RAISE YOUR PAWS

ABOUT US

Raise Your Paws was started by Melanie Smith.  Melanie grew up in California and started training at an early age when her family got an Australian Cattle Dog, Sam.  Sam introduced Melanie and her family to dog training and what it could do for a family.  After graduating high school in 2002, Melanie and her sister started training dogs professionally.  In 2013 Melanie moved to Kansas and started Raise Your Paws Dog Training out of the veterinary clinic that she worked at.  Melanie does obedience training, as well as some behavior modification for aggression and anxiety.  In 2016 Melanie became a certified dog trainer and moved to Emporia after marrying her husband.  In 2017 Melanie also became Fear Free Certified and has seen firsthand the benefits of it.  After the birth of their 2nd son in 2019 and with COVID 19, Melanie took a year off.  During that time, Melanie and her husband Jarom kept hearing people talk about needing a place to board their dogs and for doggy daycare and thought with her training background this was something they could offer to the community.  After purchasing 312 and 314 Commercial street in May of 2021, renovations on the buildings started in late July and early August.  Jarom and his painting company Justice Painting have worked seven days a week to renovate the buildings while working on painting jobs for his business.  Finally open in November 2021, Melanie, Jarom, and the staff at Raise Your Paws are excited to be a part of the community and offer these services.

At Raise Your Paws, we offer daycare, boarding, training, baths and nails, and eventually full grooming.  The staff went through a week of training on body language and managing play groups before opening.  On going training is part of employment.

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Pawpartner is the software that we use and you can create your own account for reservations at pawpartner.com, download the app or click on the link button at the top of the page.