A group of dog whisperers prove no dog is too old to learn new tricks

A WALK IN THE PARK

Rich and Jaclyn Hartman opened their dog training facility, Ridgeside K9 NorCal, in June of 2021, but their story began long before.

Rich was born and raised in Chico and went on to join the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990, where he was deployed to Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Upon his return to the States, he went on to join the Chico Police Department, where he has served the community for over 20 years. Asked when he knew he wanted to continue his involvement in dog training, he responded, “My first week as a police officer in 1997, they had me put on the big puffy bite suit and run from the dogs.” Brett Smith, who was a K9 handler with the Chico PD called Rich’s training officer over and said, “Why don’t you see if the kid wants to put on the suit?” From then on, he was hooked. The connection has come full circle as Brett is now a trainer at Ridgeside K9 NorCal and willingly admits it’s his fault Rich became caught up in “this whole dog thing.” He put on the bite suit and served as a decoy for over ten years.

During that time, he was in the mounted unit and began training horses for duty. In 2005, a position came open for the K9 unit, Rich applied, and ended up having both a horse and a dog at the same time. He worked three patrol dogs for the Chico PD, all while fielding training questions. As a canine handler, a lot of people asked for personal help with their dogs, and Rich was always ready and willing to share his knowledge with friends and colleagues. He and his wife, Jaclyn, met through their mutual connection of coworkers and community service, as she was a 911 dispatcher while he served as a police officer. They continue to serve the law enforcement community through the raising and training of police K9s.

Rich hosts a podcast called Police K9 Radio, in which he interviews premier trainers and experts in the field, in order to share their experiences and insights. It’s through this podcast that he became acquainted with Aaron Taylor, a fellow Marine and K9 handler. Aaron Taylor’s Ridgeside K9, LLC’s mission statement is “to provide entrepreneurial opportunities for military and police.” So, the Hartmans reached out to him when the chance to purchase their current building arose. While Ridgeside K9 is technically a franchise in which each is individually owned and operated, Jaclyn says it functions more as a team, “where we support each other and share our ideas— everything from what forms to use to what would you do with this dog and this set of behaviors? The owners talk all the time to share thoughts and training strategies.” Being veteran owned, they have a special dedication to the military and police, and many of their trainers have prior military or police service. They have ample experience with high-level, high-drive dogs such as German shepherds and malinois. Trainers located in Chico, Redding, and Sacramento have been K9 handlers in various police departments throughout Northern California. Rich and his employees have been working with dogs for decades, and he says, “We have a passion for dogs. It’s not just a business. It’s what we would be doing even if we weren’t a dog business. We would still be with dogs.” Not just shepherds and malinois, they work with all types of dogs from chihuahuas to poodles and mastiffs— even their own schnauzer, Olive, spends her days at the facility.

Their philosophy is balanced dog training with a positive-first ideology, involving the use of reward-based techniques along with aversive consequences. Rich believes in rewarding heavily with food, affection, or play in conjunction with the idea that all dogs need a stop sign in life. Rich says, “A lot of people think that balance training is mean and aggressive, but it’s not. We use a lot of rewards, but if a dog is in a situation where they are going to be dangerous to themselves, another dog, or a human, it’s our responsibility to teach the dog about control.”

They offer a variety of training services from private lessons and weekly group obedience classes, all the way to immersive board and train programs. Private lessons are one-on-one sessions that take place at the client’s home or a nearby park. The group obedience classes meet once-aweek, for an hour at a time, over a period of six weeks. The dogs learn loose-leash walking, sitting, recall, and basic manners. Day training is a Monday-through-Friday program which lasts for two weeks. Owners drop off their dog in the morning, and trainers work on manners and other behaviors throughout the day. The owners pick up the dog in the late afternoon and are given various homework assignments for them to work on with their dog. Training isn’t just a dog thing, it’s also a human thing, and owners need to learn and understand how to elicit trained behaviors from their dog on their own. The board and train program lasts three weeks or possibly longer if it’s an aggression case. It’s an immersive program where the trainers work with the dogs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for behavior modification, basic obedience, and environmental work. They take the dogs for bike rides, walks in the downtown area, and visits to dog-friendly stores and restaurants.

One popular class Rich and Jaclyn offer is their Saturday drop-in class where graduates of any of the training programs can visit unannounced to work on basic obedience maintenance. Every Saturday, they’ll meet at different locations around Chico: the university campus, Bidwell Park, or even Secret Trail Brewery. It’s an opportunity to continue working on commands in the presence of other dogs who’ve also graduated from Ridgeside while being able to touch base with Rich and ask questions or discuss any problems they’re having.

Jaclyn says, “We want to be able to live life with our dogs. It’s important to all of us to be able to train a dog to go with you, and that you have a well-behaved dog wherever you go.” Rich emphasizes the idea that discipline equals freedom. “We give the dogs a level of control that allows them to go on camping trips and bike rides; to visit cafes and breweries.” The unique dog-friendly world of Northern California means you're just a raincoat away from taking your dog on a walk to the park or brewery any day of the year. Ridgeside K9 NorCal can help you do that.

Visit them at www.ridgesidek9norcal.com or call 530-519-3155 for more information.