Jenny Sandstrom is partnering with Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to create the Liberty K9 Academy for Professional Dog Trainers at her Liberty K9 Rescue Ranch in Barnum Township. Coverage from Inforucom has highlighted this story.

The collaboration aims to amplify the ranch’s reach beyond direct rehoming: Sandstrom said that while the Rescue Ranch can aid a limited number of animals each year, educating more people will multiply its impact. “At the Rescue Ranch, we can only help 100 or 200 dogs a year, but if we could educate 500 people over the next five years, think of how many dogs they can impact,” Sandstrom said, outlining the academy’s long‑range purpose in remarks covered by InForum.

Sandstrom opened Liberty K9 Rescue Ranch in 2016 to train and rehome rescue dogs, and the new academy represents a move from direct service toward workforce development. The program is designed as a non‑credit offering through the college that will sit alongside the ranch’s hands‑on operations and make formal training accessible to a wider audience, according to a separate report on Yahoo. Reporting by Yahoo offers additional detail on this case.

On Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, trainers and students held a session at the ranch that underscored the academy’s practical focus. Dogs named Echo, Ghost and Grommet were part of that classroom work, moving through exercises intended to teach handlers how to observe and adjust training responses in live settings.

Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College stepped in as the educational partner; Jodanna Wherley, the college’s Workforce Development Representative, framed the alliance as an extension of the school’s community programming. “Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is excited about this new partnership with Liberty K9 Rescue Ranch. This collaboration offers an excellent opportunity to provide an additional non-credit learning experience to our community and beyond,” Wherley said.

Sandstrom described the academy as a compact, focused curriculum: a 40-hour course intended to provide concentrated, practical instruction for aspiring trainers. She has repeatedly emphasized community building as central to the effort. “We’re just trying to build like a huge community and central hub for everything dog-related,” she said, describing the ranch’s ambition to equip others to perform training work across varied settings. As covered by Bemidjipioneer, readers can explore more context around the event.

Trainers from the region are already participating in sessions at the ranch. Carmen Miller, identified as a trainer from Duluth, was present during hands‑on work with dogs during the November session, applying methods the academy will teach across its modules. The course structure favors repeated, supervised practice so participants can learn how to assess individual dogs and adjust techniques in real time; Sandstrom summed that approach simply: “We like to get to know them really well.”

Beyond basic obedience, Sandstrom has also voiced a specific aim to expand the presence of therapy dogs. “I just want to sprinkle the whole country with therapy dogs,” she said, linking the ranch’s rehoming work to a broader vision in which trained, well‑socialized dogs are placed in settings where they can offer comfort and support.

The first semester of the academy is slated to begin in January, giving the partners time to finalize curricula and registration. Liberty K9 Rescue Ranch will continue to operate its on‑site training and placement programs while the college manages enrollment and the non‑credit framework.

Organizational roles are clear: Liberty K9 Rescue Ranch will provide the training site and practical instruction, and Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will administer the academy’s non‑credit offering and connect the program to workforce development channels. The partners say the academy is intended to extend the ranch’s influence by equipping dozens of handlers at once rather than expanding the ranch’s physical intake.

The November session illustrated the model the partners intend to scale: short, intensive instruction blended with real dogs and supervised practice, producing graduates who can return to shelters, rescues and private practice. Sandstrom framed that multiplier effect in numerical terms, tying the academy’s enrollment goals to a projected uptick in dogs helped across multiple organizations.

The Liberty K9 Academy will open enrollment for the initial 40‑hour offering ahead of the January semester start, and the ranch will continue daily operations at its Barnum Township facility while the college manages the course calendar and outreach.

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.