Thank You for visiting Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel’s new site and Colorado Dog Training Blog. I am Ted Hoff the owner and Colorado dog trainer at Cottonwood Ranch And Kennel near Crawford Colorado. I have been professionally boarding and training all breeds of dogs in Crawford, Colorado for 21 years and have had the pleasure of hosting dogs from across the United States. We have designed our ranch to be the premiere dog training and boarding facility situated on our 322 acre ranch located on the Western Slope of Colorado. Our world-class Colorado training and dog boarding facility serves a large geographic area in Colorado, including Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Montrose, and all the way south to Telluride.
At Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel our main focus is the daily activities, important for a healthy and well- trained dog. These activities include various forms of socialization, exercise, positive reinforcement training, playtime, and a time to calm.
I am a strong believer in matching the appropriate exercise to the dog according to their age, breed, veterinary issues, and general conditioning. Many dogs are built to run, but exercising a dog through too much running can be detrimental to the health of your dog. Exercise routines should start slow, and build gradually as the dogs ‘s level of conditioning improves.
Cottonwood Ranch And Kennel, uses swimming in our daily dog exercise program.. The Benefits of water work are numerous, including low impact exercise, and a great way to exercise the dogs during warmer temperatures.
A Typical water session starts with the dog on land and then released into the water to make the retrieve and deliver the retrieved item back to the handler on shore. Repeating this sequence offers a great workout and excellent training opportunities.
This summer at Cottonwood Ranch And Kennel our water exercise is anything but typical. During Colorado’s hot afternoons, we have added a new twist to the swim exercise. The dogs follow me in the water with my paddleboard. The casual pace of a paddleboard is a great way to extend the swim time and focus on overall aerobic conditioning of your dog. Our paddle workouts are fun, great low impact exercise, and the dogs stay cool. I have also found that it is a great training opportunity to connect with the dogs at my side, keeping them engaged and focused. With the paddleboard, a dog training/exercise session opens up a whole new opportunity to interact with the dogs while standing on the water with them. Watch the video and enjoy the end of summer workout with the dogs.
http://www.youtube.com/
I welcome comments and any questions and am available any time at 970-921-7100, or email info@cottonwoodranchandkennel.
Enjoy your dogs, and get outside with them, the benefits are big for all.
Ted Hoff
Owner/trainer Cottonwood Ranch And Kennel