Gentle Dog Training

My very energetic Newfoundland puppy and I attended Gentle Dog Training’s basic manners class and then off-leash training with Lisa. Lisa is fantastic and teaches you so many ways to effectively communicate with your dog. I love their approach which uses consequences and rewards ultimately giving me a dog that knows what’s expected of her and is a joy to be around. My dog has learned so much, so quickly and most importantly is retaining what she has learned! I’m so thankful for Gentle Dog Training!

We initially used Ken and Lisa at Gentle Dog Training several years ago for our Great Dane to learn leash manners and general manners. We did board and train. His leash and general manners years later are still great! He walks on his leash calmly even if another dog isn’t being calm. He still visits when we go on vacation and they continue to take great care of him. He loves playing in his play groups with other dogs. They had their personal vet look at our dog when they thought he was having a health issue while staying with them and so glad they were on top of it and got our big guy taken care of. Their assistants also clearly love the animals and take great care of them too!

We took our first German Shepherd pup to one of Ken's puppy classes in 2003 because our breeder recommended him. We were HOOKED!! Now, 17 years and FIVE German Shepherds later ... 5 stars isn't enough!! I have always referred to him as the "Caesar Milan" of Kansas City. Most recently, we took our 5 year old rescue German Shepherd (Max) to him so we could get his manners in check around other dogs. We got Max 4 years ago from Missouri German Shepherd Rescue who ALSO recommends Gentle Dog Training. The founder of the rescue actually used Ken's techniques to help us integrate Max into our home with our alpha female German Shepherd when we brought him home. The techniques were a total success and the 2 were the best of friends until she passed away in June. Max was very sad to no longer have a buddy and we wanted him to be able to play with my daughter's dogs but we had noticed both on walks and other occasions, as sweet as he was with people, he just seemed like he could have some aggressive tendencies toward other dogs. Since we didn't know his history as a pup - we decided we wanted Ken to help us out with this. We did personalized training and visited Ken at his home training facility several times this summer - my daughter brought her dogs, too. All of Ken's techniques worked like a charm (especially the whistle/missle) and also worked VERY quickly!! Max got to spend this summer and fall with lots of play dates from my daughter's dogs and it was the BEST thing for him!! This all worked out perfectly because we brought home a new German Shepherd puppy 3 weeks ago. Because we got the personalized training we are able to still utilize help from Ken for a full year. Now we are working with him again because even though Max is now great with adult dogs ... we're seeing he needs to work on his manners and being gentle with our new puppy Tango. We are following his advice to a "T" and are already seeing a vast improvement. We will continue working with Ken until we feel comfortable that Max 100% "gets it" so he and Tango can live in harmony. We are already 80% there!! I know several rescues in Kansas City have Ken as their "go to" guy to rehab aggressive dogs that are at risk of being put down or unadoptable due to aggressive behavior. It doesn't surprise me as it is obvious this is his calling!! Bottom line - I've referred people to Ken for almost 2 decades and I always tell them - if you want the best in KC - call Gentle Dog Training!!