Behind K9 Aquatics

 

 

Bruce and Martina Richardson are pleased to offer this facility for the dogs of South Central Alaska. Bruce is a life long Alaskan, and Martina is a long time Alaskan. Both shared their childhoods with wonderful dog companions. With their kids their home has been enriched by Neetcha (border collie/malemute mix), Max (vizsla), Rip (sheltie), and Lexi (Australian shepherd).

 

 

Martina joined Alyeska Canine Trainers, an excellent Anchorage dog training facility specializing in pet, sports, and competitive obedience training in 1999. Max was neo-phobic which led to Martina to study dog behavior. She was the Education Chairman for the club for 7 years, along with assisting hundreds of students with their dogs in Puppy, Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Agility, and Recall classes. Her own experiences with her dogs led to the opening of this canine swim pool. She and Bruce visited four canine swim facilities before deciding on the type of pool. She went on to take The Heart of Canine Aquatic Therapy Level 1 and Level 2 courses offered by Cindy Horsfall of La Paw Spa (the Founder of the International Association of Canine Water Therapy) in Sequim, Washington. Martina loves clicker training and is looking forward to getting better at teaching her dogs tricks. She tries to set her dogs up for success and catch them practicing desired behaviors (rather than undesirable behaviors) and loves positive training methods.

 

Bruce is a semi-retired truck driver, building contractor, hunter and outdoorsman. His contracting skills definitely were instrumental in creating the facility. He is prone to liking "rowdy" dogs and has no problem playing fetch in a small living room.

 

All our dogs taught us valuable lessons in dog behaviors. Max was an excellent athlete and gorgeous swimmer, and showed us most dogs love going to training classes and not all dogs like the dog park. Rip taught us dogs love mental stimulation, and that you can counter condition for unwanted behaviors with a clicker. Lexi taught us that if you are going to bring an energetic dog into your home, it is your responsibility to provide that dog with a positive outlet for their energy!