Hi Friends,
In an effort to help my clients make informed choices with a wide range of service options, I’m continuing my series of interviews with local animal-related business owners in my newsletters. In this issue, I’m featuring Jenni Entz, Owner/Trainer of All About Dogs with dog training services in Grass Valley and dog boarding in Penn Valley.
Can you provide a little background on your business?
When my mother Sandy first met my dad, Larry, it was love at first sight, but really what she loved most about him (in the beginning) was his dog Lobo, a huge white German Shepherd!
My dad went on to work at a local vet hospital where he gained knowledge about dogs and then took that knowledge and love to obtain a job working for guide dogs for the blind in San Rafael, where his training career took off.
Raised in Woodside with horses and dogs, Sandy grew up with a love and passion for all animals. In 1980, my parents moved to Penn Valley. They wanted to raise their children in the country. My dad and his father built a small building and decided to start a training facility. The business took off and it seemed those training clients also needed a safe place with someone they could trust to leave their dogs when they were gone.
Today, we thrive on keeping the dogs active in small play groups, spending personal time working with them and training them while they’re in our care. My parents started doing small training classes at our local parks and fairgrounds. I grew up in this environment, watching my parents work with the dogs and was fascinated.
When I was 17 my mom hired me to start assisting her with classes. By 19, I was also teaching them alongside my mom. In 2008 I took the business over, and my family purchased the property with the boarding facility.
Can you provide a little information about your newest venture, doggie daycare?
We purchased our 18 acres in Penn Valley at 14254 Oak Ridge Road last September. It is our dream property with plenty of flat space and a huge custom building that was built for miniature horses, which we converted into our dog boarding facility.
Each dog has its own separate indoor/outdoor space. We cycle the dogs into the play yard in groups as long as they are social with other dogs for the supervised social time where they can play and get all that fun energy out. They receive multiple potty breaks a day and, depending on their activity and boarding package, also get numerous group play sessions a day in our 10,000-square-foot grassy play yard, which is safe and always supervised.
We have been so busy this summer with our boarding clients that we realized we need a whole separate area to continue to grow the doggie daycare side of things, so we’re working on that as well.
What is your pricing and location?
In addition to the boarding facility where we offer daycare, boarding, and board and train programs in Penn Valley (14254 Oak Ridge Road), we have our indoor training center at 131 Joerschke Drive in Grass Valley, where we offer all of our group classes ranging from puppy classes through advanced obedience, rally classes, all levels of agility, service/therapy dog classes and private lessons.
There are different boarding packages depending on the needs of your dog. There are also lots of add-ons that you can choose from like stuffed Kong toys, walks, and extra personal playtime. Our boarding prices range from $38 per night for the content dog package to $100 a night for the obedient dog package. Our group training classes run from $175-225 for a 5-week session. Private lessons range from $65-150, depending on location and time spent.
What types of training do you provide?
We provide puppy classes through advanced off-leash obedience classes and all levels of agility training and rally classes. We have a wonderful service/therapy dog program and were recently involved in the certification of the courtroom therapy dogs of Nevada County.
We place a huge emphasis on positive reinforcement training. We believe that catching your dog doing the right behavior and rewarding them makes them want to do that behavior again and again! We use verbal rewards and physical praise as well as high-value treats to motivate and reward good behaviors. Timing, consistency, and body language are very important factors in training your dog, and that is what we teach our clients.
What is the No. 1 reason that dog owners bring their dogs to your training facility, and what is the No. 1 mistake dog owners make when it comes to trying to train their pet’s behavior?
The No. 1 reason people bring dogs to our training facility is because we are friendly and make learning fun. We welcome dogs and their owners with open arms. We take the time to get to know the people and the dogs. Our clients are like family.
The biggest mistake people make when training their dogs is not being consistent with their expectations. One day, they decide they don’t want the dog jumping up so they correct him, and the next day they decide they want a hug so they encourage the jumping only to pet and love on the dog while it’s jumping, which is praising the dog for bad manners. This only creates confusion in the dog’s world. Dogs don’t see that gray area that we humans do. They need things to be very clear and they will respond beautifully.
Do you board or train other animals like cats in addition to dogs? Are there any breeds that you don’t serve?
We do not train cats and we do not discriminate against any breeds of dogs. We have worked with 2-pound teacup chihuahuas as well as 180-pound mastiffs. We love them all!
Lastly, do you have any funny or heartwarming stories to share about your fur friend clients?
The most recent story that comes to mind and warms my heart is that we had a client with two dogs for boarding. Both of these dogs had been boarded at our facility before. One of them was very nervous when he first came in, and we worked very hard to make sure he was building confidence and having a good time.
As the client drove onto the property for the repeat visit, the dogs both jumped out of the windows of the car and ran to the front door of the kennel. They met me there, tails wagging, full of excitement. The owner was in awe that her nervous, shy dog couldn’t wait to come back and be with us and will remember to keep her windows rolled up from now on when she brings the dogs!
For more information, you can reach All About Dogs at 530.518.0392 or visit allaboutdogsgv.com.