Van Hendrix K9

I moved to Florida 3 years ago, at the time my German Shepherd Artemis was acting out. I had her at a dog park, and another dog owner gave me a pamphlet for Van Hendrix K9. Artemis was acting out when people were around, and when I called Hagen up and explained everything to him, he told me exactly what was wrong. She had high fear aggression, basically was scared all the time around people, and she never confronted another dog. She would run in fear, so I bought her to him, where she stayed for six months and now Artemis is doing splendid. The training and staff and Hagen himself walked me through the entire process, and I came up as often as I could to work with her and him in assisting with her training. So two of us were trained during this whole process, I highly recommend anyone who has a dog that they struggle with, not to give up and contact VHK9.

We got our girl at 4 months not knowing or understanding her abusive past. Kitty, a Cane Corso could not live her life in fear or the fear aggression she was showing. Litterly shaking and cowering in the car as Hagen coaxed her out patiently. She has successfully completed socialization and basic leash training and has become a confident well behaved beautiful young lady!! We cannot express enough how Hagen, Michael and Chrissi have helped not only Kitty but us as owners become more confident and comfortable in the world where canines and humans coexist. We highly recommend this training program for anyone that needs help teaching their fur family the world is not as scary as sometimes portrayed by previous owners or experiences. Forever grateful!!

After lots of research on the breed, our family decided to place a deposit on a German Shepherd puppy in early 2020. Little did we know that Covid would strike, making socialization for a young pup so difficult. We did everything we could to ensure that our young GSD would be properly socialized, from taking him with us to the beach, to bringing him with us to Home Depot, walks in the park and around our neighborhood, etc. However, when Covid took a turn for the worst, public beaches closed and public places had higher restrictions on how many people could be in one area at any given time (much less their pets). We continued training with our breeder, only assuming that this was another great method of socialization. In retrospect, litter mates aren’t the greatest form of socialization without the elements of new people, places, or unfamiliar dogs. Fast forward to 2023… we had a dog with lots of anxiety and energy, a dog we could not manage on walks, and a dog that knew his commands but refused to listen to them. This was when we searched for a dog trainer. After several evaluations and interviews with other dog trainers in the area, we settled upon VHK-9 to entrust with this very well loved member of our family! We wanted our dogs best interest at heart, and that was exactly what Hagen and his staff promised. Our boy spent several months away at VHK-9. We came to train as often as we were able (which for our family was 1-2 times per week). After some time we began training in public and the differences we saw were unreal. Our anxious, unsure, over-excited dog was now walking more confidently, was more responsive to his commands, and was no longer pulling us around by his leash. Other behaviors around the house improved as well, such as his need to constantly “show dominance” to our female boxer or to charge the front door any time he saw someone walking by outside. Now he not only leaves our female alone, but also plays gently with our smallest puppy who is toy sized. We were pleased that our boys spirit was not broken. His behavior with our children has remained 100% sweet and loving and his goofy personality remained in tact. The only thing missing from the dog we left with VHK-9 is the bad behaviors and some time spent away from home. We are so pleased with the training our dog received at Van Hendrix K-9 and we know where to go if we ever want to further his training to an even higher level.