Columbus, Ohio facility offers fun, supportive environment.
Golden Acres in Columbus, Ohio, is a passion project-turned private dog training facility dedicated to providing high-quality training opportunities in a fun, supportive environment. Owned and led by Anne Blaha, the facility offers spacious indoor and outdoor training areas for dog sports enthusiasts looking to train and compete in various disciplines, including agility, rally and scent work. With a focus on positive training methods, Golden Acres aims to foster a strong bond between dogs and their handlers regardless of their sporting goals.
“We hope to grow the rally and agility community by offering regular trials, workshops, fun matches and ru
n-throughs to help handlers gain experience in a low-pressure environment,” Anne said. “We hosted our first trial late last year and have more planned for 2025. We are also working on creating a ‘Rally League’ to help handlers keep skills fresh between trials and foster a sense of community.”
Golden Acres has offered World Cynosport® Rally Limited (WCRL) programs since the facility opened at a converted horse farm in 2024. Anne and her fellow instructors, including accomplished athletes such as Cindy Warren (who has earned many championships and received several top 20 national rankings), recognized the community’s growing interest in a more flexible and encouraging rally obedience format.
“Our trials have attracted both experienced competitors and those new to rally who appreciate WCRL’s focus on teamwork and a positive training experience,” Anne said. “We are fortunate to have a lot of community support when creating a trial committee, as well as many great judges residing in the area. Cindy and I are also applying to become judges to help facilitate more trials.”
Anne is a passionate dog sports enthusiast who joined the agility and rally communities when she adopted a Great Pyrenees/Aussie/Border Collie rescue in 2021. She loves rally for keeping her dog’s manners fresh in her mind and creating a great foundation for their later agility training.
“Many local agility competitors also enjoy rally as a complementary sport that enhances their communication skills with their dogs,” Anne said. “We feel that rally, especially Flash rally, corresponds with the foundations we teach in our puppy sport prep classes. Rally helps build focus, precision and responsiveness, which translates directly to agility handling. It’s also a great way to get a young dog into a ring before they’re old enough for agility competition.
“Flash rally, in particular, is a great bridge between the two sports because it emphasizes movement-based skills, rewarding handlers for efficient communication and quick transitions just like agility,” she continued. “The crossover benefits make rally a valuable training tool for agility dogs and a fun way to keep them mentally sharp between agility runs.”
Along with Golden Acres’ classes, workshops and trials, Anne's Paw Prints Blog provides more resources to her fellow athletes. More information about each of these services can be found at https://www.chasethat.dog/.