Board, train, fun: Strasburg K9 trainer turns pooches, people into peaceful companions

If you need your dog to sniff out a potential insect infestation, find drugs possibly hidden in a teen’s room, learn to track humans, or to just behave when told, there’s a local businesswoman who’s an expert on canine training who also offers round-the-clock drop-off boarding.

And don’t worry about the cost. Audrey Estep, 39, owner of North Mountain Kennels in Strasburg, Virginia, will work out a budget-friendly deal for Warren County residents, law enforcement and businesses.

“I have something for everyone,” Estep told the Royal Examiner on Monday during an on-site interview at her property, where she boards and trains any breed, whether for work with the sheriff’s office or police department, or just to improve the behavior of your pet companion.

Audrey Estep, owner, North Mountain Kennels, and her pet companion, Athena, a Belgian Malinois. Photo by Kim Riley.

“Everyone deserves to live a peaceful life with their pets,” she said. “Dogs deserve it, too.”

Estep, a Strasburg-native, moved back to the Shenandoah Valley eight years ago to pursue what she says is her passion, which began in 2005 after importing her first working dog from Europe. She established North Mountain Kennels in 2010.

With a nearly completed master’s degree at London Hanover University in canine developmental science close at hand, Estep recently had an article published in the renowned June/July K-9 Cop Magazine on “Strategies for Hard Surface Tracking.”

The hard-driving trainer also is certified by the American Society of Canine Trainers International in training canines for law enforcement work, among other fields.

“My focus on the law enforcement side of things is to provide any law enforcement agency with a quality canine and quality training at a reasonable cost,” Estep explained about the training she provides in scent detection work, which encompasses narcotics, explosives, and tracking humans with criminal apprehension.

Search and Rescue training also is part of her forte and often entails dog work to assist law enforcement, whether it’s drugs, a bomb or bed bug detection, she said.

“If you’ve got a dog with enough drive, then that dog can be trained to find anything, provided it’s a fun and rewarding learning process,” Estep said. “That’s our No. 1 rule in dog training: it must be fun for the dog and then you can pretty much imprint them on anything.”

When a dog imprints on an odor, she explained, referring to the industry phrase, it just means that whatever the odor might be, a dog has been taught to find it.

Estep is training Niko as a dual purpose K9. Here and below, the 14-month-old Dutch Shepherd demonstrates scent obedience, which he’ll use for his upcoming position at a Colorado police force. Photo by Kim Riley.

Imprinting is a learning process that starts at birth and dogs learn about being a dog from their mother and littermates, primarily. From roughly 7-12 weeks of age, experts say dogs then are capable of imprinting on humans — they learn how to interact with people and to obey newly set boundaries. They also at this stage might learn how to track and find a missing person, for example, or how to sniff out a bomb.

Take Niko, for instance, a 14-month-old Dutch Shepherd that Estep is currently training to work as a dual purpose K9 this year, meaning he’ll have two jobs when he gets to his future place of employment.

With seemingly zero cues from Estep, the very social Niko would seek out the presence of narcotics along the outside of a vehicle. Niko’s intensity on the ‘task at paw’ is obvious and he doesn’t stray from his duty as he presses his nose against the car from back to front as Estep walks alongside him.

Estep is also training 5-month-old German Shepherd named Big Papi, who is also slated to work as a dual purpose K9 in the coming year in narcotics detection and tracking.

As a Certified Master canine trainer with the American Society of Canine Trainers International, Estep already has trained and sold dual purpose K9s to other police offices in South Carolina and out West.

“While I don’t publicize this service, I will go to people’s homes or place of business and discreetly search for narcotics wherever the client asks me to search,” Estep said. “The police are not involved. It is solely a detect-and-notify service to let the client know about the presence of a narcotic.”

Freya the happy boarder enjoys her time at North Mountain Kennels. Photo by Kim Riley.

And don’t worry if your dog is older. Estep said that anytime is the right time to engage in fun, interactive games with your dog. “It’s never too late to train any pet,” she said, “and I believe in working as much with you as with your pet.”

Additionally, Estep provides boarding services at her home and drop-off times are offered 24/7. Dogs stay on site in separate kennels built and maintained on her private property, which includes a huge outdoor, grassy area that’s fenced in for running, pooping, training or playing.

“There’s no set time for boarding,” she said. “If you need to drop off your dog at 3 a.m., then I’m here to accommodate you 24 hours a day.”

North Mountain Kennels charges $32 a day/night for boarding, which is offered overnight, as well as for short-term and long-term durations.

Big Papi, a 5-month-old German Shepherd, attentively awaits commands from Estep at North Mountain Kennels in Strasburg. Photo by Kim Riley.

Training fees are $60 per hour or $275 for five lessons. A board-and-train package, which may last for a few weeks, costs about $1875 depending on what a dog must learn. And Estep is willing to travel to a client’s location to provide services, or to meet at a neutral location. Travel-time fees may apply in such instances.

“But I can work within people’s budget,” said Estep, whose services include:

• Personal Protection Dogs
• Basic Obedience: Sit, stay, come, heel, walk without pulling
• Puppy Head Start Classes
• Odor Imprintation classes: Narcotics, explosives, bed bug, or your choice of odors, and
• Tracking classes.

For anyone who wants to venture outside of the basic obedience routine with a dog, Estep offers an $85-per-session Scent Detection 101 course that she said is ideal for such a purpose. Scent work, she said, offers your pet both mental and physical exercises, while providing you with a wealth of knowledge about how to interpret your dog’s behavior, as well as the science behind it.

Estep provides boarding & a variety of training services at North Mountain Kennels. Photo by Kim Riley.

“Dogs have different needs than humans do,” Estep said. “They have to be treated differently. We have to be able to know what their needs are and address them in a manner that suits the dog.”

All she asks of her clients is that they be open and willing to receiving her advice.

“They will also have me for the life of their dog,” she added. “I won’t turn my back on anyone just because the package they bought is up. I care about everyone’s dog.”

Contact Audrey Estep a 703-869-2684 and audrey@northmountainkennels.com