Dog day care, trainer opens in old shelter

The school

Hours at the Mountain State K9 Academy are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, call (970) 353-0778, or go to http://www.mountainstatek9academy.com.

For years it was a place for saving animals from shelters.

Today, the former no-kill dog shelter along Colo. 392 can be seen just as much as a way to save dogs as ever before.

The number one reason why dogs end up in animal shelters are behavior issues that could be fixed, said Jake Kemp, who recently bought the property after months of negotiations. This can give people a way to keep their dogs, get some training and enjoy the pet they chose.

This week Kemp will open Mountain State K9 Academy, a doggie day care, boarding and training school. Soon, hell add grooming to the mix in the former Denkai Animal Sanctuary, which partnered with K9 Bed and Biscuit animal shelter from 2007-12 before moving to Eaton and opening a veterinary clinic.

Kemp, a former plumber from Fort Collins, recently returned to Colorado from St. Louis, where he trained and became a dog-training instructor at the Tom Rose School. He and former student Ashley McGaughey will train dogs on site.

He said hes been negotiating to buy the property since last November, after returning to Colorado to be near his daughter, who lives in Fort Collins.

We used to volunteer and come out here and take dogs for walks, and I never thought Id end up owning it, Kemp said of the property.

Kemp has remodeled the property, which includes the shelter and two homes. He remodeled the lobby, updated the furnaces and air conditioners, repainted, and repaired the fence. At present, he is working on eradicating the weeds to bring back the turf.

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Dog day care, trainer opens in old shelter