K-9 Defense

We brought our dog Mia to K-9 Defense primarily to address her reactivity toward other dogs while on leash. Socialization was our main concern, with obedience being secondary. From the very first evaluation session with Chris, we were blown away. Chris was incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and confident. After evaluating Mia, he had no doubt they could help not only with her reactivity but also significantly improve her obedience. We also explained that Mia had been struggling with incontinence for a long time. This was something we had tried multiple medications for and were even planning to see an internal medicine specialist about. Chris immediately had ideas on how to address it and took the time to explain everything thoroughly. I had no intention of leaving Mia that day, but after that conversation, I felt so confident in the team that I dropped her off on the spot. When we first met Mia’s trainer, Savanna, we were equally impressed. She was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and extremely knowledgeable. She took her time answering every question we had and made sure we fully understood the training process. The results speak for themselves. When we started working with Mia during our training sessions at the facility, we were amazed at how well she listened and how strong her obedience already was. By the time we brought her home, she was truly a different dog. Not only is her obedience excellent, but her incontinence issues have entirely disappeared, something we honestly never thought would happen after everything we had tried. Mia has always been stubborn, and while that personality is still there, she now follows commands reliably and confidently. What really sets K-9 Defense apart is the level of support they provide. Throughout Mia’s 9-week stay, the team sent constant updates with photos and videos so we could see her progress. When it came time for our training sessions, Savanna patiently walked us through everything, explained why the methods worked, and made sure we felt confident handling Mia ourselves. She was incredibly flexible with scheduling and even came in on her day off to make up a session I had missed due to a mix-up. Even after bringing Mia home, the support hasn’t stopped. The training team continues to answer questions, offer guidance in our group chat, and provide follow-up home visits. Savanna even came to our home on a weekend to continue training and help us transition everything into our daily routine. It’s clear they genuinely care about the dogs and the owners they work with. I would absolutely recommend K-9 Defense to anyone looking for professional, knowledgeable, and compassionate trainers. The entire staff is outstanding. They genuinely listen to your concerns and make sure you understand what you’re doing and why. We could not be happier with our experience.

Ana and I came from a bad situation with other people and dogs that resulted in both of us being disconnected and full of anxiety. She was reactive, defensive and anxious around other dogs and animals, and difficult to control despite my best efforts with other trainers and methods. My own anxiety and feelings of defeat on top of it all added to our issues. It felt so impossible to overcome. She would attack anything, chase anything that ran, and had zero focus. I came to K9 Defense in a last-ditch effort to save her from the situation we found ourselves in and remedy the mistakes and negative patterns before they ended her life. I also had intention to find her a new home that would be better and safer and give her the best life possible. To say our position before coming to K9 Defense was desperate is an understatement. When she attacked her reflection in the mirror during her evaluation, I thought there's no way....and then when Chris said he'd be happy to take her into a 6 week program, I just about cried with relief, I can't even describe the feeling that washed over me. We are now several weeks out of training and I can honestly say, without exaggeration, that Mallory and the team here helped me save my dog's life from a potentially uncontrolled and devastating trajectory. Ana is a completely different dog, even getting along with my cat now! We get so many complements when we are out in public! I take her everywhere with me and work her regularly at the local park where there are tons of other dogs and animals. And not only did they give Ana the foundation and education she needed, they helped reset me too and overcome my own issues to be the handler she needed me to be. The people in our community who know and have watched our story are also amazed and blown away with the transformation that's happened so quickly. My bond with Ana is so much stronger, clearer, and healthy now. My own confidence, thanks to Mallory's expertise and guidance, is strengthened beyond what I thought was possible. The support that K9 Defense provided for me and Ana is above and beyond, I truly am grateful, and for us it was Divine intervention. The helpless doubt I had before is now pure excitement for my future with Ana by my side. I bought her a backpack and she is stoked to be my trail dog! Thank you, K9 Defense and Mallory, for facilitating our transformation and giving us both what we needed for a new start. If you are serious about training yourself and your dog for confidence and success, K9 Defense is the place to be!

We found K9 Defense after our labradoodle bit a close family member. We have tried other training facilities but K9 Defense is a cut above the rest. Our dog is more confident, calm, and manageable. Any worries we had about our lovable dog "losing his personality" after sleep-away camp have been put to rest. He is simply a better behaved, more self-assured version of himself. K9 Defense also gave us clear instructions and tools to make our dog's transition home successful. Our trainer, Mallory's dedication and passion for training is immediately obvious and we are so grateful for the work she and the K9 Defense team put in with our dog. Big thank you to Mallory!!