History of Denali Dog Obedience School

Sue Auger is the Owner and Director of Training for Denali Dog Obedience School.  In 1973, Sue had the incredible opportunity to work with Joachim (Jack) and Wendy Volhard. Jack and Wendy had just moved from the Washington DC area to the Syracuse, NY region. Jack was a Federal Judge by occupation and an AKC Obedience Judge by choice. Wendy had an incredible knowledge base for the feeding and care of dogs. This included feeding the Raw Diet as well as alternative therapies of homeopathy, herbs, therapeutic massage, and acupuncture.

Prior to opening Denali Dog Obedience School in 1975, Sue travelled weekly for two and a half years to study with Jack about teaching obedience classes and with Wendy in the feeding and care of dogs. Denali was the first obedience school to offer the positive motivational method of dog training taught in the Rochester area. This is called the Volhard Motivational Method which was eventually translated into 17 languages worldwide. This method uses a building block approach to help you teach your dog a step by step method that works.

Due to COVID-19, Sue had to stop teaching classes at the Rush and Walworth Training Centers. However, Sue continues to teach private lessons at her home in Victor. She is teaching owners and their dogs of all ages Obedience for the Home, Therapy Dog training, Trick Dog training (there’s an AKC Title for that!), Tracking, and training for AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy and ACK Canine Good Citizen Titles. Visit AKC.org to learn more about all of the titles available. Sue’s holistic approach covers training, feeding, exercise, and creating a home environment that maximizes your dog’s relationship with you and your family.  Sue is happy to share her knowledge base with all her students.