“As someone who has had dogs my whole life, it was humbling to admit that this puppy was beyond my abilities to handle.
What started out as wrestling and rough-housing quickly escalated to nasty snarling, biting and clawing. From the time she was just 10-12 weeks, she displayed dominant behavior. She wasn’t afraid of me or much of anything.
That was new for me. I had always had dogs that submitted. They knew I would provide for and protect them. They accepted me as their alpha – the “pack leader”.
But not this pup.
From the first days we had her, I would put her on her back, holding her until she would submit, but she would just fight and fight and come back harder and meaner.
She had no desire to please. She would climb up on the counter and steal food. She jumped on the kitchen table and devoured birthday cake.
Worst of all, the kids became scared of her.
She would nip at their heals, she would jump up and claw them.
She was a nightmare.
We tried socializing her. We took her to dog parks and to baseball games. Her level of anxiety and alert were off the charts.
Our greatest fear was that she would hurt the kids. She was getting bigger and stronger and starting to really hurt us – giving us bruises and breaking skin.
No discipline made any difference in her behavior.
And the basic obedience training I had always done with my dogs did little to enhance her positive behavior, despite the praise and treats we offered as enticements.
“There are just bad dogs,” I concluded.
I have never given a dog away. I’ve never just dropped off a dog at the pound. I had always reserved the harshest judgement of those who do, namely because the vast majority of those animals are ultimately destroyed.
But as the weeks and months passed, we contemplated how we possibly keep this dog as she became more impossible to have around.
I called several local dog trainers. A couple didn’t return my calls. One was on vacation and said to call back in a few weeks. Another had room in a group puppy class.
Then I called Ashly at Siskiyou K9. A whole new world of hope opened up in that 45 minute conversation. She explained to me the nature of working dogs – that working their brain is even more important than working them physically – that they need a task to give them purpose.
She came to our home a couple days later.
Junmai met her at the door barking ferociously, and proceeded to growl with her hackles up for the next hour. She wouldn’t let Ashly near her.
My heart sank. “Even this dog trainer can’t connect with this dog,” I thought.
But Ashly just continued talking with us calmly about the training that she does, not making eye contact with Junmai, but continuously dropped treats in her direction every 30 seconds or so…
By the end of the hour, Jun finally let her hand feed her treats. But she still wasn’t at ease.
We walked outside.
“Do you think you can work with her?” I asked, full of skepticism.
“I do,” she said. “I think she’s a good dog.”
It was the first time anyone had ever said that.
Lichen and I took Jun to Ashly’s family property where she trains dogs – including her 4 German Shepherds.
There were horses and chickens and several other dogs in kennels – lots of distractions – lots to freak out over…
We enrolled her in a one month intensive training program. We got back in the car and drove away.
We received texts and videos from Ashley almost daily showing Jun’s progress.
And it was astounding.
We picked her up last week. It was like trading her in for a new dog.
She’s still a puppy, and she has her moments of testing us. But she has a strong foundation of obedience now which she can fall back on, and she’s more confident and much more at ease. She has physical boundaries now, and she is much gentler, especially with the kids.
They’ve been doing amazingly with her.
We are learning how to set her up for success, and it’s fun to own a dog again.
Thank you Ashly. Junmai is truly the dog I always wanted because of you.” ~Phoenix Sigalove
“We have known Ashly for several years. She has proven to not only be a great dog owner but also a very talented dog trainer. She has give our retired stud dog “Back” the best life any dog could hope for. She takes excellent care of him and continues to keep his life style active and exciting for him as he ages up. We wish every dog could have such a good life. She has started several young dogs in training and has shown how much she understands what it take to motivate or discipline a dog to get it to understand what is required of it. She works well with her students explaining training theory and trial requirements. She is a pleasure to work with and a very honest person. She has a very strong passion for animals and it has guided her to seek knowledge and understanding for the best trainer’s in the dog world. We would recommend Ashly to anyone that is seeking help with their dogs.“
Jim and Cindy Reed
True Haus Kennels
Ashly is a very efficient caring knowledgeable trainer and has a beautiful place to train.
She is very helpful and patient with the dogs and handlers. Especially with the novice handler, novice dogs and puppies. She is willing to help anyone with their goals whether it is for competition and titles or for the pet owner. She takes very good care of the dogs she boards and board and trains and also helped us find a lovely female German Shepherd which we are grateful for. WE are not only glad to have her as a trainer but also as a friend.
Diana & Peter Meier
“I have found Ashly to be a very compassionate dog trainer. Not only does she love every single dog that she has met, but she has the ability to help dog owners understand, appreciate, and train their K-9 partners. Although I pay her for her help, her compassion and love for dogs out weighs any monetary price that I might pay. I enjoy watching her work with other breeds and have picked up tricks that I have not seen from other trainers.
Some dog trainers are very good with beginning obedience with specific breeds and have a pattern that they follow to help the dogs develop. This does not always work with all breeds. I have watched Ashly pick up dogs that have been partially trained by others and help them finish their much-needed refinements to find their niche in life. She is not judgmental when it comes to why a perfect dog that minds at home never comes or sits down when they are in public. She just smiles and helps people figure out how to make it work.
