K9KEY

If you are concerned about your dogs behavior - this is the place to call. We are grateful for Steve and K9 key.  Our GSD Thor was in a constant state of alert and protection mode around people and animals. It was difficult to do anything with him. Car rides needed earplugs and  walks were a combination of strength training and patience.  The vet was even afraid of him.   After a lot of research we found Steve Hong/K9 key.  Steve quickly identified Thor's issues and its complexities.  I want to express here that Thor can be intimidating to most people but Steve handled him with ease, calm and confidence.  It is clear that he knows dogs. He explained the process, answered my questions and covered the importance of training once Thor returned home. Fast forward to now, and our walks are no longer a fitness event, car rides are quiet, and the vet was very impressed with Thor on his last visit and asked for K9 Key's information. We are very grateful for Steve and K9 key.  We know if we have questions we can reach out to Steve or to the outstanding K9 key community.  I would 100% recommend K9 Key to anyone concerned about their dogs behavior.

Our dog Winston is a two year old, 45 pound Goldendoodle. We decided to enroll Winston in K9KEY Dog School because he exhibited aggression / resource guarding behavior (especially over socks!) and we were expecting our first child. We also wanted to develop some consistency with Winston responding to commands. After several weeks and a few updates in between, our boy Winston came back home a completely new dog. While he still exhibits his vibrant personality, he is much more relaxed and subdued in nature. He also has not exhibited anymore resource guarding behavior, responds to well to the “drop it” command, and even disregards objects on the ground that do not belong to him. Winston is now able to consistently heel, sit, down, stay, come, and go to his “place”. Winston’s success at K9KEY has really helped open up the communication line between Winston and the rest of the family. As new parents, we have so much joy watching Winston develop a safe and comfortable relationship with his new baby sister! We really love reinforcing and building on the baseline training Winston received from bootcamp by attending follow up training classes on the weekends. We as a family cannot be happier with the results and incredible bond we have built with Winston during the training process. Thank you Steve and K9KEY Dog School for making that happen!

for some reason, my first review (posted from a different account) is only visible to me when logged in on that account, so I'll try from this account as well. This is the short version. We're *incredibly* grateful to Steve & the K9Key crew-- they took our anxious, reactive, bossy rescue who for over 3 whole years would lunge at passing dogs and people but cower at the sound of any passing truck, and who would sometimes turn on her handler as they handled her collar or harness. She had become something of a nuisance in our building and on our block, and we felt over our heads in managing her. We had been working with professional, well-respected trainers, our vet, and the behavior vets, and it all helped to some degree-- but she would still lunge and attempt to bite, sometimes, and after she bit a dog walker after a walk, we reached out to K9Key. K9Key offers a 4-week board and train that sometimes gets extended as needed (more weeks, no additional charge) so that they can give each dog the time it needs to acclimate and work through their behaviors and learn new foundational skills. Our pup ended up being there for 10 weeks total (lol/sigh. she's a knucklehead), and the wait was... really hard? They sent a few videos, but we really didn't know what to expect when we went to pick her up. What we found when we picked her up was a dog who was her same goofy self indoors, and, outdoors, a dog who was completely nonchalant around dogs she used to lunge at (she now in fact looks at them like *they're* nuts when they lunge at her as she trots by), stays in a heel when passing between TWO garbage trucks (unbelievable!), and is able to hold a down on a relatively busy corner a few blocks from Barclay's Center that used to be a huge stressor for her. She no longer needs her muzzle in the hallway and elevator of our building (though we still use it occasionally to keep her comfortable with it-- and she no longer causes a fuss when we fiddle with the buckle), and hold her down in the elevator without an issue. Her new foundations are *amazing*. One of the best aspects of working w/ K9Key, though, is the ongoing weekly lessons. We've only had one since picking up our pup, but during that session, we continued the work of building Bailey's focusing and heeling skills around other dogs and also received personalized feedback that has continued to help our leash communication skills. We are incredibly grateful to the K9Key team-- they may seem magic, but they're not. They're just great with dogs, and are committed to helping everyday people become more skilled with their dogs, too.

K9Key & Steve Hong changed my family's life! We have a rambunctious, highly energetic, overstimulated Labrador and could not get her to listen to basic commands, stop barking at everything, and pulling when being walked. She had no off-switch and we tried many different trainers within the NYC area (even the famous ones) and it did not work. We were left feeling dejected and stressed to the point where someone ALWAYS needed to keep an eye on her. We literally could only get groceries, cook, and do basic household things when she was sleeping in the early morning or later at night. It was the opposite of what I thought being a dog owner would be and made me doubt if having a dog was a good decision. We connected with Steve based on the high reviews and had our dog join the 4 week boarding program after a consultation. Steve is VERY thorough in this consultation and shared the plan along with what our dog needs work on. He explained things that we didn't even realize could be a trigger and how he would train Penny. He also shared that it's very important to keep up the training AFTER the boarding is over. Long story short, we received our dog back after 8 weeks (she really needed a lot of work, hence the extended training) and she is AMAZING. It has honestly made us love her more (lol) and we have continued to keep up with the training. Our neighbors didn't even realize our dog is back until weeks later because she does not bark at all anymore!!!!! I can honestly say that working with Steve has made me contemplate even getting a 2nd dog (lol) because my dog has been such a dream since. I have recommended Steve & K9KEY to everyone I know (including random dog owners I bump into) as well as friends who are thinking about getting a dog. THANKS SO MUCH, STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Hong at K9KEY is a professional dog trainer who gets results where others have failed. We mention "Professional" because there are a lot of amateurs out there willing to sell you their services, some work solo and come to you while others work at training facilities with stores attached to upsell their products. We know because we hired both types before we found K9KEY. Steve has a gift for training dogs, great insight on why your dog is doing what they're doing, and a sense of humor. He's honest and doesn't make promises of easy fixes or miracle cures. Dog training is hard. It's even harder when the dog has an obsessive-compulsive disorder and is reactive to other dogs. When our dog Suzie was about 4 months old, she developed spinning and tail chasing behaviors. Not the cute kind you might see in a happy, excited dog. She was unable to focus on anything but her tail, didn't care about eating, playing, and was never at rest. Heartbreaking cannot begin to describe it. Research suggested medication along with a training program could be beneficial in helping ease her extreme anxiety. We found K9KEY and Steve suggested a vet familiar with behavior issues to complete the equation. The K9KEY process begins with an evaluation and is followed by a 4-week board and train program. If your dog needs more time, K9KEY will keep them longer at no additional charge. After board and train, you bring your dog to Steve's weekly class to train the humans. The class is free to those who've completed the board and train program. You don't develop a business model based on giving away your time unless you are really passionate about what you do. Steve had our dog for 8 weeks and she is doing so much better now. We're so impressed with Steve's commitment to help our dog and to help us be better dog parents. If you're looking for a dog trainer you won't find better than K9KEY.