Volunteer of the Month: Daniel Huesman

Hello! My name is Daniel Huesman and I have been volunteering with Last Hope for about 15 years. I first discovered Last Hope Animal Rescue (LHAR) by volunteering when it was run out of the Sonia house, the founder. Since then, she has been a mentor to me and I started working for her at Cedar Run Company (CRCO) when I was 18 or 19. Since then I have become one of the general managers as well as the head trainer for the CRCO training program. 

My partner, Emily, and I have fostered and cared for numerous dogs over the years. We also oversee the care of the rescue dogs staying with us at CRCO. WHen there is a fundraising event we help set up and transport the animals when needed.

One of my favorite things about Last Hope is the collaborative partnership they have with CRCO and our training program. Every dog adopted from LHAR gets the full support of our training team here at CRCO. Whether it is needing help to adjust to a new environment or behavior modification, our training team is there to make sure the adoption transition goes as well as possible.

Last Hope has been very understanding in adopting a FearFree training style for the animals in their care. All of our training team is FearFree certified, which means we don’t use any aversive tools or training techniques, such as shock collars, prongs, choke chains, or physical corrections. These techniques tend to hurt the relationship and focus on making the dog comply. At CRCO and Last Hope, our training focuses on educating owners on the dogs’ behavior and needs, to understand the “why” behind the behavior and how we can help make a positive behavior change. That makes sure the dog is having just as much fun training as the owner does while keeping and strengthening the relationship between owner and dog. Last Hope has given my team and me the opportunity to educate potential adopters as well as fosters on how to best help the animals in their care and has been so supportive of our program.

I can’t thank Amanda and Sonia enough for being so open to our way of training and always putting the animals first. Make sure to check out CRCO’s training options from group classes to private 1:1 training. Our training team can help you and your dog have a better relationship and understanding of each other. Give us a call or message us to sign up for a discovery session to see how we can help.