About Cedar Valley Canine

Cedar Valley Canine is a family-owned, all-breed training kennel established in 1978, sitting on 90 acres along the Cumberland River just outside Nashville at Ashland City. It is both a training business and a German Shepherd and Labrador Retriever breeding program, and the two sides share the same site and staff.

What you can book here

Board and train, on-site training sessions, specialty training and an evaluation are the published training services. Programs are described as spanning civilian, sport, military, protection and law enforcement work, and all breeds are welcome. The breeding side offers puppies and trained adult dogs for sale, plus a foster program.

Method

The site sets out a sequence rather than a label: training begins with positive reinforcement using food, toys and praise, and "at the appropriate stage of training, we use negative reinforcers to teach the dog the consequences of unwanted behavior". The stated aim is communication between dog and owner rather than obedience alone – "Beyond Sit + Stay". If you want a purely force-free practice this is not one, and the site does not pretend otherwise.

Who trains

Dave Taylor founded the business in 1978 and remains head trainer, living on site. The site states he has almost 50 years in canine training, has placed dogs in police, military and government service in the US and abroad, has trained and certified hundreds of dog and handler teams in narcotics detection, explosive detection and patrol work, and has trained over 9,000 dogs and handlers overall. It also lists him as an eight-time Schutzhund/IPO III National Championship competitor and a twenty-time protection decoy.

The wider staff is named and credentialed. Megan Sanders, office manager and trainer since 2017, has a Penn State animal science degree, completed Tarheel Canine's Master Trainer Program with certifications in obedience, protection, detection and tracking, and is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. Aliyah Hester, a trainer since 2022, competes with hunting retrievers and has titled three dogs in Hunting Retriever Club events. Brittany Luckingham has been a full-time trainer since 2023, trained her dog for search and rescue, was recruited by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office K9 team for human remains detection, and handled during the Waverly flood recovery in August 2021.

Who this suits

Owners who want a large rural training property with decades of working-dog depth behind it, and anyone looking at protection or detection work rather than pet obedience alone.