Alden A. Domrase, the president of Alden’s Kennels Inc. in Ringwood, McHenry County, IL, has been in the pet industry since 1985. Nearly 35 years of professional dog training and boarding experience makes him one of the most experienced dog trainers in the state. He has bred, handled, and owned more than 40 AKC Champion Pomeranians and trained and titled dogs in AKC Obedience, Rally, Trick Dog Canine Good Citizen, Therapy International, and Temperment Testing.
Before he took on professional pet training and care, Alden began with on-the-job training in animal husbandry and care of a wide variety of animals while growing up on a 160-acre farm in Alpena, MI. He also developed mechanical skills as a diesel mechanic with Ford Motor Company and Plote Construction in the 1970s and 1980s that still serve him well, as running a dog training and boarding compound like ours involves much more than just working with animals.
Alden spent time in the service with the Army 173 Airborne during the Vietnam war. He first met Janet during his time in the army as a pen pal. In Janet's words, "We were pen pals when he was in Vietnam, only knew each other six weeks. Here we are 49 years later. He was a farm boy, I was from the city and couldn’t have any animals, so he gave me every animal I could ever ask for. We were always workaholics, so we conquered everything for each other, for family."
Alden and Janet became world-class owner/breeders of champion Pomeranians, finishing 45 unique parti-colored dogs while establishing Aldens Kennels as one of the top competitors and promoters of the breed. "Nobody else in the world had that many pedigreed exotic-colored Pomeranians. We developed our own line."
They chose to retire from champion breeding in 2009 when they saw the growing trend in rescue dogs. "We wanted to help with the training side, so dogs wouldn’t have to go from home to home to home."
At first glance, with all the services we offer, you might think Alden's Kennels, Inc is a big boarder with room for lots of animals. In fact, we are the smallest in the county! We only have room for 32 dogs in our kennel, because they each get their own run. Our 12-acre campus would be considered medium-sized, but we have room for:
We also offer field trips - if we don’t have a service, we can take the dogs to get it.
Typical boarding plans include individual playtime for dogs that don’t get along with others, for instance if they are unaltered. We arrange group play visits with Camp Bow Wow, our largest competitor in the area, so the dogs can socialize together. With their comfortable arrangements and fun activities, the dogs feel like they’re on vacation too.
We are proud of our combination of training facilities, short- and long-term boarding, and community events. Programs include Board and Train for troubled, aggressive, and fearful dogs. Our classes include Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Group Obedience classes; Schutzhund; tracking; agility; hunting; behavior modification; puppy imprinting; rally; protection; therapy dog; CGC and TDI training and testing; and police dog training.
We also partner with holistic veterinarian Dr. Jim Carlson, and Nature’s Feed, a provider of natural and healthy pet and horse foods, to facilitate holistic vet exams and prescription diets.
When that isn't enough to keep us busy, we're also involved with 12 chambers of commerce, the Better Business Bureau, 2 visitors bureaus, and the rotary club.
And if all that wasn't enough, it's not unusual to see Alden mowing the lawns too!