Sunset Ridge Service Dogs

Sunset Ridge Service Dogs Dedicated to helping individuals train their own lifeline

Merry Christmas!
12/25/2025

Merry Christmas!

“Service Dog in Training” Poe has been rocking it lately! Lately the focus has been heeling (especially through doors), ...
12/19/2025

“Service Dog in Training” Poe has been rocking it lately! Lately the focus has been heeling (especially through doors), handler engagement around distractions, recall, and rear end awareness! So incredibly proud of the amount of work this team has been putting in.

They’ve been going on more outings together, training a new places, and pushing themselves to try new things. Their biggest win was successfully visiting a family member in the hospital and impressing everyone there! They’ve done amazing and I can’t wait to see them continue making progress!

Duncan the Service Dog started going to work with his handler at a High School this week! In honor of handed out band...
08/26/2025

Duncan the Service Dog started going to work with his handler at a High School this week!

In honor of handed out bandanas, so Duncan got to be extra dressed up for work today.

Adolescence is probably the hardest stage to deal with because it feels like all of the progress you made when they were...
08/12/2025

Adolescence is probably the hardest stage to deal with because it feels like all of the progress you made when they were young suddenly goes out the window. That doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong and it doesn’t mean your dog has to wash, it just means you’re going to be struggling for a little while and that’s okay.

During adolescence, I recommend my clients *lower* their expectations and *increase* how often they reward their dog. During this stage it’s important to just spend time with your dog allowing them to do dog stuff.

Go on a walk on a longline and just let your dog explore. Don’t try doing recalls (unless you need to) or try to entice your dog to engage with you. Just let them sniff and have treats ready for when they do eventually engage with you, because they will. As soon as they remember they can get something for engaging with you, they start to offer it more and more often. But if you fight with them for that engagement in the beginning instead of letting them do it on their own, you’re going to be frustrated and your dog is going to be frustrated and then no one is having a good time.

I have spent the last 8 weeks working on mapping out how I want my self-paced virtual program to be structured, and I’ve...
07/25/2025

I have spent the last 8 weeks working on mapping out how I want my self-paced virtual program to be structured, and I’ve made a ton of progress!

My goal is to create a program that sets individuals training their own service dog up for success in an affordable and accessible way.

07/18/2025

From start to finish! Heel is a fundamental skill for a Service Dog and Rear End Awareness makes for a fluid and dynamic heel position when working in public spaces.

The “Rear Block” task is often used to create space behind the handler or discourage strangers from approaching the hand...
07/08/2025

The “Rear Block” task is often used to create space behind the handler or discourage strangers from approaching the handler from behind. This task can be incredibly helpful for individuals with psych disabilities such as PTSD.

This was the first on my list of tasks to get a step-by-step video on how to train it. My self paced virtual program is one step closer to becoming publicly available!

Want help teaching this task but don’t want to wait for the program to launch? Shoot me a message!

This weekend I got to Check-In on these awesome babies! They may not be Service Dog clients, but they were tons of fun t...
07/07/2025

This weekend I got to Check-In on these awesome babies! They may not be Service Dog clients, but they were tons of fun to work with!

Wrangler, the Labrador, learned “wave”, “down”, and started working on “spin”.

The dachshund, Sadie, learned “sit” and “touch”.

The Chihuahua, Scout, was rewarded for being a very brave boy and willingly interacting with a very scary stranger (me).

And the cat, Ranger, was just given lots of love and attention, which he demanded at all times.

They were the bestest babies and it was so much fun to spend time with them this weekend!

I like teaching tricks during my Check-In services because it provides mental stimulation for the dogs, which helps keep them happy when they’re being left along for several hours at a time, and I get to have fun teaching silly tricks!

Introducing Sunset Ridge Service Dogs! When I decided I wanted to transition to exclusively service dog training, I knew...
06/27/2025

Introducing Sunset Ridge Service Dogs!

When I decided I wanted to transition to exclusively service dog training, I knew I needed a new name and image that reflected that. I am so incredibly excited to see what the future has in store for my business.

One of the things I am most excited about is my new Virtual Service Dog Training Program. This program will be a self paced course that individuals can purchase to help them train their own service dogs. I will have more information on that soon!

In 2022 a study was published about the effects of keeping a dog lean for the duration of that dog’s life. The study was...
05/30/2025

In 2022 a study was published about the effects of keeping a dog lean for the duration of that dog’s life. The study was conducted with 7 litters of Labrador Retrievers and data was collected over the entire lives of all 48 dogs.

The study found the dogs kept lean lived longer, maintained muscle mass and bone density longer, and developed chronic conditions such as arthritis later in life than those kept at a “pet weight”.

The best way to manage your dog’s weight is by meal-feeding your dog. Meal feeding allows you to control how much your dog is eating, and it also allows you to notice any changes in appetite that may be a symptom of other health concerns.

Dogs that free-feed tend to eat more and owners tend to miss changes in appetite until other symptoms occur.

Read the study here: https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/220/9/javma.2002.220.1315.xml?tab_body=pdf

Big changes are coming to CDT!
05/18/2025

Big changes are coming to CDT!

Sven earned his Trick Dog Novice and Intermediate today! Yay Sven!
04/18/2025

Sven earned his Trick Dog Novice and Intermediate today! Yay Sven!

Address

Temple, TX
76501

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12548995163

Website

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