What a Dog Does When His Owner Leaves...So Sad!

Going forward, and more about saying goodbye...sort of.

As most everyone knows, I have moved to our new home in lovely Manteno, Illinois:

Here, surrounded by family, nature, and my many animal friends, I am working hard to establish the latest aspect of my long career, training service dogs for wounded United States Marines through the Semper Fi Fund.

Before this, since I was 15 years old, I have focused my efforts on teaching human family members to better understand and communicate with their companion dogs. I spent the last 18 years in Lemont, Illinois, where I enthusiastically raised my children, enjoyed my life, and trained many dogs and their people, to the irritation of my neighbors, who grudgingly tolerated me running my business from my home.

Now, we have accepted an offer on that home, and will be closing the doors on that chapter of our lives in mid to late spring, 2015 (I'll be occupying the house and will continue to offer some classes and lessons there until that time).

In keeping with all of these changes, I want to let you know about the training services I will (and will no longer) be offering to my existing and new clients, going forward.

First, the "no longer", and this is where saying goodbye comes into play; as of this past Sunday, I have ended my long-standing "501" class, which has been meeting on Sunday mornings at 9:30 for many years. We had lots of great discussions specific to matters pertaining to both canine and human behavior, and it was loads of fun. All of the classmates were good friends, and I am sorry to say goodbye.

That being said, anyone who wants to evolve and transition forward with me is invited to participate in the programs I am adding and/ or continuing to offer. These include:

• Spring/ Summer/Fall field trips in the Lemont/ Downers Grove area. These will be enrolled classes, rather than drop-in, with preregistration required, and will be offered on Sundays at 9:30, weather permitting. They can be signed up for one at a time, rather than committing to a series of lessons, and I'll create an online enrollment form on my website.

• Half-day training and play workshops, offered in two blocks (morning and afternoon) on Saturdays, weather permitting, at my new place. Again, preregistration, up until an hour before class, will be required and available online. These will replace current 201 and play classes.

• 101 level group training, taught in a concentrated, three-lesson curriculum, meeting every other week over a five week period, in Manteno. 

• 101 level group training, taught in a concentrated two-lesson seminar curriculum, meeting every other week over a three week period.

         (Both 101 classes can be repeated at no charge, and crossover attendance between either                       curriculum is permitted.)

• Topic-specific clinics, including: sniffer dog, canine disc, agility, musical freestyle, herding, carting, and competitive obedience.

Going forward, Monica will continue to offer in-home training, and also in-home care and training for people who prefer not to board their dogs.

I look forward to an exciting, fun future with you and your dogs!

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy...

But the time has sadly come:
Goodbye, Air Buddie.

You were wonderful and made everyone who knew you happy!

Semper Fi Fund/ Service Dog Team In-Training: Patrick and Zeus!

I'm so proud of these guys!

Post by Peggy Moran's School for Dogs.

Now Accepting Dog Boarding School Reservations for the Holidays!

With my kennel building adventure coming to a conclusion (at last!), we will soon be ready to accept happy campers for boarding and training services.

We will have seven indoor/outdoor suites, and also a private bedroom suite attached to my office for tiny dogs and those with special care needs. In order to offer the ultimate in personalized attention to your dog, we will only accept a total of eight campers at any given time.

I thought it might be a good idea to offer the opportunity for anyone with holiday, vacation, business trip, or other travel plans to make early reservations, since we are operating on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you know your dates, let me know! I am already booking well into next year, but plenty of spaces are still available.

As for rates, we charge $72.00/ day ($500.00/ week), for full service care, play, cuddles, and customized one-on-one training. We offer a round-trip chauffeuring service, and also offer follow-up in-home training. We charge $60.00/ day ($420.00/ week) for a second dog coming for the same dates. If you send three or more dogs all at the same time, the second dog rate applies to the rest of them, as well. Sorry I cannot give a better break, but it is a lot of work (and I'm charging less than I charge for a one hour private lesson to give your dog 24 hours of my dedicated care and attention).

If you need routine boarding without training, our rate is $48.00/ day/ dog regardless of the number of dogs you send. Your dog will still get lots of love, attention, and playtime, just no individualized training.

You are welcome to come out for a visit anytime. Just give me a call to make sure I'll be available when you plan to come.

Saving Maisy

By now you probably all know, things with the store in Bolingbrook did not work out, so while the final stages of kennel building proceed at our place in the country, we are back at the house in Lemont for training. That means a lot of driving back and forth, but soon this will all be behind us.

Meanwhile, while out in Manteno earlier this month, one of my builders told me he'd seen a stray dog in "pretty bad shape" on his way to my place. Being an animal lover, once he told me about the dog I had to go looking for him/ her. Here are some excerpts from our first day together (click play, then pause and let it load for a while, for best viewing quality):