A big thank you goes out to Tracy Vail of The Canine Messenger for coming to the shelter and hosting a training for our volunteers! The volunteers learned a variety of skills during their 3-hour training including how to go on a pack walk, how to train a dog in the agility yard, and proper kennel conduct. This type of training is vital to helping our shelter pups learn their manners before finding their forever homes. 

After working with the HSVC as a Humane Officer for sixteen years, Tracy Vail recently left the shelter world to pursue her dream of owning her own dog training business. Her years at the shelter have given her vast knowledge and experience when training dogs of all breeds, sizes, and energy levels. Her training sessions involve hands-on practices to establish basic obedience between dogs and their handlers.

"A lot of practical knowledge was passed along, such as the fact that dogs, especially larger breeds, might consider a squeaky toy too similar to small prey and those toys should be avoided. It was very informative and it gave me renewed potential that we can do so much more to help our wonderful dogs be more adoptable," said HSVC volunteer John Chille after taking Tracy's training course.

Thank you, Tracy, for taking the time to return to your roots and sharing your knowledge with our volunteers! If you are a current volunteer who is interested in participating in Tracy's next training session, please reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator, Jennifer Grimm, at [email protected] for the next available date.