Front Range K9 Academy

10/19/2025

Nothing is more satisfying than the Doggy Disaster that DIDN'T happen...

"I made a terrible mistake a few weeks ago on the very busy street I live on in Denver. I was packing my car for a trip up to Glenwood, as per usual. But I did not remember to close the gate as I moved items to the car. Ruthie was on the front porch.

The thing that did NOT happen is that she DID NOT run through the gate and get run over by a car, or go for a joy run. She just sat there waiting for permission to go through the gate, which I did not give. Even though I was busy and not paying attention.

Nothing bad happened. Ruthie and I have rules. She does not get to go through an entryway without permission from me or Patty. Period. She sat on the porch waiting for permission while cars sped past and I continued to pack the car without thinking.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for the training you have given me and the work Ruthie and I have put in.

So, thanks. Hope you all are well and enjoying autumn.

~Alice A."

The Front Range K9 Academy Team is also SO grateful this story has a happy ending. It's just a great reminder of why training is so very important for EVERY dog!

Need some help with your puppy or dog? We're here for you. Give us a call or visit our websites!

Wheat Ridge: https://www.k9counselor.com
Northern Colorado: https://www.frontrangek9noco.com

10/14/2025

Baja & I are back home from the NAFA CanAm Classic Flyball tournament in Indianapolis, IN! Whew - what a trip that was! +33 hours of drive time, 2,292 miles total, 3 days of racing!

I am SO proud of Baja & our team! This was our first BIG Flyball tournament and she handled it like a pro! Totally unphased by all the noise and chaos & there was a lot!

At our local tournaments, there is just one ring going on at a time (2 teams racing each other). Because of the size of this tournament, there were SIX rings going on at the same time! On Saturday & Sunday, there were +300 races each day!

I love being in the lanes with her! She’s made so much progress this year and the CanAm tournament is the end of our season. We’ll spend all winter continuing to practice for the next season starting up right before summer.

Flyball has been such a fun sport to learn to play. All of our other sports are individual sports (lure coursing, racing, obedience, rally, weight pull) and I like that Flyball is a TEAM sport.

No PB times for Baja or team placements for this weekend, but it was an incredible trip and a huge learning experience for the both of us! The majority of our team were also CanAm ‘first timers’ (we are a small and relatively new team!), so I am also excited about our continued growth and future CanAm tournaments!ll

10/08/2025

Baja & I are heading BACK to Indiana this week!

We’ll be competing in the NAFA CanAm Flyball tournament with our team, Switchback!

This year, the CanAm Classic is celebrating over 30 years of Flyball! This is the first time Baja & I are going and I am SUPER excited!

In Flyball, two teams of four dogs race side by side over a 51 foot long straight course, with 4 jumps. Each dog runs relay style down the jumps, triggers a Flyball box, catches their ball, and returns to their human back over the jumps. The next dog is then released and the dogs pass each other. The first team to have all 4 dogs cross the finish line without any errors wins the heat!

There are 3 separate one-day tournaments. Teams must qualify to run on Sunday.

Baja’s team is ‘Switchback Trail Magic’. We are competing in the Classic Regular class, R2 division.

Of course, I’ll be posting updates!

You can watch the tournament live on AKC tv 📺 : https://akc.tv/event?id=20727ty

Sundays races are also often on ESPN!

10/03/2025

This post by trainer Gabriela of Complete K-9 is SPOT ON!

Your dog not only needs you to lead - they WANT you to lead, as well. That makes their life 1000 times easier in the long run!

Meet “Teddy”, a 5 y.o. neutered Miniature Poodle who’s here in the Behavioral Rehabilitation Boot Camp program.

Teddy has had it too good for 5 years and managed to let power get to his head. His crimes, which landed him here include using his teeth on anyone who’s near his mommy or approaching her, including close family. He’s powerful and convincing at home, he lunges, he bites, he’s possessive of toys and food and is over the top dramatic.

That’s before drop off, because he’s been a giant mush since here. Once the initial shock of being away from his security blanket wore off he fell in line rather quickly. He’s compliant, he hasn’t questioned me once and we’ve bonded quite nicely in the last 5 days.

