Common Ground Canine

Common Ground Canine Common Ground Canine offers practical and approachable dog training in Harris, MN. Obedience and Behavior Modification for all breeds.

Hey everyone! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted to this page but I wanted to announce that after some time off, I ...
05/15/2025

Hey everyone! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted to this page but I wanted to announce that after some time off, I am ready to start seeing private training clients again.

My schedule will be a lot more limited because during my time off I gave birth to TWINS who are now 9 months old and very busy! I figure, it’ll be a slow restart anyway!

I am not taking dogs for board and train right now.

We have moved but we are still in Harris, MN.

After this post, I will only be using my Mud Lake Kennels page so if you aren’t already following me there, head on over!

You can email me at [email protected] to inquire about lessons!

I saw a TikTok last night from a woman I follow and enjoy. She doesn’t specifically make dog content but she recently go...
11/20/2023

I saw a TikTok last night from a woman I follow and enjoy. She doesn’t specifically make dog content but she recently got a mixed breed puppy so occasionally the topic comes up. Well she made a silly video of her playing tug with the puppy and the caption read something like, “Pretending to be a cow my puppy just bit to satisfy her 20% cattle dog instincts.” It was cute and the concept is not wrong but it sparked a thought I wanted to share.

I see this topic come up a lot, especially in young dog owners on social media. Biological Fulfillment. And I am glad it’s something people want to prioritize but here’s what I think you should know if you find yourself exploring this concept, especially with a mixed breed dog or a purebred dog you got from a rescue or shelter that you aren’t sure how to give proper outlets to.

It doesn’t need to be taken so literally!

You don’t need to worry about, for example, getting your rescue Shorthair opportunities to hunt birds if that’s not something you have access to or are necessarily interested in. You don’t need to provide herding specific outlets for your Border Collie mix.

There are a lot of behaviors and experiences that are universal to all dogs that provide all the “biological fulfillment” they need. All dogs want to participate in things like:

- Running
- Chasing
- Catching (generally putting their mouths on things and carrying things around. Fetch, rough housing with you or other dogs, and tug fall into this category)
- Foraging
- Trailing (sniffing things)
- Digging
- Problem solving

And all of this can be accomplished without a whole lot of effort. Taking your dog outside and giving them space to be who they are without fighting them on everything *is* biological fulfillment. You don’t need to do anything extra unless you want to take up a new hobby with your dog.

Social media has created such a weird environment for dog owners where everything has gotten so complicated and the pressure to do everything correctly is so intense.

At the end of the day, dogs are dogs. I promise you’re doing a plenty good job.

Hey everyone! I thought I’d check in with a little life update since it’s been a while!I am wrapping up my Fall training...
11/09/2023

Hey everyone! I thought I’d check in with a little life update since it’s been a while!

I am wrapping up my Fall training and closing my board and train books for the Winter here in a few weeks. I have switched my focus to working with bird dogs, specifically the pointing dog variety (but I’ve had a few retrievers come through too.)

I still take a pet dog in for training everyone once in a while. I’m sending two home this week that just finished up training. Sheldon, a Border Collie with arousal issues and minor aggression towards children and some dogs, has been conditioned to an ecollar and learned better self control that will help him be a more relaxed and manageable dog. Monty, a young (but huge!) Doodle, learned about walking politely on a leash, managing his arousal around new people and dogs, and socialized constructively with other dogs his age and adult dogs.

I’ve also had a good handful of young dogs with goals for being great hunting partners and field trialers come through. A couple Labs, a Golden, some Setters, and Shorthair, a Griffon. I’ve got another Lab and a Pudelpointer coming this weekend that will stay into December then I am done for the Winter!

I’ve been really enjoying this change in pace. If you’ve been following for a while you know I need to switch things up every once in a while!

We also brought home a Setter pup this past Spring, Maven, who I’ve been spending a lot of time developing. She is maturing wonderfully and so far has been everything I could have hoped for in a dog. I entered her in a puppy stake, along side a client dog, a Setter named Rexy who is the same age, and placed both of them. Our trial season was cut short due to some unforeseen circumstances so that is the only trial the puppies ran in but I was very proud of that accomplishment nonetheless. Trials begin again in the Spring, assuming we get a Spring this year! I look forward to seeing how Maven continues to grow throughout the Fall and Winter and will enter her in as many Derby stakes as I can next year!

