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ASPCA Poison Control Hotline:

This is the only dedicated animal poison control hotline in the world manned by veterinarians, not telephone operators. The number is
staffed 24/7.

(888) 4ANI-HELP or (888) 426-4435

What's it all about at Mountain View?

Mountain View is all about dogs and their interaction with people. We love dogs and what happens when dogs and people learn together. When we train our dogs, we learn not only about our dogs but also more about ourselves and humanity. Our dogs derive huge benefit from this, of course. Training dogs using positive reinforcement as the foundation and guiding principle yields huge rewards for everyone involved.

Mountain View Dog Training and Agility was established by Averill and Ken Ring and Cathy Hughes with some very important goals in mind:

To demonstrate to pet owners how rewarding it is to relate to their dogs in a positive manner.
To involve entire families in the training of their dog. We feel that training dogs is an activity that benefits every family member.
To provide our human students with enough knowledge of dog behavior that long after the class is completed they may prevent problems and teach desired behaviors.
To foster responsible pet ownership in our students. We feel this is important in the face of all the restrictive legislation that has been proposed or implemented regarding dog breeding and ownership in many areas of the U.S.
To provide information to our agility and obedience competition students that will prepare them for the ring, without losing sight of how much fun they can have with their dogs along the way.

We hope that, by training our own dogs, teaching students to train their dogs, by reading and by attending seminars and conferences on the many aspects of dog training and behavior, we can continue to gain the knowledge needed to meet these goals. If we do, perhaps the dogs that pass through our hands will never experience the solitary existence of a chain in a back yard or a kennel in an animal shelter. That goal is closest to our hearts.

Dog obedience classes at Mountain View

We urge you to take your baby puppy to puppy kindergarten -- DO NOT WAIT until he is 6 months old and full of himself, out of contol and BIG! The old adage about an ounce of prevention being worth a ton of cure certainly applies here. Teach your puppy right from the start, and you won't be "fixing" problems later -- because they won't occur! We believe that puppy kindergarten is your dog's most important "obedience" class, and we make it really fun and informative. In this class your puppy will learn critical socialization skills and begin the patterns of learning that will continue through his life. Puppies need and love early socialization and early learning! Puppy kindergarten is open to puppies age 10 weeks to
4 months old.

At Mountain View we hold obedience classes for the family dog, where we help you teach your dog the basic manners that will make him a welcome member of the family. To follow up on this, we offer a Canine Good Citizen class, which prepares your dog for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. This class helps to polish the skills begun in the Family Dog class.

Mountain View agility classes

Our agility program is extensive. It begins with Obedience for Agility, which is a four-week "bridge" class between obedience and agility, in which the handler and dog learn how obedience applies to agility (and believe us, it applies!), plus a few new skills which are necessary before you and your dog launch your agility career. We also discuss health issues and motivational games to play to keep your dog sharp and interested in the game of Agility.

What follows is an array of classes starting with Introduction to Agility to Open Agility Runs for Advanced Handlers. Each dog advances through the classes at its own rate, and class sizes are kept small to enable each dog and handler to have maximal exposure to equipment and running opportunities. Safety is stressed here, for both dog and handler.

We are fortunate here at Mountain View to have the partnership of Holly Hammerle of Team Run Agility, who holds several sessions of agility classes here throughout the year, generally on Thursdays and/or Saturdays. Team Run classes are aimed at competition handling, and Holly is a dynamo at organizing her classes and teaching the skills needed to be successful in agility competition.

Other canine learning and events at Mountain View

Throughout the year we offer other classes and workshops, including and not limited to the following:

Canine Freestyle (dancing with your dog)
Draft Dog and Weight Pulling
Show Handling
Competition Obedience classes
UKC Agility
Puppy Agility
Tricks
Tracking
and more!!
We also offer private lessons in obedience and agility on request, and will do workshops and seminars both here at elsewhere.

For more information on classes and events, click on the Class Schedule link.

Mountain View Dog Training holds agility practice matches periodically as well as obedience run-thrus, so you can practice your skills in a mock-"authentic" environment.

Check out Mountain View's instructors and grounds!

Read about Mountain View as presented in the June 19, 2003, Rappahannock News.

About our website

Our site is lovingly crafted by Irisweb.net, Inc., a web design company which is a partnership between Averill and Ken Ring (also of Mountain View) and Dafna Laurie, also an animal lover. The wonderful artwork is done by Verne Foster of Pawtraits; check out her site for more of her great animal portraits and whimsies.

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Website designed and maintained by Irisweb.net