Resolute Dog Training – A Mission To Serve Those Who Serve

Resolute Dog Training was launched when Sadie Sanderson, of Flournoy, took her heart for people and combined it with her natural abilities with dogs. Sadie’s years of volunteering with veterans, both locally and in Colorado, led to her opening a dog training business in Flournoy in 2018. When not working with private dog owners, Sadie devotes about half of her business to training dogs for veterans and first responders dealing with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Her primary mission remains to “serve those who serve us.”

When she lived in Colorado, volunteer work was a natural part of homeschooling her three boys. Sadie and the boys trained therapy dogs to take along on their visits to senior living facilities for veterans. Her middle son, Tyrell, was eight when they started this endeavor, and his companion for the visits was a 130 pound Great Pyrenees. Watching the joy and calm experienced by the seniors during their visits was all the motivation the Sanderson family needed to continue with their work. Tyrell, now 19, is actively involved in their side business of raising golden retrievers, many for service or therapy work. Son Bryce, 16, helps with the numbers and supplies for the business; while Wyatt, 21, runs a landscaping business in Colorado.

Serving wounded warriors and first responders

In Colorado, Sadie also spent a few years volunteering with the Roever Foundation and serving wounded warriors by cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring and lending a listening ear. Perhaps the local Veterans of Foreign Wars heard of her volunteer work. When she returned to California and her native Tehama County, the Anderson VFW contacted her about training service dogs for veterans. Sadie volunteered for a year and also started programs in Chico and Corning.

This volunteer work, along with teaching dog obedience with 4H and raising and certifying service dogs, culminated in her decision to start Resolute Dog Training, expanding the services to include first responders. She now gives a 50% discount to train service dogs for both veterans and first responders. The goal of these service dogs is to provide boundaries for their owners and to help keep the owners grounded. The dogs will wake their owner from a bad dream, alert their owner when someone approaches them from behind and also calm them with a gentle “bump” on the leg when the dog senses that their owner is under stress.

Private dog owners learn gentle methods

The other half of Resolute Dog Training is Sadie’s work with private dog owners, where she finds great fulfillment “teaching people to speak dog.” Most of the work of dog training is actually working with people and Sadie is a natural with both. Sadie meets with the dog owners for an hour each week and always leaves them with plenty of homework before their next meeting.

She makes home visits and also accompanies a client who is considering an adoption, always doing a temperament evaluation before taking on a client. These one-on-one meetings with the dogs and their owners have created strong bonds between Sadie and her clients. As they walk side by side, teaching and learning the gentle methods of dog training, life coaching is the natural byproduct. Learning how to respond in the right timing for a dog often puts people more in touch with their own personal rhythms, bringing lifelong payoffs for the animal and their owner.

A highlight for Sadie each week is her Wednesday night group dog training session in Corning. This is a wonderful opportunity for like minded people to get together and enjoy the challenge of dog training. It has been especially rewarding for Sadie to see friendships develop between fellow veterans and first responders. Another unique aspect of her business is working with young dog trainers, the youngest of whom has been eight years old. Sadie asks parents to sign a liability waiver and stay on the premises during the lesson. Kids especially love when Sadie helps them to teach their dogs tricks.

The mention of tricks brings a twinkle to Sadie’s hazel eyes – a sure sign she’s thinking of her grandfather, the late Charles Weston of Flournoy. Sadie grew up watching how Charles could approach even the wildest of animals and find a way to communicate with them. In his time he trained horses, dogs, sheep, owls, Russian pigs and even a bear cub. Sadie fondly recalls the dog that would ride on the back of a longhorn steer. It was a sad time recently when the family had to say goodbye to Fred, a very friendly emu who roamed the Weston ranch for almost 35 years.

Connecting with Sadie and Resolute Dog Training is an opportunity to benefit from her relaxed, instinctual and yet focused way with animals. Training with your dog can reward you with a dog that is devotedly in your service for many years; and, as you can learn from Sadie’s life, service is always a beautiful thing.

To learn more about Resolute Dog Training email Sadie at resolute76@outlook.com or find her on FB or Instagram @resolutedogtraining