Teddy is a textbook case where the biggest change will have to come from his humans. My job is to show him the life of a follower, the easy life of a follower, the type that’s predictable, void of huge responsibilities like protecting and micromanaging, and one where everything comes with a consequence - positive or negative, up to him. He’s a very cool little doggy and had I met him in a dog shelter and evaluated him I would’ve never known a thing about his past.

Dogs live in the moment, that’s a fact. Some let go instantly of their nonsense ways when faced with a believable leader, others must exhaust all other options before warming up to the idea. But most are quite capable and are only criminals because there are no cops at home. Because it works for them. But they’re rarely happy, fulfilled, confident and content on the inside. For some I feel the only time they’ll be understood and treated like the species they are is here. I’m rooting for Teddy that this won’t be the case, because I’ve seen his heart and it’s golden.

10/02/2025

Demo Dog Baxter (aka "Shiny B") is trotting in to announce: It's official! Now taking orders for Heartland Raw Dog Food.

Message us for details!

09/30/2025

What an INCREDIBLE weekend!

2,360 mile round trip to New Castle, Indiana. We’ve made it safely back to CO to rest up for a week - then, we’ll be headed back to Indiana for the CanAm Flyball Classic Tournament!

This Whippet Racing Nationals experience has been awesome!

Baja ended the weekend with the ‘Most Appreciated High Score Combined’ Award - or double Turtle Award 🐢 - meaning she had the lowest scores combined for both straight racing & oval track. The ‘Turtle’ is always celebrated at races as the most valiant - possessing or showing courage & determination - and that she did! She may not be the biggest, fastest or strongest when she steps out onto the field, but she puts her heart and soul into each and every run.

I LOVE watching her run and she absolutely loves chasing those plastic bag bunnies.

I am so proud of my girl! This was our first BIG event - there were +100 Whippets racing each day! At most, we’ve been running with 10 Whippets 😅.

She stepped onto a completely new field after 16 hours of driving in the car & knew exactly what we were about to do. The boxing area & finish line were quite chaotic & she handled both beautifully!

There were only 4 DII Whippets entered in NOTRA (Oval Track Racing), so she is also bringing home a beautiful 4th place DII ribbon.

*Divison II (DII) was created for Whippets who weren’t bred to be top race dogs but who still love to race.

Pending NOTRA approval, Baja should have also earned enough points for her Oval Track Racing (OTR) Title!

BIF Horsetooth Crotalus Enyo FCh STAR WPA RATI RA BCAT FDCh CD *OTR*

There will be more WRA & NOTRA Nationals in our future - next year we’ll be making the trip to New Jersey!

09/28/2025

Demo dog, Baja & I made the 1,153 mile road trip to New Castle, Indiana to run in her first WRA (straight racing - 200 yards) & NOTRA (oval track racing - 300 yards) National competition! There are over 130 Whippets competing each day!

This trip has been full of many firsts, like her first time doing straight racing & running with 5 other dogs!

She LOVES to run! Here she is pictured with her fancy new muzzle. I’ll post a video of one of her box breaks in the comments if anyone is interested!

[Hounds are required to be muzzled in both races for their safety & the safety of the other hounds]

09/24/2025

Congratulations to some more recent graduates!!

Titus, George, Oaken, Auggie, Apollo & Rollo - SO proud of the progress that they & their humans have made!

09/21/2025

Graduation Alert! Graduation Alert! Whoop, whooop, whoop!!!

Huge congratulations to "Cashew" (Anatolian/GSD/Pyr) and his mom, Rayne - on their graduation from Front Range K9 NOCO's Core Obedience program with an A+ (94%) score on their test!

Cashew is a young rescued boy with a LOT of big feelings and a LOT to say about them. Through Rayne's hard work and dedication, he's learning self discipline, and becoming an amazing dog.

AND - he's helping Rayne build her dream business - group dog hikes in the NOCO area. If you're looking for a way to get your dog more exercise, but you're short on time, check out Rayne's website: https://tailsontrailsco.weebly.com/