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Hi, my name is Maxine Watson,
and along with my husband David, we are the owners of DaMax
Kennels Boarding, Training & Day Care. We have lived in
this area for just over ten years, starting up the boarding and training
kennels in the spring of 2000. We have three sons, Joe
and Jim our oldest two have started on their own careers. Joe
is an electronics engineer and James is a mechanical engineer both
employed in the K-W region and our youngest David,
who enjoys the country life with the convenience of living five
minutes from the city, when he isn't at high school.
I (Maxine) was born and raised in Stratford, having grown up with
all types of pets I knew that someday I would make a living
out of it. After taking advantage of several training programs
starting in 1991, including a law & security administration
program, an animal care technician course, abuse-free grooming and obedience training, I
began working with several vets in the Monkton - Stratford area.
Being bonded when I was an auxiliary police officer, I went into
people's homes in order to help them understand their dog's
behaviours, and train their pet. We also offered mobile pet
grooming and a home-based shop to round out our pet
services.
After two years of part-time
teaching the grooming course at a local college, it lost it's full-time instructor
in 1995 due to illness, and I was asked to fill in. Teaching the Animal Care
Assistant course which included nutrition,
anatomy, basic surgical nursing, animal husbandry, behaviour and
communications etc. and of course, training, I knew what the
students wanted and needed. Stressing hands-on for all of the courses,
I called in all of my
connections for monthly field trips. During my
teaching contract, receiving great reviews from my students, the Dean asked me to stay on
full-time. I
continued to teach college in Guelph and Kitchener until we moved to Stratford in
December of 1999.
David is formerly from Kitchener and having
dogs all of his life he has first hand knowledge and a keen interest to
learn more. David assists me in our indoor
classes, assessing dogs and speaking with their handlers while I am
busy teaching class. It's always good to have a second set of
eyes and hands when you are dealing with the students and their
dogs. It makes for a very safe and interesting environment.
While I was teaching out of town, David and I noticed that there
was a definite void in the dog boarding and pet dog training
availability in the Stratford area. We decided that returning to Stratford was
beneficial for the whole family. Finding a property with an
existing kennel building close to Stratford was the only solution,
as we found that most townships had regulations against building new
dog kennels. After finding the right place, our
only downfall was that it hadn't been used in years. So with major
renovations to be done, we started in on the task of rebuilding.
Setting up the kennels, cleaning, painting, taking down walls,
putting up walls, adding proper lighting and training mats got us
started in the spring of 2000. After the first long weekend of
the season, I realized something that was an absolute necessity,
fencing the play area! There is no possible way to run a dog
kennel without proper fences!! We added the east yard
immediately and put up a second yard on the west side in 2001. Security fencing to the road was also on the list that
same
year! Offering
safe, supervised and secure boarding is our primary concern, so
whether your pet wants to be social or more discriminating we have a
kennel space suited to your pet, and your wishes.
The years of 2002
& 2003 were spent on our residence, including a total, back
to the bricks and beams gutting, so new wiring and plumbing could be
added. After ripping down several walls and putting up new
ones we are almost finished!! The living room is now back to
it's original schoolhouse form of 30'x30' wide open, the teachers'
office is back, but the boys & girls bathrooms are now the
master bedroom and ensuite. Eventually, we would like to have
an open house (complete with pictures) so everyone can see the
before and after. We will keep you posted!
In 2004,
we added two new, easy-access staircases leading to the training
area, which was also expanded by adding more matting making the
training room approximately 40'x40'. The reception room has
pictures of many of the dogs we have seen over the past ten years,
attending our head start, puppy, basic, intermediate, Rally-O and advanced
training classes. In 2005, we added more matting to the
training room, new security gates, doors, new waterline and an
easy access roadway through our yard for more parking and two
accesses to the facility. We have also expanded our kennel
capacity by modifying the rear room from four to nine runs to accommodate the big dogs, and multi-dog
families. In 2006, our biggest endevour
yet! We have added a 10,000 square foot 5' high fenced grass
exercise yard for our customers to enjoy with their pets! We
now have a total of seven yards for your pets to enjoy the fresh air
at their leisure during the day.
Lots
of improvements to the kennel in 2007 & 2008, and
the new outdoor pens at the rear of the building have come along
nicely. We added several more outdoor yards at the rear of
the kennel to accommodate all types of temperaments and
abilities. We wanted to make sure that all of our dogs get
outside as much as they want so they can fully enjoy their time
spent here with us! Some of those outdoor pens have been
covered over with chain link so every dog can be outside without
worries! I find that individual exercise pens are invaluable when it
comes to keeping all of our dogs happy and safe. The old dogs really
appreciate this feature!
The year 2009 saw us celebrating our tenth anniversary here! How time
flies! Last year was a busy "outside" year with
our focus being on the house. We still have so much to do and after much
deliberation we have decided to make a few more changes to the
inside of the house in 2010. Just a few little
things, then if all goes
to plan you will see the old kennel come crashing down and a brand
new building, with all of the things I have been wishing for over
the past ten years, go up in its place. It will probably take
two or three years and realistically, the economy may stretch it out
a little longer, but have no doubts that you will see some
huge changes in DaMax Kennels! Changes that will make it more
convenient for us and more comfortable for your pet.
David
and I are current members of the Canadian Kennel Club and I am
a member of the Canadian
Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers, and we realize as with any
other profession, there is always something new to learn.
Attending symposiums and seminars offered each year by several
different associations, we strive to bring current information to
all of our students. The Professional Animal Behaviour
Association (PABA) and the C.A. P.P.D.T. bring in professionals from all over the world for
their OAVT & APDT accredited courses. In 2005,
as well as attending the spring PABA conference, I also attended a
conference given by the PavSki association that
featured Dr. Ian Dunbar for a weekend. One of the most
innovative and informative weekends I have experienced in a long
time, with insights for all trainers! Over the years, I have had the privilege of learning
from Dr. Ian Dunbar, Dr. Stanley Coren, Dr. Roger Mugford, Dr.
Nicolas Dodman, Dr. James Serpell, Dr. Peter Neville, Dr. Andrew
Luescher, Dr. Ilana Reisner, Dr. Alan Beck, Dr. Wayne Hunthausen,
Sue Sternberg, Suzanne Clothier, Dr. Randall Lockwood, Dr. Karen
Overall, Dr. R.K. Anderson, Roger Hild, Dr. John C. Wright, Dr.
Richard Meen, Dr. Kersti Seksel, Dr. Suzanne Hetts, Gwen
Bailey BSc. (Hons), Carolyn Clark M.A. , Dr. Diane Frank, Susan
Garrett, Dr. Kathrine Abro Houpt, Dr. Gary Landsberg, Dr. Deb
Horwitz, Jean Donaldson, and many more...
We
feel that you can never have too much information! New
techniques, behavioural and medical research are assessed and added
to our training manuals each time a new symposium and seminar is
attended. We hope that each new piece of information can add to your
total enjoyment and well-being of your best friend! Call us
anytime to come out for a visit. Everyone is always welcome at DaMax
Kennels.
"2009" Litter
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