OUR STORY

How It All Began

My love of dogs began when I was very young and started doing agility with my childhood German Shepherds. It was many moons ago, but that certainly is where it all started. While I took a small detour and dabbled in horses for a while in my adolescence, I veered back to dogs and have never looked back.

I did an apprenticeship with the brilliant Monique Anstee of The Naughty Dogge and afterwards stayed on with her to teach private lessons and group classes. I specialized in dogs with aggression issues and got to see so many wonderful transformations in owners as well as dogs. I did this for many years both in Victoria and Nanaimo. I began boarding clients dogs who weren't quite fitting in with regular boarding kennels locally and it became very apparent that there weren't many places able to board the more difficult dogs and I knew I could offer that. So I took a step back from training and in the spring of 2019 opened up my very own boarding facility with a property that is perfectly suited to continue helping dogs who don't quite fit into the structure of regular dog boarding.

Hayley's Dogs

Milly

Pitbull Mix

I began fostering for a local rescue and loved every minute of it. One little black and white Pitbull mix stole my heart and was my greatest teacher for the 11 years she blessed me with. She had her struggles around people and so began our training journey together. It's because of my darling Milly that I met Monique from The Naughty Dogge and started an apprenticeship that would change the course of my life. Milly quickly became my helper dog in rehabbing difficult dogs, she had the patience of a saint and the desire to follow me anywhere. When I lost her in 2022 it felt like I lost my partner in life and in business. But she is in every dog I train and I thank my lucky stars that, while she was not easy, she was exactly perfect.

Chloe

German Shepherd Mix

I had quite a few more fosters in between adopting Milly and my second dog, Chloe. Chloe came to me as a dog that had a very indulged past allowing her more opinions than a dog should be allowed to have. She was one of the most challenging dogs that I have trained, but also the most rewarding. She is by far my most loyal dog, she would walk through fire for me if I ever were to ask! We dabble in Competition Obedience training together and I'm always amazed at her joy and love for training with me. She has softened so much over the years; from being a dog who would look through you like you were just an obstacle in her way, to a dog who now melts when you look at her endearingly. I love my big marshmellow and sometimes forget all the trouble we originally went through together, but I wouldn't trade her loyalty and love for anything!

Annie

Border Collie Mix

About a year and a half after Chloe, a little Border Collie mix named Annie came into my life. I was not looking for another dog to adopt, but she certainly didn't seem to care about that. The only confidence she had in her life was in her aggression towards people. She taught me so much and continues to teach me as we grow together, she's a wild child and knows how to manipulate. I laugh at her antics and often times realize she's skillfully pulled the wool over my eyes. She has truly taught me that the intelligence in dogs is never to be overlooked. She's the craziest of my pack and she makes me laugh so hard that it hurts! Annie has been the best thing I could have done for my business as she believes that she was sent here to help me train dogs. Either backing me up if a dog needs discipline or taking boarding dogs for a run in the field so that I don't have to. She wears out the hiking dogs and she takes dogs who need confidence under her wing; sometimes doing a better job of training the dog than I could!

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Jimmy

Belgian Malinois

In 2023 I half heartedly began debating another dog. I kept telling myself out loud that 2 dogs was such a lovely number and that I would never do 3 again. Enter Jimmy Malinois. One minute I'm being sent a video of this untrained, out of control and out of time Malinois from a California shelter; and the next minute I'm booking his flight and driving to Seattle to pick him up. It almost seemed like I blacked out and suddenly owned a 1 year old Malinois. He has a purpose, I hope to compete with him in IGP one day. So we are actively training with this goal in mind and he is proving to be both a challenge and a joy to train. When I work with Jimmy it's a true team effort, I feel like he has my back and I have his; I'm beyond excited for our future together.