218-346-7487
218-346-4104
Meet our Dog Trainers
Ashley Hofius is a Perham native and graduate. She received her Associates in Science degree from Central Lakes College in Brainerd MN, and went on to graduate from the University of MN Twin Cities with a Bachelor's degree in Evolution, Ecology and Animal behavior. With an intense interest in the animal behavior aspect she began working with dogs at Metro Dogs Daycare and Boarding in Minneapolis MN in 2012. By 2013 she was the Director of Operations for the company. In 2014 she was inspired by her dog training mentor to apply to the Jean Donaldson Academy for Dog Trainers. Upon being accepted into this intense two-year program she thrived in the atmosphere of fear-free dog training and graduated with her CTC (Certification in Training and Counseling) in August of 2016. Ashley went on to start her own business, PAW Dog Training where she did private dog training and boarding until October of 2019 when she moved back to Perham to start her family. In November of 2023 she joined the Backyard team as an employee and trainer. In January of 2024 she became manager of the Backyard Playcare and Boarding as well as continuing dog training classes. Ashley resides in Perham with her two young children and four dogs of her own.
Orientation - FREE / Required.
Class Length: One, 30 minute class.
Orientation - Orientation is designed to allow you to come into our facility and see where you will be training. There will be a short presentation from our instructor as to how classes are set up, what to bring to class, what is allowed in class, the rules about bringing your dogs into the classroom, etc. The orientation is required to be attended by the human(s) that will be coming to class with their dogs. No dogs are allowed in orientation.
Pre-requisites: None. Required for admission into your first class. All subsequent classes you register for do not require an additional orientation.
What to bring to class: The human that is going to be attending class with their dog. Do not bring your dog. If you do bring your dog, you will be asked to leave it in the car.
*Your spot is NOT secured until we have the following*
1) Backyard Training Contract
2) Backyard Training Dog Registration Forms
3) Up to Date Vaccines on hand
4) Payment in full.
Email -
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All Training classes require the owner(s) to take all of the information they acquired through our classes, and work with their dogs at home. This will help make you get the most out of your training and ensure your dog has the best chances to succeed.
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All Training classes are non-refundable and non-transferable.
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Payment is due in full at the time of booking.
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Must fill out Training form and contract before any classes are attended.
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Instructors will hand out homework and reminder emails for every weekly class.
Paperwork that will need to be filled out prior to training!
This is a must!
Fall Training Classes
Rally Obedience Power Session
This is the perfect class for dogs that need to polish their leash skills or want to continue their leash manners with minimal distractions. You and your dog go through a circuit of signs and perform each task shown. You are judged on accuracy and speed. This can also be fun and competitive if you choose that route. This is an AKC competitive sport and we can test you out for Rally Titles if you are interested at the end.
Scent Work Power Session
Scent work is a dog sport that mimics detective dog work. We teach each dog to search for the AKC target odors (Birch, Anise, Cyprus, and Clove). We then teach the dogs to systematically search for these scents and then alert their handler upon discovery. We will search across the 4 AKC Elements; Indoor, Outdoor, containers, and buried. We have several sessions from Into to Novice and Advanced. We can also prepare you for competition if you choose to compete in the future.
Intro to Therapy Dog (6 week session)
We will explore assisted living and nursing home situations. We will train you to notice any signs of discomfort or anxiety in your dog. We will also explore all the different sights, sounds, smells, and equipment that your dog may encounter during these visits to ensure their comfort and success in these facilities. Your dog will be allowed to meet some pet friendly residents that would love a visit from your furry friend.
General Life Skills (6 week session)
This class teaches the fundamentals of Obedience including Sit, Lay Down, Stay, Walking on leash, Coming when called, Leave-it, Targeting and impulse control. We have small class sizes and work with each dog and handler individually at the step they are on for each behaviour. The class environment offers some distractions and socialization along with training. We have several indoor and outdoor spaces that we use for classes. This class provides a sturdy base for desired behaviours and is appropriate for dogs of all ages.
Puppy Pre-School (6 week session)
This class is intended for very young puppies ages 8wks-17wks (Only initial Distemper booster and Bordetella required). Classes will consist of play time, training, and socialization to sounds, sites, smells, textures, what to do about thunder, lightning, fireworks, the vacuum, along with how to handle puppy biting and jumping. We will begin initial training of sit, down, leave-it, stay, hand-targeting, impulse control, recall and loose-leash walking.
Spicy Saturday Power Session
This class is for dogs that need to work on their manners during greetings, learn to settle in new situations, work on appropriate leash skills, and those that may be loud, rude or distracted on leash. This class is limited to 4 dogs and they will be spaced out in separate areas to begin with. It is also for humans who are learning how to handle their dogs and wrangle the leash in sticky situations.
CGC/Tricks Power Session
This class is for Canine Good Citizen prep. We will practice the 10 skills that will be evaluated in the CGC test and help each dog individually in any areas they are struggling in. On the last day we will provide both CGC testing and Novice Trick Dog Evaluation to any dogs interested. The cost of testing for both CGC and Novice Trick Dog is included in the price of the class. We promote teaching tricks as it gives your dog many choices to perform behaviours that we like and can ask for if they are doing something we don’t. It is also a great way to build your dog’s confidence. Once you test for CGC you only need 5 tricks to get a Novice Trick Dog Title so why not?!
Advanced Life Skills
In this class we will work on the same skills we do in General Life Skills but we will begin proofing these behaviors with distance, distraction, and duration. Most of these classes will be held off-site to simulate more of a real life scenario.
Power Sessions: 4 week classes. These classes are very small and packed full of information and individual help.
The classes we offer rotate seasonally so please let us know if there is something you're interested in!