Blackheart K9 Services

Vanessa was my dog’s trainer. I cannot say enough great things about what she has done for both me and my dog. Before my pup left for training he was afraid of everything, mostly people. His fear would show as barking, lunging, and biting. He also would react to every dog he saw. He came back a changed dog. Although he is still afraid of people, he has learned how to cope and redirect his fear into the commands Vanessa taught him. Vanessa gave both of us tools to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. I am overjoyed with my experience with Blackheart K9 Services. I highly recommend Vanessa to anyone who needs their dog to gain more confidence and learn to cope with fear. I can’t thank her enough for everything she has done.

Bailey's behavior towards our other peaceful dog Alfie had become increasingly hostile. So much so that my wife and I had each separately considered rehoming her - something we never thought we'd have to look at. My wife found Blackheart K9 and we decided to give it a shot. We love usually sweet Bailey, and did not want to give up on her, particularly if training could help. We had a consultation call with the owner who explained the process clearly and answered all of our questions. A day or two later, we had a video chat with Sarah who ended up being Bailey's main trainer. We asked more questions, expressed our concerns and were put at ease about the process. We decided to move forward with the complete training which we were told would take between 3 and 5 weeks, depending on Bailey's response. Sarah came to pick up Bailey at our home. She observed Bailey in our home, and answered more questions. Once that was done, Sarah was on her way home with our "problem" dog (along with 5 weeks of dog food). The first night without Bailey was pretty tough, but we felt she was in good hands. The next day we received photos of a visibly nervous but healthy dog. During the 5+ week training of Bailey, we received photos and videos of bailey every few days. The videos consisted of training routines and how bailey was responding to them. Through these videos, we did see a constant improvement which put as at ease. At first, both my wife and I were wanting to see more photos/videos, but once we saw the positive results, I think we both understood that time was better spent by Sarah training Bailey. 5 weeks passed. We spoke with Sarah to make arrangements to Bring newly trained Bailey home. Sarah arrived with Bailey and we were reunited. Sarah spent about 90 minutes with us going over Bailey's new skillset and how to use the e-collar (more below on e-collars) in our front yard. Bailey's new commands consisted of: - Come/Recall - Sit - Down - Place - Heel - OFF- any unwanted behavior - Break I am happy to report that Bailey is responding very well to the commands. On the first six commands above, Bailey is given one chance to respond to a verbal command, followed by an e-collar correction if not performed. "Break" is the command that "releases" Bailey from the structure imposed by the command(s) - she is free to do dog things with "break". My wife and I think Bailey's previous behavior may have been driven by a "lack of structure"; she needed more structure than we were providing her. Now that we have a framework that works well to provide this structure, she is responding well. We have had no hostile interactions between Bailey and her brother since she has been home. Previously, I had a very simplistic view of e-collars or "shock collars" thinking they were overly cruel. The collar employed has a setting from 0 to 100. We usually use a correction of around 5 (when needed). The collar probes (part that conveys the corrective signal to the dog) are to be placed on the side of the dog's neck. When a correction is used, a muscle contraction takes place. This is an "uncomfortable" feeling for the dog, but does not approach being cruel. I know this because I tested the collar on my thumb pad and forearm at various correction strengths. Although this did not hurt me and did contract muscles as advertised, I do not recommend this. I wanted to be sure we were not hurting our little dog. From our initial experience with e-collars, I have changed my mind on what they are and how valuable they can be for training. Both my wife and I have separate transmitters we keep close during the day should we need to employ correction. To summarize, we were a little desperate to find a solution for Bailey's unwanted behavior. Through the 5 week training at Blackheart K9, we have a more confident dog now who has a skillset we can use to provide her structure and correct unwanted behavior without a lot of drama. We're thankful for Sarah's efforts with Bailey as we have our sweet Lab back now.

We are extremely grateful for the service we received from Blackheart K9. From the patience shown while getting Rocko settled in, to the progress videos that kept us updated throughout the process, everything was greatly appreciated. It truly made us feel like what we paid for was an investment in Rocko’s future rather than just a service. We can already see a major difference in him, he’s much calmer and more well-behaved. We definitely plan to continue working with Rocko and keep his training consistent moving forward. Thank you all again for everything you’ve done. We will absolutely be recommending and referring others to you!