Kyle and I got married in August which was so much fun. We had a simple ceremony at his parents’ home in Harris with just family and our closest friends. Then we went to the local lake bar that Kyle’s family has frequented for years for dinner and celebration with more friends! It was incredibly hot but otherwise a perfect day. We haven’t planned a honeymoon yet because Fall is the busiest time for us and we’d both much rather be out with the bird dogs. Hopefully in a couple months when things slow down we’ll take some time for ourselves!

I am still taking dogs for boarding year round and that is not restricted to bird dogs! I am fully booked for Thanksgiving but still have openings for Christmas. I anticipate that will fill in quickly so if you need a place for your dog to stay, let me know as soon as possible!

If you’d like to continue following along with Kyle and me, you can follow Mud Lake Kennels on Facebook and www.instagram.com/mudlake_kennels on Instagram!

Our new website is www.mudlakekennels.com

I run my business on the mentality that if you build it they will come. Sometimes all it really takes is putting it out ...
06/19/2023

I run my business on the mentality that if you build it they will come. Sometimes all it really takes is putting it out in the universe for it to become real. I don’t think I’ve ever felt mentally prepared to take any of the leaps I’ve taken in my career but every single time I leapt, I landed on my feet and surprised myself with how ready I really was.

That being said, I’m putting this out there, I want to pivot and start working more bird dogs professionally. It’ll be a tough to get my foot in the door. I’m a pet dog trainer up against men and women who have been in this game longer than I’ve been alive. What I have that many of them don’t, from nearly a decade of training pet dogs, is a wide angle lens on dog behavior as a whole. Being a pet dog trainer means I’ve had my hands on a larger variety of dogs and been expected to troubleshoot an even bigger variety of issues. My brain is wired to solve problems and I know I have the skill set to apply what I know to bird dogs.

Most realistically, I know I can raise damn good puppies. So I’m starting there but I’ll take any dog you want to throw at me. I’m honest about my abilities and reasonable with my rates. I am motivated to go above and beyond and do a great job to show the world what I can do.

So if you know of anyone with a puppy that needs a damn good foundation or a dog that needs some troubleshooting, I’d appreciate the opportunity to get this phase of my career started.

Follow to stay in the loop.

I cry if I think too much about how excited I am about this dog.
06/15/2023

I cry if I think too much about how excited I am about this dog.

I have been training pet dogs, focusing on behavior modification, for a long time. Almost a decade. So much has changed ...
05/08/2023

I have been training pet dogs, focusing on behavior modification, for a long time. Almost a decade. So much has changed about me and for me in that amount of time. I have enjoyed just about every single second of it. These days though, I’m feeling a little different. I think my days as a pet dog trainer are numbered.

I realize by saying this publicly I’m setting myself up for regret if I decide to change my mind and keep going but it’s like me to speak a little too often, a little too loudly, and a little too soon so I’m used to suffering from my own consequences 😉

I’m not saying I quit just yet but I am taking a couple weeks off from appointments to think on it. If you’re on my books and haven’t heard from me individually yet, you’re still on the books. Don’t worry, I’m not throwing in the towel before I see you.

I know what I do enjoy, boarding, group training, and virtuals. I still very much love helping humans understand their dogs and finding simple solutions to help with the emotional baggage that comes with being the owner of a dog with behavioral “issues”. I still love being able to provide a safe place for clients to get structured exposure to other dogs and support from likeminded dog owners. And more than anything else I love being able to be a secure place for dogs to stay while their owners are on vacation. It has always been my dream to give the relief of having a trustworthy place to send your dogs that can’t go to just anyone and any dreams I have of the future include that goal in them.

For now I am not accepting any new private training clients and no new board and trains. I have one board and train scheduled for next month that I am excited about, if you see this, don’t panic!

Group Training will continue and will likely be my sole training service moving forward. It’ll be limiting to myself, I know, because not all clients want this service but it’s something no one else in the pet training industry (at least locally) is offering and everyone offers private lessons.
A huge thank you to the clients I have had to switch things up on for being so so understanding.

Stay tuned for updates in the coming days.

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Harris, MN
55069

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Come As You Are

Throughout my training career my goal has always been to be approachable and practical with my guidance. There are so many strong opinions in the world of dog training. It can be difficult, as a dog owner, to navigate these conversations and determine which pieces of advice to follow.

​Common Ground represents my intentions of helping owners find Common Ground with their dogs but also of helping owners find Common Ground with me.

I work to learn as much as I can about you, your dog, your lifestyle, and your priorities to come up with a simple and easy to apply training plan that won't overwhelm you.