K9KEY

Review for K9Key I rescued my dog 5 years ago from the shelter. He is a pitbull, lab, and boxer mix. My dog is my life’s purpose and subsequently I am also his; because of our codependent relationship and a past where he was (presumably) abused, he believes his job is to protect me. This made him reactive and protective in situations even when it was unwarranted; other people could not even be within his line of vision of hearing. He had a tendency to lunge, pull on his leash, & had the ability to be dangerous to others because of his strength and their ignorance on large dogs. Meeting Steve has saved my dog - Steve has used my dog’s strengths to make him better and has helped create confidence with my dog’s insecurities. Not only that, Steve has made me a better owner - someone my dog deserves and who understands him better. After a board and train - where Steve really gets to know and learn your dog - we continue at classes, typically 1x a week, with others like us, where we learn how to handle situations that may not be in the dogs control and how as people to keep our dog safe. My dog gets better, smarter, and learns something new every time we are with Steve; I also, get better, smarter, and I learn new things every time we are with Steve. Now my dog is an extremely picky dog with who he allows within his circle and even pickier when it comes to who gets to be near mama and he is an excellent judge of character - he loves Steve and looks so his affection and approval every time we see him. We will always be grateful to Steve for everything he has done for us and continues to teach us - here’s to years and years of this relationship!

Steve is a professional in a field that NEEDS one! After trying an at home trainer with no progress and researching numerous options, we found K9KEY. Our initial consultation made us feel like we finally found someone who could actually help. Steve took the time to breakdown his process and accurately evaluated our dog, Ziggy on the spot. We left the hour long consultation feeling like we finally found some hope for our dog and knew that Steve was the right choice. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the well-being of the dogs that he trains. Ziggy is an environmentally, fear-aggressive dog. He has issues with aggression towards males and some dogs as well. After spending about 8 weeks with Steve, our dog came home with significantly improved behavior. He listens to commands, is controllable on the leash and even enjoys being in his crate. Before Steve, we could never enjoy walks with Ziggy or have company over without him barking ferociously in his crate, non-stop. Now, we have guests over and Ziggy quietly lays in his crate, completely comfortable. Our dog is still aggressive, but we have learned how to manage his behaviors and live comfortably. In the initial drop off, we (like most dog owners) were worried about him day and night. We did not get too many updates but that is normal, as Ziggy was getting adjusted. Once we got to see him, we were so relieved to see that he was comfortable and happy with Steve. We got great videos of Ziggy listening to Steve and his team, following commands and behaving like we’ve never seen before. After the training, Steve even offers free group classes for life. Ziggy has gone to these training classes to help reinforce everything he has learned, while teaching you techniques as the owner. It’s also great getting to meet other dog owners managing the same struggle as you. One of the greatest benefits we’ve gotten out of this training is the option to board Ziggy with Steve when we go on vacation. An aggressive dog is a huge responsibility and cannot be left with just anyone. Being able to leave Ziggy in Steve's hands gives us such a piece of mind knowing he is safely being cared for and most importantly is happy and comfortable 😊 That to me is worth every penny! An aggressive dog is never going to be cured, but with Steve we are now able to breathe easier with our well-behaved, loving, but aggressive puppy. Thank you Steve for all your help, you have truly allowed us to never give up on our dog. Your work is extremely important and has changed our lives.

I knew I needed a professional trainer for our year-old German Shepard puppy when he started nipping at me and wouldn't listen to any of the commands I would give him. Every time I tried to put his leash on him, he would nip at me, which became an agonizing process. He also became challenging to walk and jumped on every stranger he encountered. We started working with a trainer once a week at home, which we soon found out was not going to be enough. I searched for a board and train program online for weeks and spoke with multiple recommended trainers, but I didn't feel confident leaving our dog, Sam, with them. I finally found K9Key, and after our first meeting with Steve, I felt completely comfortable with him and knew Sam would be in the best possible care. The process of getting Sam set up was very professional and completely seamless. K9Key accommodated our schedule and fit Sam in at a time that worked for us. During the training, Steve was very communicative and updated us on how Sam was doing with videos and photos. From the beginning, we were told that Sam would probably have to stay over four weeks, which we are so happy he did because he returned a completely different dog. He no longer nips at me and finally obeys the commands I give to him. Steve is truly a dog whisper, and the ongoing training sessions are priceless. Every time Sam sees Steve at K9Key's free weekly training session, it's like he sees his best friend again. I honestly cannot say enough amazing things about K9Key and Steve, because they have changed not only our dog's life, but ours as well.

Worth every penny ! Steve and his team trained my 8 month old (80lb) Doberman, Nuke. We told Steve we were having trouble with him pulling on leash, counter surfing, not listen to commands that he knew, jumping on people when they come in the house, digging holes in the yard and jumping up on our newborn baby’s bassinet, crib and swing trying to steal binkys, burp cloths and bibs. It was like a game for him that he wanted to play all day long. With two babies at home I needed help and I really needed Nuke to listen to me and obey commands. When we finally got him back he was great. Steve taught us how to walk him with the prong collar which has been great. I’m able to walk Nuke with a hands free leash and push both kids in the stroller to the park. We can also bring him to the school and have him sit and stay from half way across the field. We would’ve never been able to do that before. In the house we have the ecollar we keep on him if he needs to be corrected. Every Saturday Steve has free group classes. So far we’ve been attending all of them and learning so much. Nuke has been improving even more since being with Steve and having upkeep with training with us at home. We can’t thank him enough for helping us !

After we had been to another training school for our rambunctious Marvin and it was a complete fail, we had our doubts that anyone could help. Well we were wrong! Steve Hong and his team at K9Key are the best! Steve’s knowledge and training skills have helped Marvin become a new dog and have also taught us everything we need to know to keep him happy and well-behaved. He follows all his commands, walks great on leash and is miraculously calm now around other dogs. We are so happy we decided to first board him with K9Key for a bit for the start of his training. It changed all of his behavior issues right around and was worth every penny. Can’t thank Steve and his crew enough for helping our boy become an even more wonderful and lovable addition to our family!