First Choice Canine

Our mixed breed 3-year-old girl was exhibiting escalating bouts of “predictably unpredictable” aggression toward other dogs and people despite attending puppy training and socialization classes, and additional training with the use of an electronic training collar, all with another trainer. Although our girl had a sweet disposition towards us and those in her inner circle, she would seemingly protect her surroundings with menacing behavior that frightened both others and us. Though she would never bite, she would storm the front door of the house when anyone tried to enter, launch at people and dogs walking by from inside a vehicle, and intermittently run toward a human or other dog while off leash on the trails or beach. We enjoy a highly active outdoor lifestyle and became increasingly hesitant to include her in our pursuits because we could not trust her behavior or our ability to control it. We were frustrated and at our wits end. Enter First Choice Canine. It was obvious to Khaled (KB for short) at the initial consultation that our pup was exhibiting fear-based aggression resulting from a lack of confidence and being overly attached to us. During a 5-week boarding program that focused on obedience training and behavior modification, KB and his team worked their craft to rebuild our dog’s confidence and train her to respond to a simplified set of commands and behavior corrections that they then taught to us to utilize. It is important to understand that your work as handler is just beginning when you pick up your dog from the initial boarding program. It will require continued training with your dog to hone your handling skills and develop confidence of your own. It can be frustrating and require a lot of hard work, and you likely will need to modify some of your own behaviors to accommodate the needs of your dog. A big part of the success we continue to experience is attributed to attending invaluable weekly group maintenance classes during which we continue to practice our skills and receive instructive feedback. We can tell you with confidence that it is worth every ounce of effort and time. KB will tell you that he is not a magician, but once you’ve enrolled your dog in his training and maintenance programs and experienced the transformative results, you will certainly hail him as a wizard of some sort. Simply said, KB and his caring First Choice Canine team are experts in the field of dog training, obedience, and behavior modification, and in equipping you with the tools and confidence you need to maintain your dog’s newfound skills for a lifetime. Laurie

KB and the team at First Choice Canine are truly fantastic. I did their board and train program for my 4 year pit/lab mix. I had adopted my dog Sienna without all the info about her upbringing- she suffered from separation anxiety and severe aggression towards other dogs. I had tried so many trainers to try to handle her dog aggression, and she would have short improvements with the classes only to slide backwards once we were outside of the training environment. Walks were becoming incredibly stressful for both her and me. I was nervous to invest the money into a board and train program, and also nervous about trusting someone to take care of my dog for 5 weeks. It was the best thing I could have done for her. When I picked her up and as I have continued the training KB taught me, she is a completely different dog. She is so much more calm, and this training has truly improved and changed her life. I am so thankful that this team could help the dog I love so much live a life that is less stressful. I would have never thought these changes were possible and cannot recommend them enough. They are empathetic, extremely attentive to their dogs, and I trust them entirely to take care of my dog well. KB got to the root of Sienna's anxieties and aggression which the other trainers I had tried weren't able to do. If you are on the fence, I highly recommend booking a consultation with them. I drive almost 2 hours for every training session with them, and it is totally worth it. THANK YOU First Choice Canine!

My family and our Cane Corso puppy(5 months old at the time) had an evaluation with Khaled in July. The grounds and facility are clean, spacious, and better than any other I have seen. The professionalism of the staff is immediately evident. They returned correspondence in a timely manner and worked around our schedule to set up our initial evaluation. Our CC was reactive to people, dogs, and very timid which is common for the breed. After meeting with the staff at First Choice Canine we decided to sign up for the waiting list to put our dog in the board and train program. The staff provided timely updates and correspondence throughout our dogs time at the board and train(roughly 4 weeks). Our dog came out of the program confident and obedient. Khaled was also very helpful with training aids and a program to keep her on track after taking her home. Additionally, First Choice Canine also hosts group classes for graduates of their training program. These are very affordable and help socialize our dog to people and other animals, while also providing us with a tuneup to make sure our k9 handling skills are where they need to be. I would not hesitate to recommend First Choice Canine to anyone looking for a knowledgeable and reputable trainer. They did a fantastic job with our CC and are always encouraging us to reach out to discuss any issue or address any questions we may have even after completing the program.