Marble Mountain Service Dogs
A Division of True North Quests Nonprofit
Funded & Supported by Marble Mountain Kennels
🐾 Service Dogs with Purpose
For nearly 30 years, we at Marble Mountain Kennels have been raising and training elite Labrador Retrievers for hunting, scent work, obedience, and companionship. Now, through this nonprofit branch, organization, we’re in the infancy stages of structuring a partnership with Marble Mountain Kennels to launch a dedicated Autism Assistance Service Dog program.
Why autism service dogs? Over the years, Julie’s work as a teacher and Pete’s lifelong community involvement have given us personal insight into the challenges faced by individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. We've developed a deep compassion for helping these families experience more peace, connection, and confidence in daily life.
Just as important, our background in professional dog training gives us a strong foundation for this next step. The skills required for autism service dogs build naturally on the basic obedience and focus work in our existing Super Citizen program, as well as the patience and precision we’ve developed through decades of hunting dog training.
We're excited to bring these two worlds together—combining proven training experience with our growing mission to support and serve neurodivergent children and their families.
To learn more about Marble Mountain Kennels, click below:
Our Aim: Getting Your Service Dog to You More Quickly
Most service dog programs take 18–24 months to deliver a trained dog. At True North, we believe there’s a better way—by starting sooner and partnering closely with families.
With decades of experience training puppies as young as 8 weeks, we hope to offer a unique approach: placing well-socialized, purpose-bred puppies with families earlier—between 9 and 12 months of age—so bonding and training can begin together much sooner.
While every dog and journey is different, our goal is to guide both pup and handler/owner toward a strong, lasting partnership that meets real-world service needs—with expert training, coaching and support every step of the way.
Whether you need a dog to provide social interaction, calm anxiety, interrupt repetitive behaviors, or alert prior to a panic attack, we believe we can build the foundational skills and support you as your puppy matures into its working role.
Who We Plan to Serve:
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Neurodivergent individuals—including those with autism—and the families who love and support them
Our Mission
To make life-changing autism service dogs accessible to children and families, fostering greater independence, connection, and confidence.
We plan to connect families with expertly trained dogs, provide guidance and resources, and build partnerships that ensure lasting success for each placement.
Our Vision
We envision a future where more families impacted by autism have access to a loving, loyal, and expertly trained service dog to support their child’s unique journey.
We hope to guide families in a process uniquely designed for their autistic child's needs. Our method will include fundraising assistance, preparation of their home, hands-on training and coaching with their service dog, and more.
Our Goals
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Train and place at least 4 autism service dogs annually.
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Build a certified training team.
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Create a sustainable model, blending dog training, family coaching, and community engagement.
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Coach families in financial strategies to help them offset the costs of their new service dog.
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Collaborate with families, autism organizations, schools, and medical professionals to reach those in need.
Our First Service Pup!
"Rogue," our very first autism service puppy, has been selected from our Ember x Captain litter, and is currently in basic obedience training with trainers Carrington and Julie.
He's such a sweet, gentle, yet very alert and eager-to-please pup, making him easy to train--so far. He can get a little stubborn about walking on a leash, but food and pets win him over.
We hope he'll make it all the way through his training to graduate into the arms of our first autism client!
"Rogue"
Our Unique Training Model
We aim to do things differently:
Early Placement
Receive a service-potential puppy already started in basic obedience, desensitization, and socialization.
Fundraising Coaching
We will provide you with several fundraising options customized to your needs.
Continued Education & Client-Led Growth
You help guide your puppy's training by attending live workshops, watching online classes, and/or scheduling return-to-train sessions with us.
Flexible Support
Choose from in-person weekends, virtual coaching, and follow-up training intensives—either onsite or in the Sacramento area, depending on your location
Why We Breed Our Own Service Dogs
(Instead of Using Rescues):
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Predictable Temperament: Carefully selected breeding pairs help ensure that puppies are calm, focused, gentle, and people-oriented — all vital traits for successful service dogs.
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Known Health History: Our breeding dogs undergo rigorous health testing (hips, elbows, eyes, genetics), giving us a higher degree of confidence in long-term health and reducing costly medical issues down the road.
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Early Socialization and Conditioning: Because we raise puppies from birth, we can begin critical neurological, emotional, and physical development from day one — shaping confident, resilient dogs.
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Consistent Trainability: We select dogs specifically for their intelligence, eagerness to learn, and responsiveness to human cues — traits that are often unpredictable in rescue dogs.
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Low Risk of Trauma or Behavioral Issues: Many rescue dogs have unknown or difficult pasts that can result in fear, anxiety, or reactivity — all disqualifying traits for service dog work.
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Better Matching of Dog to Client: Knowing a dog’s lineage, personality, and early training allows for more customized matching to the specific needs of each recipient.
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Increased Success Rate: The intensive selection and training process means fewer dogs are “washed out” or unable to complete the program, which saves time, resources, and emotional investment for all involved.
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Lifetime Support and Tracking: Breeding our own dogs gives us full access to family history and performance data, helping us improve the quality of each generation and support clients long-term.
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Ethical Breeding Standards: As both a nonprofit and professional breeder, we are committed to responsible breeding practices that prioritize the welfare and purpose of every dog we produce.
