Amy Leyva with family and one of their dogs. At past Halloween events. Leyva is the owner of Leyva’s Dog Training, which hosts a lottery to train dogs at the Los Alamos County Animal Shelter.Photo provided
Amy Leyva with family and one of their dogs. At past Halloween events. Leyva is the owner of Leyva’s Dog Training, which hosts a lottery to train dogs at the Los Alamos County Animal Shelter.Photo providedKirsten Lasky
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Amy Leyva, a Los Alamos resident who runs Leyva Dog Training, has been serving animal shelters in Los Alamos County since April. Now she’s trying to do more for the shelter.
Leyva draws the second week of September. A participant can donate $20 to sponsor a rescue dog. For every $20 donated, that dog’s name will be entered into a drawing. Participants can also donate her $200 to enter their dog’s name in a raffle and win her one-month board and training her package from Leyva. The package is worth $1,800. Any donation over $1,800 will be donated to the shelter.
Interested participants can enter with cash, check, Venmo, Zelle or Cashapp.
For more information, check out Leyva’s. Facebook page Or call us at 505.670.8008.
Leyva serves the shelter three hours a week. She said she teaches dogs leash manners and basic manners. She offers one-on-one sessions for shelter dogs. Currently, she works with her second-longest resident Lucky at the shelter, and previously Leyva worked with her adopted son, Sadie.
Leiva explained that some dogs require more rehabilitation than others and that she serves the shelter because shelter staff cannot provide it. By working on behavioral issues with these dogs, Leiva hopes to make them more adoptable.
Shelter manager Paul Senna said that Leyva is an irreplaceable presence in the shelter.
“She’s a huge asset to the shelter…she can come to the shelter and work with dogs with behavioral problems,” he said.
“She’s doing a great job,” Senna added. “We are really happy to have her girlfriend.”
Leyva is new to Los Alamos. She, her husband Zequeir, and her young son moved to town in her February. But she had a dog training business in Carlsbad that she ran for three years.
Leyva offers private lessons that provide reactive dog socialization, as well as intermediate and obedience group classes.
She explained that it was not only Zekeil’s idea to work with Shelter, but Zekeil’s suggestion to establish a business.
When they met, Leiva was in Albuquerque and her husband was in Carlsbad, so when they moved to Carlsbad, Leiva said she didn’t know what she was going to do.
“He said, ‘You’re good with dogs. You should be a dog trainer,'” Leiva said.
Previously, Leiva worked with service dog trainer Nathaniel Lucas to train his own dog, and he was able to offer her a lot of advice and resources.
“I learned quite a bit from it,” she said.
Moreover, Leiva says he learned a lot through trial and error.
It’s a job she said she enjoys.
“Of course I love dogs,” said Leyva. “…Take dogs that are lunging on a leash or barking at other dogs and work with them and see the changes…that’s my favorite part. Just watch the changes.” ”
Watch a video of Leyva demonstrating her dog training skills here.