Alpha K-9 Obedience

In August 2022, my wife and I decided to adopt another dog as we felt our Chihuahua, Major, needed a sibling after losing his brother in January 2021. We stumbled upon a Doberman rescue in Southern Colorado, and we fell in love with a Blue and Tan Dobie who had been with the rescue since February 2022. While we've never been a home with a large dog, in our hearts, we knew he would be part of our pack. We underwent a rigorous adoption process that took a month before we were even allowed to meet in person. The first time meeting our sweet boy, we had a list of questions for his foster mom, and for every question, we got the same answer; I don't know or not that I know of. The only truth that we were told is that he was picked up on the streets of a town in Texas and flown to the rescue here. Having adopted before, we knew going in there would be triggers and trauma we'd have to work through—nothing prepared us for what was to come. We quickly learned that he was prey-driven, dog-aggressive, and had extreme anxiety. On our first morning, he tried to attack our neighbor's dog—not a great start, but we thought we could work with him. Then it got to the point where we started to keep our blackout curtains closed in case a dog happened to walk by because he would try to go through the glass if he saw a dog that was too close to the house. His anxiety was so bad that even if one of us were home while the other was out, he would cry and pace for hours. One day while taking a mid-day walk, a squirrel crossed his path, and it was lights out—all he could see was red, and it didn't matter that I was on the other end of the leash. Nothing was going to stop him from killing that squirrel, even me lying on the ground after being knocked over by all 85 pounds. Not only would he try to go for the kill every time he saw prey, but he would also wail as if we were hurting him. After this incident, I was at my limit and knew that we needed help and that our situation was outside the scope of our basic dog "training" skills. Understanding that the energy connection with our boy is essential to his confidence, we knew exactly who we needed to call. Being a past client of Michael's, we knew he was our only hope in saving our boy from returning to the rescue. We just had our third session with Michael, and it has made a tremendous difference. We went from did we make a mistake to, we cannot see our home without our boy. We get to have the curtains open, and he gets to enjoy his sun naps. He listens to our commands, and corrections, and has impeccable eye contact, and his anxiety has subsided. We still have more sessions, but we wouldn't be here without Michael and his incredible talents. Thanks to him, our whole pack is at peace and happy. - Brooke, Consuelo, Major, and Woodrow.

At age 12 our Jack Russell Terrier was showing aggressive behavior toward us as well as visitors. He went from being a pretty good dog to one we couldn’t trust around our grandchildren. We literally were having discussions about having him put down. I searched dog behavior specialists in Google and read all the reviews. Alpha K-9 seemed the best option. Michael did a wonderful job explaining to us dog pack behavior and helped us understand the potential reasons behind Henry’s behavior. He worked with us to practice techniques that would show our dog he didn’t need to be the alpha and could trust us and how to identify his triggers. We have noticed significant improvement in Henry’s behavior. We are more relaxed and he is more relaxed. Highly recommend Michael if you are having similar issues!

We worked with Michael over the course of about 5 months throughout a number of sessions with our German Shepherd puppy. We were first time dog owners and knew that with a breed like a GSD, we probably needed some help with the training. Michael was great as he worked with us within a week or so of taking our puppy home at just 9 weeks old. This enabled us to start with basic things like crate training, house training, no begging for food, and other basic commands. Beyond that however, Michael really connected with our dog - every time he came over for training, our dog (Luka) could not be more excited to work with him. Michael successfully helped us train him the basics, got rid of bad habits like nipping / getting into things in the yard / jumping on people, and by 6 months old our puppy already knew sit, stay, wait, come, and heel perfectly (among a host of other commands Michael worked with us on). We could not recommend Michael enough. He also was always available by phone if we had any questions or needed his advice. Overall, Michael was an absolute game changer for my husband and I and our dog Luka! Thanks again for everything Michael!

We hired Michael to help us train our puppy and mostly ourselves as this was our first dog. Although our puppy never had any aggression or behavioral issues, we knew that he was the right trainer for us after our first meeting. His patience and understanding of dogs blew us away and we couldn’t wait to learn more. Rosie our puppy is like most; loving, high energy and chewed on everything. He taught us how to channel that energy and bring out the best in her, as we have a newborn, a 4 year old and an older cat that she needs to behave around. We continue to use Michael as he helped us greatly in shaping our Border Collie into a very obedient and loving family member. We would strongly recommend his services for any type of dog training as long as you are prepared to be consistent, which we have found is what our dog needs to thrive.