ABOUT US
Our lives have always intersected with dogs. Bennett grew up with a variety of different breeds with a mother who helped evaluate service dog prospects. Brooke, on the other hand, grew up with a mother who did not like dogs. But Brooke's passion for dogs was unquenchable, and she spent much of her free time researching different breeds and collecting a tremendous amount of dog stuffed animals. From a young age Brooke vowed to "live on a farm with as many dogs as [she] wanted." After much hard work and planning, that dream finally came to pass. Located just outside Charlotte, North Carolina on nearly 13 acres, we are overjoyed to share our space with 3 kids, 3 resident dogs, a never-ending influx of puppies, rescues, and trainees, and 1 very brave cat. Thankfully, Brooke's mother has now been convinced about the marvelousness of dogs and enjoys helping out with her granddogs.
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Brooke is a certified dog trainer (CDT-C) and first developed the idea for Red Paw Farm when working as a children's therapist. Brooke trained her own certified therapy dog (Piper) and together they worked in private therapy for several years. Piper's presence made such a difference in the therapeutic process when working with children that Brooke wanted to give the gift of a therapy dog to more owners! A few years later, Red Paw Farm was born!
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Our dogs live with us as family pets first and foremost. They sleep in our beds and go with us on many adventures. They are incorporated into our daily lives and any dog or puppy that comes to us for training is treated the same.
Bennett with his childhood dog, Aggie
Brooke with her infamous childhood cat who was the closest thing she had to a dog and was trained to fetch, jump through a hoop, and play ping-pong.
Brooke volunteering at the humane society in college
Our 8-year-old with Mittens, the cat, and two of our dogs
Our 6-year-old with two of our parent dogs- Rocco & Chance
Our 4-year-old and 8-year-old with baby bunnies and our mama dog, Echo
The Dog Who Started It All
Piper is really to thank for the foundation of Red Paw Farm. Brooke adopted Piper from a rescue in 2012 and she 100% lived up to Brooke's lofty childhood expectation of how amazing owning a dog would be. Piper represents so much of what we strive for at Red Paw Farm-- she showed us what was possible not only when it comes to training (Piper was trained in advanced obedience and a certified therapy dog through TDI) but also the power dogs have to regulate human emotions. Piper had a natural intuition for emotional support work and helped many people in a structured therapy environment as well as being a steady, peaceful presence in the Harris family for over 12 years. If she heard someone crying, she would get up from wherever she was and go lay next to the needy human. Piper was a huge asset to our training team, too and her calm presence helped many new dogs to relax here. We miss her every day, but we are proud that her legacy lives on through our work at Red Paw Farm. Our goal is give the gift of a dog like Piper to every family that comes our way-- there is simply nothing like a well-trained, well-tempered dog who fits like a puzzle piece into your family.
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Our Team
As much as we love what we do, we quickly realized we can't do it all on our own! Meet the rest of our team. We simply couldn't do what we do without them!
Joanna & Nellie (one of our rescue-trainees)
Meet Joanna (CDT-C)~ Joanna has been passionate about dogs and dog training for as long as she can remember. She works with our adult rescue-trainees and is the Queen of socialization outings! Joanna's pet dog is a 100-pound hound mix who is eager to help his new foster-friends feel comfortable! Besides dogs, Joanna's hobbies include sewing and arts & crafts!
"Peanut Butter" (hound mix) helping one of rescue-trainees (Lola) feel safe and at home!
Meet Heather~ Heather got her start by working a petsitting job for several years. There is nothing like petsitting to help you realize the importance of good training! Heather lives with her three children (ages 3, 5, and 7), 2 cats, and flock of chickens! Besides dogs, Heather is passionate about gardening and the outdoors!
Heather & Nash (one of our training puppies)