Shortly after Scott Jetter acquired his first puppy in 1999, he decided it would be a good idea to enroll in a puppy class. After Scott and his puppy, Zach, attended their first class, Scott wanted to learn more about training; he felt he couldn’t learn fast enough. Scott and Zach enrolled in as many classes as possible and Scott soon found himself instructing basic training classes.
As Zach developed, he went through a fear stage which is very normal for a healthy maturing puppy to experience. During the fear stage, Zach exhibited his fear by barking at people. Scott sought help to stop this unwanted behavior. At the time, many training methods suggested using adversives to stop barking. While attempting to extinguish the barking, Scott inadvertenly created an even bigger problem. After months of using harsh training methods, the barking still existed and Zach was now clearly fearful of people. Scott realized there had to be another way; the relationship between them was strained. After further research he discovered world-renowned behaviorists. He learned about the science of dog training and behavior modification. After reading many books and attending seminars around the country, Scott not only wanted to help Zach, he wanted to prevent others from experiencing similar trials and tribulations that he and Zach had endured. A dream was born.
Soon after Scott started using a reward-based training method, he began instructing classes at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa and teaching agility in his backyard. From that beginning, he wanted to reach more people and decided to open his own facility. In addition to offering training, Scott also opened a dog daycare. He began with only 900 square feet in the back of a pet store and quickly outgrew the space. He moved to a 4000 square foot space to expand the daycare and offer boarding as well as the obedience and agility classes he was already teaching.
Scott has continued his education by traveling to attend clicker conferences, seminars by well respected behaviorists, and workshops by world team agility instructors. He not only wants to help people whose dogs have challenging behaviors but also wants to create an educational facility for others to learn from the world-renowned professionals he has been priveledged to hear speak. In 2008, this dream became a reality when Scott expanded yet again and added the Agility and Events Center. This added 8000 square feet of space to conduct indoor agility classes year round as well as space to host seminars. This has allowed Scott to invite many of the professionals who changed his life to Canine Craze to touch the lives of both his clients and people throughout the midwest.
Canine Craze began with a puppy that fell into the lap of a man who had little dog training experience and has grown to a full service canine education center offering a plethora of solutions for people and their four-legged friends.
