First Choice Canine

We have used First Choice to train 2 dogs now. The first was a troubled dog with both separation anxiety and fear aggression. A very difficult combination. Working with the team we gained control over these issues and spent another 5 happy years together. More recently we brought our new puppy's through the program from early through advanced and she is a happy member of our family. The approach is balanced, mixing positive reinforcement with a proper understanding of boundaries. The program is a mix of on and off leash training. I cannot recommend the team and facility more highly.

Loki, our one year old Havanese, was showing signs of “fear aggression “. If people or other dogs approached him, he’d shy away. If he was on a leash, he’d bark or even growl. We were afraid that he’d nip, if he felt cornered. Loki would bark furiously when he saw other dogs or people approaching. We tried everything we could think of to train him, but to no avail. My wife found Khaled’s school on line. Even though it had great reviews, the tuition was high, and we were skeptical. One day I happened to mention the dog and his behavior to an acquaintance, and he said that he bought his dog to First Choice Canine. His dog had all of the same behaviors as mine. He said that they “performed a miracle”. When the dog finished training, “he was a different animal”; all of the bad behaviors were gone. Still a bit skeptical, we set up an interview with Khaled. Right from the first I could see that he and his organization were truly professional. We put Loki in Khaled’s program full time for five weeks. The result was a truly trainable dog without fear aggression. Loki can now walk through a group of people or dogs right at our heel with, and even without, a leash. He no longer barks at every noise, and he seems generally much calmer all of the time. Turns out my wife and I needed some training, too. Khaled provided this in two sessions as a P.G. part of the course (I think we needed as much training as Loki!). All in all, Khaled and First Choice Canine are great.

Our golden retriever Holmes is a changed dog. We sent him to "boot camp" with KB for a month to get on and off leash training. He was 2 years old and close to 90 pounds and would often knock our guests over in his effort to say HI. Now he can heel, sit, lie down, STAY (though KB does not use a "stay" command) and come (he uses "here" for the dog's name). KB is a miracle worker with dogs. We loved that he uses kindness and psychology, not torture or negative treatment. Holmes loved his training and responded to positive feedback. KB and his staff love dogs but more importantly, they understand how they think so they can change behavior. I have faith that he could change literally any bad behavior in any dog. Now Holmes will NOT jump on anyone, will stay right by me on or off leash and looks to us for commands. He was a model student. To be honest, the hardest part of the training is training the owners. We appreciated the 3 follow up sessions because once your dog is trained, YOU need to be trained. In short, KB has an uncanny ability to communicate and train dogs, has a gorgeous place and caring staff and is first rate in every way with continuing support. Though pricey for a month, it was the best money we ever spent. I wouldn't get a new dog without training him first as a puppy next time with KB - thanks for making our dog into the well behaved family pet he is!!