We shape dogs and train people. By that, we mean that we will train your dog in a series of real-world skills that emphasize obedience and safety—but we also train people like you to maintain your dog’s training and continue their education for life. Our training is guided by the relationship-based, Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive (LIMA) principles established by the International Association of Canine Professionals. Our owner, Martha, holds a LIMA certification and actively shares her expertise with our entire training team, ensuring consistent, compassionate, and effective methods for every dog we work with.
Having a poorly-mannered dog not only impacts your pet and family’s safety, it impacts your relationship with your furry best friend. We want you to have a deep and fulfilling relationship with your pup, and that starts with proper training—for the whole family! If you’re committed to creating that kind of experience for your family through dog training, check out our programs below for more information.
For the best chance at success in a busy world, socialization and training should start for puppies from an early age. We offer puppy kindergarten for puppies aged 12-18 weeks who are actively receiving vaccinations.
Puppy Preschool is a one-hour session you take before or shortly after your puppy comes home. This is a great fit for first-time dog owners or dog owners stepping into a puppy situation for the first time.
This is the total package. Every Bootcamp package is custom-tailored to fit your dog and your family’s needs. We teach skills, not tricks! All of our training is rooted in usable, helpful, real-world skills that will keep your pet safe and make them a joy to be around.
While less intense than our bootcamp programs, our day training programs are built from the same concept – We will work with your dog during the day for three consecutive weeks Monday-Friday to build real-world skills tailored to your family and pet.
Our daycare costs are always fair, but they’re even lower for pups who have graduated from one of our Training Programs through Kim’s K-9 Family Discount.
Bootcam and Day Training are our summer obedience camps for puppies, but private training is six one-on-one mentoring sessions over six weeks. Pirvate training is a great option for families with the time and enrgy to work with their dog every day on new commands!
Kim’s K-9 was a lifesaver. The 4-week Bootcamp experience gave her a strong foundation that I could easily follow once she was home. Both my dogs are great advertisement for Kim’s K9!
After the first 4 days of training we already had a new dog. By new dog I mean, the same adorable happy pup, with manners. Imagine that! He has now been trained to sit, down, wait, stay, and many many other useful communications I can use to keep me and my dog safe.
We enrolled our 8 month old stubborn, dominant Golden Retriever puppy in the day training program after trying other trainers with no success. Needless to say we should've gone to Kim's K-9 from the start. THANK YOU Martha and Kim's K9 for giving us a truly life changing experience with our now obedient, loving, pup.
We took our 4 yr old rescue that had ZERO training and were able to turn her into a well-behaved pup in only a few weeks. The training they gave to her humans cemented all the work they had done and now we have a very happy family.
We brought our extremely shy and timid German Shepherd/Retriever mix to puppy kindergarten and it’s completely changed the personality of our dog. The skills and tricks we learned at the class are invaluable! I seriously cannot recommend Kim’s K-9 enough.
We did the overnight Bootcamp for them, and we are so thankful. A huge part of the training is the willingness and training of us, the owners. They really know dogs and the science and psychology behind training them/figuring out their behaviors.
At Kim’s K-9, our training packages are as unique as your furry friend. When you decide to commit to training your pet, we will set up an assessment where you can give us all of the details about your dog, your goals, and your family situation. From this meeting, you and the trainers can settle on a program and the trainers will create your unique course. For example, training considerations for a young dog owner with no kids will be different from the training program created for a dog that is cohabitating with an infant and toddler, which will be different than a program crafted for a young dog living with an elderly couple. Contact us today to hear more!
Private lessons involve 6 one-hour lessons over 6 weeks. A trainer works with you and your pup one-on-one to introduce new commands, which you practice throughout the week. This is a great option for families who have the time and energy to work with their dog every day on new commands. The success of this program is dependent on the progress you and your pet make between sessions. Contact us to learn more!
As you may know by now, we don’t train “tricks,” we train real-world, useful skills. Some of the skills we may choose to focus on, depending on your goals and your household, include: focused & polite walking, waiting at doorways, not jumping up, sitting until released, laying down until released, formal “heel” walking, several types of recalls, and a five minute or longer down-stay. Each program is different, and the skills we focus on with each dog, as well as how we train them and which commands we use, are able to be tailored to your unique situation.
Yes, any and all dogs who set “paw” in our facility must have vaccine records matching our standards. Puppies who are too young to be vaccinated may only visit our front building, which is carefully cleaned to ensure no accidental spread of diseases like kennel cough and parvo can occur. Puppies in Puppy Kindergarten must be in the process of getting their vaccines on schedule. Vaccines are NOT required for private lessons, but dogs who receive private lessons and are not vaccinated will not be eligible for daycare or boarding.
Because each training program is unique, each quote for training is unique. Your goals, your family, and your pet’s temperament will be factors in deciding on the right training package for you. Your initial one-hour assessment will cost $125, and once you decide on a training program, that initial $125 will go toward any of the obedience packages. Contact us for more info.
The main difference between bootcamp and day training is where your dog stays. For bootcamp, the dog stays with us for 4-weeks as part of their intensive training program, whereas with the day training your dog is home on nights and weekends. Our trainers warn that with day training, it can be easier for your dog to fall back to old habits and backslide on training. If you select the day training package, you will need to be hypervigilant to make sure you follow all of your pet’s new rules when they get home.
Continuing-ed is an addon offered for dogs at daycare or in boarding, but we also offer a few continuing education options. For example, you may ask about our advanced off-leash program! This is a good fit for families whose dog has passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test, and who enjoy activities like going to the dog beach, or spending time outside in remote places where a dog can be safe off-leash.
