Kleinjan opens Hi-Line Canine in Chinook and Havre

Hi-Line Canine, a dog training business run by 22-year-old Chinook native Kailey Kleinjan, saw its soft opening at the end of May.

Kleinjan said her new business has seen a successful launch despite the pandemic, which she said, hasn't had a huge impact on things so far.

"What I'm focusing on right now is helping people train their dogs with basic obedience," she said, "I eventually want to do more advanced or specialized things. ... Eventually I would like to help ranchers train herding dogs as well."

Kleinjan said her first priority in the business is to make sure that animals have a good time as they're being taught and she has developed her training methods around that goal.

She said she's already had a chance to work with a lot of puppies between four and 12 months old, but she's also been working with plenty of animals that are more than a year old.

"When you're training a dog you always want to make it fun for the dog," she said, "You want to set them up for success. That's why I focus a lot on positive reinforcement."

She said she does this in part by using treats, toys and other rewards in order to reinforce behavior in the animals she works with.

Kleinjan has spent much of her time running puppy classes made up of groups of dogs that she works with while encouraging them to socialize healthily, including one in Havre this month for puppies age 3-6 months.

Classes meet twice a week for two weeks and she generally does two each month.

"I have a lot of people who want to get their dogs socialized around other dogs and group classes are a great way to do that," she said.

Kleinjan said she hopes to continue these classes through the coming months as long as weather permits.

"I will have more group classes in August ... September, hopefully October if the weather holds up," she said.

Kleinjan said she is hoping to find a suitable building so she can do classes through the winter.

She said she's also developing one-day workshops for leash walking and basic manners training.

She also holds private consultations for first time clients, to get to know the person and the dog and come up with plans.

Kleinjan said she spends her Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Chinook, and her Tuesdays and Thursdays in Havre running classes and providing consultations. She said she's hoping to maybe start going to Malta for a day each week, but for now there's not enough clients there yet.

She said opening her business amid the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't been that much of an issue.

"I started around the beginning of Phase Two so it really hasn't been that bad," she said. "I have done a couple of trainings over Zoom."

Kleinjan said these remote training sessions were due to distance rather than the pandemic, but they proved it was a possibility in case the state moved back into Phase One.

"It's been pretty successful for me for the most part," she said.

Kleinjan said the only other hurdle that the pandemic brought was that she had to complete her schooling online.

"It didn't hurt me at all, I already knew quite a bit about training," she said, "but I would have liked to have finished that out, and finished working with my professors at Carrol (College) who helped me become a better trainer. ... It would have been nice to have more time with them."

Kleinjan went to Chinook High School and has lived in the area all her life before going Carroll College in Helena to study dog training in their Anthrozoology program, though she moved back to her parents' ranch between Chinook and Havre in April because of the pandemic.

Kleinjan said she does most of her business through Facebook which affords her business an unique way to interact with potential clients and was partially responsible for the initial wave of customers she's received since starting her business.

"I'm able to post training videos, I'm able to post posters, share articles things like that," she said. "I kinda just shared my Facebook page, and it kinda just blew up. I did not expect so many people to share it, to comment, I had Chinook Animal Shelter P.A.W.S. share it, Havre Animal Shelter, Friends of Havre Animal Shelter, all those Facebook pages shared it... from then on people have been contacting me."

She said the platform allows her to display some of the skills she's teaching her animal and give people an idea of the kind of work she does.

"I've trained my dog for a lot more than just basic obedience, I've helped train dogs for search and rescue work, I've trained my own dog for narcotics detection, and I like to share that on my Facebook page so people know that there is so much more you can do with your dog than basic sit down, stay. ... Like I can teach a person to train their dog to find an essential oil."

Kleinjan also volunteers and trains dogs at P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter in Chinook.