Breakthrough K9 Training

Our one-year old English Setter, Webb, completed a three-week board and train at Breakthrough K9 Training over the Christmas holidays. He is a great dog, but struggled with impulse control and had some typical puppy tendencies that needed some attention. We missed our pup over the holidays, but the team sent us regular updates and we were completely comfortable that he was in good hands while we were away. Webb has been home for about a month now and has learned so much! He's calmer in the house, around other people and on the leash. He's an extremely athletic pup and we can now let him run free knowing he'll recall back to us. We're more confident, he's more confident and we would absolutely recommend Breakthrough K9 to anyone looking for a good head-start for their pup!

We are so impressed by the results we have seen with BTK9. Our 6 month old GSD, Mika, stayed with them for the 3 week program and we have seen a night and day difference in her behavior. Before BTK9 she was leash reactive with other dogs and would chase the cat around the house. Now, her dog reactivity has improved so much and we know how to manage it better. We also have the tools to get her attention away from the cat which is something we could not do before. During her stay, trainer Ashley was so responsive and would send us text updates and answer any questions we had. They would also post videos of Mika every few days on social media so we could see her progress. We could see in the videos that Mika was having a great time during her stay. I would 100% recommend BTK9 if you are considering any training for your dog. Our girl Mika is as lively as ever and now has the tools to gain more freedom as she gets older. Thank you BTK9!!!!

I adore the people and the knowledge of this place. Stephanie, Lenny, and their team treated both of our dogs (one hound mix, another lab/boxer mix) with such kindness, empathy and patience. On top of that they also treated me and my partner with the same patience while we navigated reactivity with both our dogs. Our lab/boxer mix was especially reactive, growling often and having to wear muzzles around most people but especially men, and having also nipped at some people. Our worry and anxiety over him was nonstop. Having an aggressive dog was nerve-wracking, especially because we rent, and just wanted him to live in peace and let others exist around him peacefully. Our other dog, the hound mix, was reactive in a different way, never violent, but stubborn— pulled a lot on leash and howled at everyone and everything, terrible at recalls etc. He walks so well on leash now, and I see the wheels turning in his little head now. I’m so grateful we found this place and these people. The biggest difference we saw in our aggressive lab/boxer mix was that now he is extremely well behaved on recalls, and has even befriended male friends of ours, loving on them when he realizes they’re not threats. He acknowledges us as his handler and seems to understand his job now. A couple weekends ago we took him to the beach and he was able to be off-leash for the majority of the trip, following our lead and recalling perfectly. When me and my partner fail to keep up with them that is when the old habits come back but Stephanie and Lenny are quick to help us re-learn, and offer their touch-ups through boarding now as well. They also remain in touch and feel like part of the family, and any time I have a training or behavior question they are quick to help me feel less overwhelmed. Love them so much and appreciate the work they’re doing for every stressed dog out there, who deserve all the chances possible. Thank you thank you!!

Excellent place!! I have two cavapoos that both received training at Breakthrough. Lenny and Stephanie have such good care to my dogs, help me understand how to keep training at home, and spent time at pick up to go over all the details. They were extremely responsive when I had questions and came to my house when I was having an issue with carrying over a part of the training. I can take my dogs out for walks easily, to coffee shops, and even kayaking. They helped make my dogs easily a part of daily life. It was worth every penny and I can’t recommend them enough. If you are looking with help training your dog, look no further. Go with Breakthrough K9!

I have never been more disappointed by a business than I was with Breakthrough K9. My German shepherd has issues with reactivity towards strangers and I’ve been looking for a trainer to help with his behavior. I was excited when I found Breakthrough because Stephanie was so thorough in her explanations about what the process would entail. We set up a meet and greet which went very well and they happily agreed to work with my dog. We set up a date and time for a 4 week board and train drop off. About an hour after dropping him off, Stephanie called me to say that we need to come back and pick up our dog because he growled at their other staff member. Stephanie and Lenny, the business owners, are going out of town for the first week of what was supposed to be our training time and they said that since they’d be leaving him with their hired trainers and they wouldn’t personally be there, that we’d have to pick him up and bring him back a different time. Normally, this wouldn’t be a huge problem albeit a large inconvenience because we live an hour and a half away (which the trainers were well aware of), but we had very specifically picked our drop off date so it would overlap with our honeymoon and we wouldn’t have to stress about our dog while we’re gone. Not only did we not know in advance that Stephanie and Lenny were planning to leave during our dog’s stay, but we didn’t know that their agreement to work with our dog would be suddenly cancelled because of him showing aggression towards a trainer when that is literally the problem that we took him there to work on. Essentially, I was told that they can’t take my dog to work on his reactivity because they have vacation plans and my dog was being reactive. Honestly a joke. They said they will refund us everything we paid including the non refundable down payment, which helps, But it doesn’t do anything for the fact that now we have to find and pay for a solution for our dog while we try to enjoy our honeymoon in addition to the 6 hours total we spent driving him to and from their location. We are now left with an extremely stressful situation that we’re not sure how to remedy and I simply can’t understand how they could cancel our stay due to behavioral issues we very distinctly described to them. I don’t know what kind of training they actually do if their behavior modification training gets cancelled for bad behavior.