Kabler Teacher, Scott Mueller, Inducted into IACP Hall of Fame.

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David’s teacher and mentor Scott Mueller in front of National K9 School of Dog Trainers. Scott trained the world’s first handicapped support dogs and has been inducted into the International Association of Canine Professionals Hall of Fame, a tremendous honor.

In 1996, I graduated from National K9 School of Dog Trainers where I had the pleasure of being taught by school founder Scott Mueller. Scott pioneered the use of dogs for handicapped support service, having trained the first dogs for this purpose in the 1970’s.

I am very proud of the education I received at National K9 and am thrilled that Scott was recently inducted into the International Association of Canine Professionals Hall of Fame. Scott is in excellent company; with the likes of the Weatherwax Family who trained Lassie, The Monks of New SketeDr. Ian Dunbar, and Cesar Milan; all having also won this incredible honor.

My experience of being taught by Scott gave me an amazing foundation of knowledge about dogs and how they think. He encouraged me to work extremely hard towards my Master Trainer Certification.

Scott was the first to suggest that I start my own business, giving me the confidence boost I needed, telling me that he believed I would achieve tremendous success. He helped design my school logo and inspired my professional career.

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David’s Master Trainer Certificate signed by legendary dog trainer Scott Mueller.

While at National K9 I learned how to properly raise puppies for service and family, how to effectively train handicapped support dogs in all manner of assistance work, scent detection for Search and Rescue, protection dog training, and so much more. I was instilled with a strong sense of professionalism and respect for all the trainers who came before– pushing the field to higher levels of understanding and achievement.

Scott gave me a strong start in canine training and has been a mentor to me through my career– over the years I have been taught by the best of the best and am thankful for all my teachers that have given me so much.     -David

It’s Been a Busy Fall Training Season

Handsome German Shepherd Dog Eli practicing a Down & Stay request during an in home training session.

Gorgeous Doolin accepting a reward from her Guardian for a successful Down & Stay request.

At Kabler School For Dogs we have been having an awesome Fall training season. My apprentice Kim and I have been successfully finishing up with our Summer training cases. Tenshi and Jack both graduated through the Residency Training Course. Eli, a very aggressive German Shepherd, has been successfully de-conditioned in his response to strangers and his untethered obedience is coming along nicely. Kim’s training dog Iko and his Guardian are getting close to Tethered graduation. We are really excited about all of our graduates– and beginning training with lots of new Guardians and their canine companions. Kim and I would like to welcome all of our new clients to Kabler School For Dogs.

Obi is a gregarious Golden– The highest goal of obedience is to shape and grow the relationship between Guardian and Canine companion.

Kabler School For Dogs is proud to announce our Puppy Preschool Class. The training of the young pup is often overlooked by novice dog Guardians. These early weeks are actually critical to the healthy development of your best friend. Proper training and socialization from 8-20 weeks can successfully prevent serious behavioral issues later. Puppy Preschool also includes house training, crate training, redirecting play biting, reward based obedience, and fun games you can play with your new dog. New puppies are welcome each week– hope to see you and your new pup at class. To enroll call Kabler School For Dogs at (828) 337-5792.

Hatteras Island Class a Success!

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The recent Hatteras Island training class was a great success. Eight dogs participated in the class and David had such a wonderful time teaching everyone, human and canine alike. Out of the eight dogs, six were Labs— the Islanders love their water dogs! David just received the nicest letter from one of the class participants:

“I was pretty skeptical when I heard about David’s dog training. I actually completely disregarded it. Wyatt is an enormous 5-yr-old lab who we rescued from the pound when he was 9 months old. He’s got a few issues (don’t we all?) but he would sit (for a treat), came when he was called (eventually), and is the most gentle, patient and loving animal around

Good boy Wyatt!

my 18-month-old son (if your Boston Terrier steals his ball on the beach you may see another side of him). He was a chronic puller (he just gets so excited! And he has 15 pounds on me), but he would eventually get tired and walking him was no problem. What a great dog. Dog training was a nice idea but probably a waste of money since Wyatt was already trained.

However, when my husband suggested it, I decided to give it a go. If nothing else I would get to prove to myself that I had done such a great job with Wyatt all on my own. The first thing Wyatt did when we arrived on day one was drag me 15 feet across the driveway to sniff another participant. I mean, dogs do that sometimes, right? By the second class I was stunned to see Wyatt taking on a whole new level of obedience. By the third class Wyatt was walking right at my side and staying for up to 15 minutes at a time.  At the end of the two weeks my husband didn’t recognize Wyatt’s behavior. We still have work to do, but I feel like I’m finally equipped to help him get there and I have faith in both of us that we can do it.

David’s training is straightforward, easy to do and unbelievably effective. He is patient and encouraging. From David, I learned that I need to command my dog’s respect and I have the skills now to do that. But even more amazingly, I have a newfound respect for my dog. A pretty unbeleivable gift. I would recommend David’s dog training to anyone. Wyatt was the oldest, largest, most stubborn and most aggressive dog in his class. David helped me turn around 5 years of bad habits in just a few days. I’m beyond impressed – I am sincerely grateful.”

– Grace— the new wolf pack leader.

Mild Winter Means Early Start To Your Dogs Spring Training

The mild Winter we’ve been having has made training outdoors a real pleasure this year. So many clients wait until Spring to start their best friends obedience training and this year many new clients are taking advantage of the gorgeous weather. All of David’s training sessions are run out in the real world. It’s been busy training with clients at local parks, downtown Asheville, outdoor cafes, Bent Creek, and in clients homes. Training your best friend makes for a happier, healthier, more communicative, and less anxious best friend. Not only that, but teaching your dog the skills of obedience is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable experiences that you can share with your canine.

Give David a call today to find out more. (828) 337-5792

Canine Wrangling for New Feature Film ‘Wanderlost’.

David’s Belgian Malinois, Barry, on the set of Wanderlost.

Wanderlost is a new award winning dark fantasy feature film that stars Belgian Malinois Barry Kabler. “Training Barry for this role was so much fun as well as challenging. Ultimately Barry did an awesome job of acting on the set and I really had a blast working with my best friend on this incredible project. Training a dog for a film role is always challenging and it is important to make the experience fun for the canine actor.”, says Master Dog Trainer David Kabler. Wanderlost is currently screening at film festivals and is a finalist in the Famous Monsters Of Filmland film festival. You can check out the films trailer at wanderlostfilm youtube.

David working with Barry at Blue Ridge Motion Pictures on the set of the feature film Wanderlost.