My dog and I have dabbled in nosework/scentwork, tracking, AKC Rally, AKC Obedience, Schutzhund, Working Dogs of America, and other miscellaneous challenges. Because of Ashly’s experience and precision to details (with horses as well as dogs) she has always been able to give me guidance and suggestions on anything that I am wanting to try. I have a very active and intelligent dog that ofttimes manages MY life instead of the other way around. Ashly has also taught me how to just play with my dog to establish a more meaningful relationship and work it into our training.
I can describe what a great dog trainer Ashly is, but my dog does it best because she loves Ashly and looks forward to the different challenges that are thrown her way. To her, training days are like going to Disneyland!”
Patti Breidenthal
“ The fun that we call training has all the elements of western luxury, a place like home and mountain romance that you could see in a movie set. Lucky for us Ashly has made it real and obtainable to train dogs obediently along side beautiful horses for our rides. Whether it is a day for adventure or work Siskiyou K9s are well versed in a long day of dynamic topics ranging in horseback obedience with wildlife, tracking, scent detection and herding livestock. The greatest joy of riding with a dog is the partnership as an extension of yourself working from horseback. Siskiyou K9s instincts and training are exactly what most people need without knowing that this level of trained dog and type of working dog isn’t a unicorn after all. Ashly is a great person to work with in all these ranch-life aspects; Siskiyou K9 is an A+ for all my dog training dreams.
A testimony to Ashly’s astute dog savior-faire, cultured atmosphere and patient understanding she helps everyone achieve their goals; even if you aren’t sure if you have goals she helps you succeed, aspire and achieve beyond what you initially set out for on this dog journey. I am a great example of someone who just showed up and absorbed her quality standards, training atmosphere and had a simpletons ideology of what I wanted to accomplish. She is a visionary, knowledgeable professional and has precise communication. With those astute skills Ashly sets all up for success. Observing how she helped each team (handler & dog) work through their hangups then excel to titles, successful family balance and work through previous behaviors, my dog and I achieved our first Title within a few short weeks by “just showing up”. Ashly’s training insight guiding me through the process seamlessly made titling feel like just another walk in the park. I never started training or working with dogs thinking that I would be interested in doing Titles.
She strives to help everyone expand beyond what you think you set out to and is an inspiration with the diverse dogs she has transformed from behavioral unbalanced training into the families dream dog they had always wanted. She offers a phenomenal setting to come experience what dog industry professionalism and expertise should feel like with enthusiastic camaraderie among all. It is truly a good feeling to drive to her private dog field; hangout with a kindhearted group of engaged ‘strangers’ who when we leave are friends that I look forward to seeing the next week.”
-Reneé De Launay & HeyNoGoodDog.
“I want to give a big shout out to Ashly Peters and her launch of SiskiyouK9.com. I couldn’t be more proud of Ashly if she was my own daughter. I look forward to watching her business grow in the coming years.
Those of you that have been following me on this PTSD journey will remember how my path lead me to a service dog mentor after I decided I wanted a German Shepherd as a battle buddy. That collaboration ended after three months when my mentor said I don’t get to pick a particular breed or dog. The dog picks me, as she said. That was a show stopper for me.
My service dog experience lead to a lot of soul searching and research. I finally came to the point where I decided that I just wanted a good dog with an even temperament. A dog like Roy Rogers’ Bullet or Rin Tin Tin.
I joined a group on Facebook for German Shepherd owners of the Northwest. That’s where I met Ashly when she reached out to me when I was looking for not good working dog lines but great working dog lines, close enough to me that I could make the trip with this PTSD affecting me the way it does.
Ashly recommended True Haus Kennels out of Orville California. After looking over True Haus’s website and seeing it was clearly the best web design and the most informative breeder I have come across, I put a deposit down on a puppy.
What I ended up with is the smartest most even tempered dog I could have hoped for. Lexi is every bit a Bullet or Rin Tin Tin. I’m the only thing holding her back from greatness. That’s where Ashly comes in. Ashly started working with me doing private lessons at my place. Eventually she coaxed me into coming out and being a part of a group of people that love German Shepherds.
Ashley never pressured me. She has always encouraged me by saying just come out and watch with Lexi, that in itself is training. I could do that!
Ashly met me right where I was at. That’s her training style. Ashley is an encourager, she has the ability to meet you or your dog right where you are and build a foundation that will lead to greatness.
Look at me now. I am working on the AKC’s canine good citizen and the urban good citizen. Now we are are starting to work as a group on the Working dog of America’s Family Obedience title as well. This brings me full circle back to a service dog.
There is no certification process for service dogs by the American Disabilities Act. With that in mind I felt that it is important that Lexi has proof that she has passed multiple obedience titles to protect her in case, God forbid, something happens because of the disrespectful people in this world.
I don’t know if Lexi will ever be a service dog but with Ashly’s help and guidance I believe Lexi will be everything I ever wanted, and more.” ~William Kovaleff and Lexi