K-9 Psychologist

I took 18? sessions with Val, The K9 Psychologist to train my German Shepherd puppy for service work. I have no prior experience with working dogs. My dog is now reaching adolescence and has grown into a well adjusted dog. Val helped me teach my dog sit, down, focused heel, recall, and some other service dog related tasks. Val came with me for public access training and showed me everything I needed to know to handle a service dog and interact with the general public as a handler. Val is incredibly knowledgeable and gave me valuable tips on dog psychology and how to use a multitude of training tools. He taught me how to socialize my dog to humans and other animals. He was responsive to every question that I had. He was patient and empathetic about my disability. He was also honest and not afraid to call me out when necessary. After working with Val, I feel confident as a service dog handler. I understand the psychology behind the training and I’m able to introduce new tasks/concepts to my dog on my own. I cannot say enough good things about The K9 Psychologist.

It's amazing watching Val work with my dog - he totally understands how her drives work and how to address her to get immediate results on which we can keep building. His methods are clear and precise, and he makes it easy to continue the training on my own at home. He truly understands canine behavior. In addition to learning practical training, I feel like I understand my dog's personality much more deeply now, having seen how she responds to his methods. I only wish I had found him sooner.

Val has been the key component to enjoying 2 Belgian Malinois. His experience and expertise has surpassed our expectations. Val assisted us in training one of our Malinois in a personal protection capacity. Val has always said he trains the owner, I truly believe that now. Once we understood this, we applied his methods and we had unbelievable results. Val has been available for follow up issues and discussions. Thanks Val, my wife and I appreciate all that you have done.