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Mission-Driven Control: Breeding our own dogs means we can shape the future of our program, adapt to client needs, and build a sustainable, mission-aligned service dog pipeline.
Start your journey with us here.
Why Our Service Dogs Are Estimated at $15,000–$22,000 instead of $56,000+
At Marble Mountain Kennels, we don’t breed “just dogs.” We raise future family members, trusted companions, and capable service partners—purposefully bred, responsibly raised, and personally trained.
Here’s what your investment supports:
✅ Health-Tested Parents: All our breeding dogs undergo comprehensive genetic and orthopedic testing to reduce the risk of inherited health conditions.
✅ Champion Pedigrees: Our dogs come from top-tier hunting and performance lines known for their intelligence, focus, and trainability.
✅ Purposeful Puppy Raising: From day one, our pups are socialized, exposed to noise and distractions, and handled daily to build confidence and responsiveness.
✅ Lifetime Value: Our Labs are bred for versatility—whether as a family companion, trail buddy, reliable hunting dog, or future service/therapy dog.
✅ Fundraising & Scholarship Support: We help guide families through the fundraising process and accept donor contributions and grant funding for qualified families seeking autism assistance dogs.
We know this is a significant investment. That’s why we’re committed to walking alongside you—offering practical support, personalized guidance, and pups with a purpose.
How You Can Help:
Your support helps us:
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Train pups and dogs faster and more effectively
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Cover the cost of paying our trainers, along with the puppies' food, veterinary care, kennels, and all things dog-related
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Access advanced trainer certification programs
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Expand our facilities, staff, service dog trainers, and volunteer support
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Establish scholarship funding for individuals who need a service dog
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Donate
Make a tax-deductible gift to our 501(c)(3) nonprofit, True North Quests, and note "Service Dog Fund." Donations are processed through our secure MMKennels.com payment portal. -
Refer a Client
Know someone who would benefit from a service puppy? Send them our way! -
Volunteer or Partner
Trainers, puppy socializers, dog lovers, fundraisers—we’d love your help! Contact us to get involved.
Your tax-deductible gift is made to our 501(c)(3) nonprofit, True North Quests. Please add the note "Service Dog Fund." Donations are processed through our secure payment portal at MMKennels.com.
Community Partnerships & Organizational Roots
Though officially established as a nonprofit in 2024, True North Quests is built on the deep community roots of its founding partner, Marble Mountain Kennels (MMK). For over 27 years, MMK and our dogs and pups have been a trusted presence in rural Siskiyou County, offering hands-on educational opportunities, youth engagement, and even some emotional support, working in partnership with Future Farmers of America (FFA), local schools and churches, Kidder Creek Camp, Rockside Ranch, CASA/YES, the Siskiyou Domestic Violence and Crisis Center, and Fairchild Medical Center travel nurses.
This longstanding foundation has enabled True North Quests to launch with a built-in network of community collaborators—including schools, youth organizations, businesses, therapeutic programs, and local ministries.
Marble Mountain Service Dogs carries this spirit forward, formalizing and expanding these outreach efforts to better serve neurodivergent youth and their families through this autism assistance service dog program.
We hope our service dog training work will continue to bring joy, healing, purpose-driven learning, and much-needed help to communities across Northern California, Oregon, and beyond.
Marble Mountain Kennels' History of Community Partnership
Education & Youth Development
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Scott Valley Unified School District – Kindergarten and 1st grade students have enjoyed classroom puppy visits that support early learning, emotional regulation, and animal care education. The puppies definitely benefit by receiving lots of positive socialization!
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Etna High School FFA Program – High school students have gained hands-on experience assisting with puppy medical care, including vaccinations, microchipping, and vital monitoring.
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Kidder Creek Camp - (part of Mt. Hermon) – While Pete was director of Kidder Creek for 20 years, we provided puppy playtime for campers and staff, supporting joy and social-emotional learning in outdoor youth settings.
Therapeutic Outreach
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Fairchild Medical Center – Travel nurses have benefited from puppy therapy visits that offered emotional support and stress relief.
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CASA/YES and Siskiyou Domestic Violence & Crisis Center – Frontline workers have received supportive puppy visits to reduce burnout and promote emotional well-being.
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Camp HOPE / Family Justice Centers / One Safe Place (Redding, CA) – Children impacted by domestic violence experience healing and joy through structured puppy interactions at Kidder Creek Camp.
Vocational & Recovery Support
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Rockside Ranch (Etna, CA) – We have donated select breeding dogs to Rockside Ranch, where young men in recovery are given the opportunity to care for and raise them. When the dogs give birth, the young men help care for the puppies—learning responsibility, animal husbandry, and business-related skills. A portion of the proceeds from each puppy adoption is donated back to Rockside Ranch, helping support its mission of restoration and vocational development.
Inclusive Employment
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We have proudly included a young adult with Down Syndrome and we regularly engage local volunteers of all ages in socializing and caring for puppies—providing meaningful community involvement opportunities.
Contact us.
Address
Contact Marble Mountain Kennels
1521 S. Phillipe Ln.
Montague, CA 96064
530-598-0943
Our service dog program would not exist without the success and support of Marble Mountain Kennels.
Marble Mountain Kennels helps fund our nonprofit mission. Marble Mountain also supports the following nonprofit organizations:
We encourage you to check out these amazing organizations and their phenomenal work.