Coastline K9

After losing our Belgian Malinois to lymphoma in January, my husband and I rescued a dutch shepherd who was a little under two years old. He had been kept in a 10x10 cage since he was a puppy and was starved and in poor health when we adopted him. After we got him to a healthy spot, we hired Coastline K9 to give him basic training. Erick helped us every step of the way. Our rescue pup had never seen the inside of a home or had any real relationships with humans so we knew he would be a challenge. A lot of trust and care had to be built with our sweet pup and we knew Coastline K9 would be the best fit to help our boy. The trainers did an excellent job caring for his health and wellbeing during his 4 week stay and train. They provided video and picture updates throughout the process, which was very reassuring (especially since I'm such a nervous mama bear). He came back to us happy, healthy and VERY well behaved. Erick and his entire team are very educated, experienced and professional. 1,000% recommend!

We had a terrible experience with Coastline K9. Our 1 year old malinois has been ‘dog reactive’ since he had to defend himself and me from being attacked by another dog. We came here for the 6 week stay and train to help build his confidence around dogs. During our drop off, without the opportunity for our dog to calm down and meet anyone after our 20 hour drive, we were told to muzzle him and put him in a crate. We were rushed out because someone else was picking up their dog at the same time. At 6 weeks, they called to offer 1 more complimentary week to make some more progress. After 7 weeks of being told he’s doing great, we picked him up and found that he was about 10 lbs lighter, had rampant allergy symptoms, and had large hotspots on his legs. We believe the extra week was actually to allow his hotspots to heal a bit and rush in training that had been neglected. His reactivity had not improved, and we were shocked by the training strategy for our dog, which was clearly not working and was causing lots of stress. The videos that were shared with us showed mild leash corrections/pops with a slip leash. When we arrived and went to a dog park with Olivia to see what he had learned, we were told to choke and hold our dog up in the air by the slip leash so he couldn’t breathe because “air is his most important resource.” Our dog vomited several times during this process and still reacted to every dog that passed by- even when Olivia was handling him. I asked if this could hurt him at all and was told “you can’t hurt a malinois” which is of course ridiculous. When we got home we noticed new issues like resource guarding, an increased suspicion of strangers, and even some human aggression which had not been an issue before. When we called to get our money back, we were also told that he was muzzled for most of his first week and could only be taken out if the trainer was wearing a bite suit. This was disturbing to hear because he hadn’t been aggressive towards people before, and now he has repetitions of potentially biting people that we were not made aware of at all. They also thought it was very impressive that a trainer could work with him for 3 hours per day in his last (free) week, since that trainer was by herself with 5 dogs during the holidays. I wonder what kind of training/attention those other dogs were receiving? Our dog now has trouble listening around the house when he’s off leash because he was only worked with on-leash while he was there. We’re working hard to get him back to his previous level of obedience, and we now have to look for other resources to help with his reactivity. Definitely think twice before leaving your dog here. They did not communicate well (to the point of dishonesty), did not adequately care for the health of our dog, and made his behavior and mindset worse than when we dropped him off. The only positive thing I can say about this place is that they admitted we didn’t get any results and they refunded our money.

We brought our 5-month-old Great Pyrenees mix to Coastline K9 for one week of day training and two weeks of board and train. With a large puppy and a young child at home, we wanted a solid foundation in obedience, confidence and safety. The trainers were professional and communicative, sending regular video updates and answering questions while he was away. At pickup, they gave us clear instructions for continuing the training at home. Our puppy came back with better leash skills, no more biting or chewing and growing confidence. He was always happy to be dropped off, which gave us peace of mind. We plan to return for boarding and additional training.

Amazing staff and environment! I took my American Pit Bull Terrier, Luna, in for her reactivity and they have done an incredible job. I can’t thank them enough especially Aly, who is Luna’s trainer. She is exceptionally knowledgeable and clearly knows what she’s doing. She also took the time to educate me before I brought Luna home to ensure a smooth transition and continuing to work with her in sessions. Highly recommend!

Our Great Pyrenees puppy was biting us very hard and all the time. She was already 40lbs so we had to do something fast about this. I called Coastline K9 and they graciously made space for us, we had a consultation and the trainer was TRULY knowledgeable! The things she suggested and explained helped us fully understand our pet. The experience with everybody at Coastline K9 has been super helpful and pleasant!!