By QK Owner Jennifer Broome

This has been the longest stretch in several years that I did not write a newsletter!  I believe my last one was in June. No news can be good news as we were just incredibly busy. Rather than write, I was training dogs all day – getting back to my roots of doing what I love. We had an amazingly productive year.

So, what’s new at QK?

In the Spring we hosted another week of back-to-back clinics with our mentor Rick Smith. We are honored to host him each year to inspire us, challenge and coach us to be better dog trainers and handlers.

As a Team, the QK crew adopted a rescue lab named Rivers. She had been through several foster homes after arriving at a southern shelter with her litter of puppies. She was still just a youngster herself and needed a job. With lots of teamwork, we cared for her, cut back her talon-like nails, took about 15 pounds off her with proper diet and exercise, socialized her, and put months of training into her starting with a solid Foundation on leash, then off-leash, and ultimately she went through our gun dog program with QK Trainer Chris Parry. Chris really worked patiently, and Rivers flourished as an upland field hunter and retriever. A previous QK client saw the posting on our site and drove a long trek from upstate NY to meet her.  They hit it off famously and Rivers not only found a new home, but she also came back for advanced gun dog training and is now living the life on a NY estate enjoying daily runs in the field, lots of swimming and endless bird and duck hunting!

We also hosted 3 QK Boot Camp Seminars for dogs and their owners this year. These seminars were an incredible success with the third one attracting nearly 30 dog/handler teams! This 4-hour intensive lecture and hands-on training by QK Owner Jennifer Broome along with trainers Chris Parry, Jessica Velasquez and other QK Team members, gave people an opportunity to learn more about how dogs think, how to teach obedience, how to address problem behaviors and how to better “speak dog”.

In 2020 we will be offering 3 more of these “PAWESOME” Seminars!

We finally retired our trusted blue New Holland tractor that plowed the earth and tackled many of the QK projects over the past 15 years. Poor gal just got tired. BUT she was replaced with a bigger New Holland with quick attach equipment and Jason is busier than ever with grounds and maintenance work keeping her well exercised!

She was only a ‘little bit stuck.’

We finally were able to fence in our play yards as part of our long term QK vision creating 7 new 100 foot long spacious exercise areas behind the Lodge building.  This perimeter fencing added so much new secure outdoor space to allow our boarding guests to run and play simply by being let out of their outdoor kennel runs. This addition greatly improved the QK experience for our client dogs adding lots more outdoor time and the capability to provide multiple playgroups for each dog based on their size, age, and energy level. The daycare dogs spend most of the day outside playing as well.

We installed a QK Memorial Flagpole thanks to the generous donation from a client!  We will not only be doing a ceremony to celebrate the beautiful flagpole this Spring, but we will also be starting a new tradition to offer a yearly “Blessing of our Dogs” at the flagpole. This will be a celebration to memorialize all of our beloved furry family members past and present. It will be a QK Patriotic Paws Party!

And we welcome neighbor and talented Tufts educated veterinarian as our new onsite vet! We will be introducing Dr. Kristin Williams soon on our website and our Facebook page. We warmly welcome Dr. K to QK! She will be helping us to provide wellness exams, treat sick or injured dogs, administer vaccines or medications on call as needed. We are THRILLED to add her expertise to QK Dogs!

We have a lot more that we accomplished in 2019, and we are so proud of our success thanks to our loyal and dedicated clients!

We enjoyed one of our busiest seasons yet with both boarding and training dogs. Check out our website as we update our photos and add our new QK action video.

We look forward to seeing everyone in 2020!

At QK we believe

“A Tired, Trained Dog is a HAPPY Dog!”