Dog owners throughout the county love and want what is best for their fur babies. With Christmas fast approaching and a usual increase in puppies being gifted, many people show interest in finding someone to do training so that their adorable pets will be obedient.
Great news for everyone is that Destiny McIlwain started D&M Kennels and Training and is highly qualified to train dogs.
“I’m certified through Rod Brown in Marion. He’s the one who trained former Vice President Mike Pence’s dog,” declared Destiny. “I started this business about a year ago. I train mostly obedience, advanced and basic. I also do some protection work and article searching.”
She also intends to use her training skills to breed dogs with Rod Brown to train and contract out to police departments. She has a genuine love for all dogs, and that is why she has chosen to train dogs in such a variety of manners. When she chose to start D&M Kennels and Training, she had a goal just to be able to help others while being able to experience the joy of seeing a dog understand what it is being asked to do.
“Our main goal with starting this was to do something good in the community,” explained Destiny. “I don’t just enjoy working with purebreds. I love our purebred dogs and own some, but I also own some rescues. I’ve worked with some of the rescue dogs from Creature Comforts before, and they have some great dogs. I just love seeing that moment when the dog just gets it. When you finally see them understanding what you’re asking them to do, they just light up and get really excited and really proud of themselves.”
The amount of time it takes to train the dogs generally depends on what the animal’s needs are. She does not take the dog out alone to do the training, however; instead, she trains the owners on what to do while training the dog so that all owners will be able to continue and control the dogs.
“It takes about four weeks to train for obedience. I do a lot of owner oriented training. I teach the owners how to train their dog and communicate what they need with their dog. The best time frame is between eight weeks to six months to get started in basic. It’s just easier because their minds are more moldable. I will usually meet at the person’s house or in a public area that we agree on to do the training,” proclaimed Destiny. “I can do behavior modification, and it could take about a year or more sometimes. We’ve taken in a dog as an emotional support animal before that was scared of everything, and she would bite when scared, so there was an extreme bite risk for that. A lot of the time, the best thing to do is muzzle train them and take them out of the situation. It’s not fixing the problem as much as managing the problem because that problem is always going to be there no matter what. You can have some really good days and some bad days.”
There are many different techniques that trainers are able to use, and Destiny does everything she can to make sure that she knows a variety of techniques. Her services are not one size fits all, and she makes sure to get to know the dog she is working with so that she can focus on what will work best for that particular dog.
“I plan on continuing my education in training and getting more national accredited things behind my name. There are a lot of different training methods, and I would like to learn all of them,” expressed Destiny. “I consider myself a more balanced trainer. I train the dog in front of me and not what I want it to be. I don’t do a one size fits all training program. I really try to base the program on what works for each dog.”
She bases her prices on what services are required and what is needed for each dog, and her prices are very reasonable.
“I charge mostly based on the customer and any behavioral issues that the dog has at the time. Prices can range from $100 to $1,000. It just depends on the need of the dog,” stated Destiny. “If someone adopts a dog from Creature Comforts, I would train the dog at a discounted rate of 35 percent off as long as 50 percent of what is paid is donated to the shelter in the dog’s name.”
Anyone who would like to hire the training services for D&M Kennels and Training can do so by messaging her through D&M Legacy Kennels on Facebook.
