean, and adopt the dog p**ps that are left out there in bags. Adopt a p**p and make our trails clean again!! 💩🤎🐾

PS - there is a link for the dog doo tubes in the comments.

09/11/2026

I always post class graduation photos to congratulate my clients and their dogs for successfully completing a class.

However, there is a significant group of clients who don't get the recognition they deserve... they meet week after week throughout the spring, summer and fall, bringing laughter, joy, and a brilliant sense of humor to every single class. They have developed friendships over the years and some of these teams have been with me for a long time. These are my Advanced and Intermediate agility crew who show up every week - smiles on their faces - ready to work hard at the crazy difficult sequences that I often build for them.

I was going to wait until I had group pictures of the Advanced class and both Intermediate classes before posting, but I so love this picture of the Advanced crew that I took this morning - they are such an amazing group - that I felt they deserved their very own post of appreciation.

This is an amazing group of incredibly talented agility teams. A few of these teams have been with me for many years and this group is on their third year together. It's the class I look most forward to every week as everybody is eager to catch up, chat, laugh, and socialize before we start. They are incredibly positive and support each other through their successes and struggles.

They have also made me a better teacher and a better handler. There's been a long-standing joke about my fear of blind crosses, and they have gently shamed me into learning to get better. I now teach blind crosses in my level two agility class and this morning I was able to gleefully report to everybody that I did two blind crosses at a trial last weekend!

So, to my Advanced crew - thank you! Thank you for who you are, thank you for your brilliant dogs, thank you for showing up every week (sometimes waaaaay too early in the morning in the heat of summer), thank you for all the fun we have in class, and thank you for making me love my job!

Please give a massive round of applause to one incredible group of ladies and their amazing dogs!! 🔥🥳👏🥰

*****Rhonda with Bella, Nancy with Gus and Pepper, Deb with Tequila, Jennifer with Maya, Doris with Java, and Elena with Copper and Abby!*****

Once I get photos of the intermediate groups, l'll post those as well.

09/02/2026

While the heat and smoke made group classes this summer more challenging, a number of classes have been gamely plugging along.

Kudos to this tough group of ABCers for making it through a long, hot summer. We met late in the evenings when it was cooler and only had one bad smoke day when we had to cancel.

They were a fabulous group! The dogs meshed well and worked hard. Tonight we all celebrated during graduation with some fun games, a lot of laughter, and some great camaraderie.

Please help me in congratulating the latest ABC group! Well done everybody you rock! 🔥💜🐾

Missing were Judy, Dale and Gary and Marguerite and Asher (out for medical and travel reasons)

08/31/2026

I am beginning to offer fall classes and have two that still have room -

Canine ABC - Scheduled to begin either Saturday September 19th or the 26th (whenever it fills). The ABC class covers all the basics - sit, down, stay, wait, leave it, go to mat etc. It also covers some impulse control, a little bit of recall, communication among other topics. This class is 7 weeks long (the first week is without dogs and the remaining 6 with) and the cost is $275.

Oh Deer! Predation Substitute - This class is scheduled to begin either Saturday September 19th or the 26th (whenever it fills). It is a 4 week class and costs $120. This class is for the prey driven dog and is based on concepts used in Europe to allow acceptable predatory behavior (without harming the prey animal), while teaching the dog to connect with you instead of disconnecting from you in the presence of prey animals.

If you are interested in either class please email me at [email protected] and I will forward you registration information. Please feel free to share with your friends as I would love to fill both classes up!

I will have other class offerings this fall and am working on the next group of class offereings. If there are any particular classes you are interested in, let me know so that I can put you on a waiting list so that you get email annoncements whenever I schedule a class. For all the classes I offer go to the classes page on my website:

Our dogs are part of our families and throughout our lives with them our relationships grow and blossom. Teaching your dog what you want them to know with positive training is a fun and effective way to help build the bond between you and your dog and enhance your relationship with each other. 

08/25/2026

Here's Ky and Phoebe not only modeling the new Pathfinder Logo wear but also perfectly mirroring the new logo!

Show me your attempts! 💜🐾

08/21/2026

The first batch of Pathfinder Merch is trickling in! How exciting! So far everybody loves the new logo, are really pleased with the quality of the shirts and sweatshirts, and feel that the fit is true to size.

The first person I see wearing Pathfinder merchandise out and about in the real world will get a lovely surprise! If you haven't jumped on the Pathfinder train yet, it's time to check out the merch store and start ordering! Here is a link if you don't already have it....

https://www.bonfire.com/pathfinder-dog-training160/?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=campaign_page_share&utm_campaign=pathfinder-dog-training160&utm_content=default

08/10/2026

I have a spot available in an upcoming Introduction to Agility Class. It will be Saturday morings around 9 am. The start day is still a work in progress as it was scheduled to start on the 22nd but heat and smoke are wildcards. It will likely begin the 29th and finish September 26th - skipping the Labor Day weekend. The class is 4 weeks long and $120.

If you are interested, please email me at [email protected].