The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Chinook's Kailey Kleinjan graduated from Chinook in 2016 and this spring earned her degree from Carroll College in Helena. Kleinjan is a familiar face to many and her love and passion of animals has never been questioned. Her degree was in the Anthropic-Zoology program. Anthro-Zoology is the study of the human and animal bond interactions and relationships formed from this connection. Kleinjan's time in the program serves as the background of her new business 'Hi-Line Canine', and it was through this program that she found her passion and desire to start a dog training business.

Kailey grew up on the Kleinjan family ranch north of Lohman, west of Chinook. Kailey and her future husband Aden Passon will eventually take over the family ranch making her the fifth generation to run the operation. The couple will also take over Aden's family farm. She currently runs her business in Chinook and Havre but in the future, she hopes to have a brick and mortar building in one or the other locations but mainly just operates around town for now.

Kailey's interest in working with animals began at an early age and evolved into something that was to be her primary focus as a young adult. "The ranch helped me realize my love for working with animals and as I got older I joined clubs to help me develop my interest. 4-H first then as I got older, I transferred to the FFA program in junior high and high school." She added, "In 4-H I showed cats and rabbits and when I got into FFA (Future Farmers of America), I showed pigs for a couple years and then I did a heifer breeding project all four years of high school."

Kailey's last semester at Carroll College focused on establishing the bases of her business. It is here where she started coming up with a name and a business plan. After graduating from Carroll she went through the process to establish her L.L.C. and become an official Montana business. After receiving her L.L.C. she then made a Facebook page that provided a little information about herself and her business and it took off from there.

Currently, Kailey provides private lessons with local handlers and their dogs. In addition, Hi-Line Canine also provides weekly group classes. These lessons are primarily focused on obedience training and interaction with the public in different locations around Chinook and Havre. Part of the focus of these classes is to expose the dogs to as many different types of distractions as possible.

In the future Kailey wants to build upon what she has already put in place as well as expanding client options, "I want to continue to provide intermediate and advanced obedience training as well as adding the training of herding dogs as a service to ranchers around the area."

Hi-Line Canine is off to a resounding start, "So far, the business has exceeded my expectations even with the pandemic going on. It's definitely keeping me very busy but it's something I truly enjoy doing," said Kailey. "In addition, I volunteer at P.A.W.S. at least a couple days of the week and hopefully more when I can get the time. While I'm helping out at the P.A.W.S shelter the first goal is to help train the dogs."

The endeavor of starting a new business focused on dog training is something Kailey finds great satisfaction in, "I love being able to provide people help with training their animals and by doing that I hope to keep more dogs at home in a loving environment. The rewards of seeing a dog I worked with payoff is a phenomenal feeling. Training the paws dogs helps them to become more adoptable and end up in a forever home, and that is awesome to be a part of."

Call or text Kailey for information or visit her Facebook page. "I like using Facebook because I'm able to post articles and videos for people to watch and read. In the future I hope to advertise locally through the newspaper as well as with posters. I've began sponsoring local events such as the Bear Paw Roundup and well as the local barrel racing series events amongst other things," added Kleinjan. Clients can also email Kailey at hilinecanine@gmail.com

"I train in the Chinook area on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and in Havre on Tuesdays and Thursdays and am also available through appointments. My group classes are usually during the week and some weekends in both Chinook and Havre," said Kleinjan.

As for how she came up with the name for her business, the process was a journey, "When I was doing my independent study in college, I originally had the name as Bear Paw Dog Training. I liked that name, but it was a little bit to long for what I was looking for. Then one day after already being home from college I just instantly thought of Hi-Line Canine and the name stuck. I liked how it sounded and it rhymed and from that point on I knew that's what I was going to call my business."