Rigby business provides obedience training and boarding for dogs

Chris Norman owns Idaho Elite K9 Training and Boarding Suites in Rigby with his wife, Rachel. He and his team work with dogs on a daily basis. See what it’s like in the video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

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Rigby couple own training and boarding business for dogs

Chris and Rachel Norman are the owners of Idaho Elite K9 Training and Boarding Suites. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

RIGBY – Training K9 dogs for the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office is what Christopher Norman enjoyed most about working in law enforcement.

He recently stepped down after 17 years to focus on his dog training and boarding business full time. Idaho Elite K9 Training and Boarding Suites opened in a new 11,000-square-foot building at 3848 Indian Creek Loop, Suite A in Rigby.

It offers basic obedience training for any dog, or more advanced training for hunting or competition. It also provides a boarding component, which gives dogs a place to stay while their owners are gone.

Norman runs the business with his wife, Rachel. The business began as a side venture about five years ago, and he’s thrilled with the larger space and new boarding capacity.

“We have 56 boarding kennels and two big bays to train in,” Chris tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We’re set up to house more than 100 dogs if we get that busy.”

For the Normans, boarding is more than just giving the dogs a place to sleep. It’s about providing enrichment activities for them, depending on the dog’s individual interests.

“If they like treats, then we can put a snuffle mat or lick mat out. If they like to chase things, we’ve got flavored bubbles. We want them to have a good experience and not just be stuck in a kennel,” he says.

Over the years, Chris has noticed that many people have no control over their dogs. His experience training K9s prompted him to launch the dog-training business, and it quickly took off.

The boarding aspect was highly sought after in the beginning, but the Normans didn’t have the capability to offer it at the time.

“We got calls all the time,” says Chris. “We had a few boarding kennels, but those were more for our boarding trainings — people that dropped their dog off for us to train. We decided when we moved to this (new building) that we would add boarding on to that, and now we can provide all of it.”

Law enforcement working with K9s often receive training in Alabama or other parts of the country, and Chris’ goal is to eventually provide that training locally at his facility. He’d like to host competitions as well.

“Being able to provide a high level of training and boarding (is always a priority),” Rachel says. “One of our other goals is to increase our boarding numbers because that’s now a core piece of the business.”

When it comes to training dogs, Chris says there is no “magic pill.” It just requires patience and consistency. The Normans’ 9-year-old daughter, Savannah, owns a Belgian Malinois. Watch her work in the video above.

For prices and additional information, visit the website or Facebook page. You can also call Idaho Elite K9 directly at (208) 569-1627.