K9 Mastery LLC

Fear. That sums up K9 mastery in my book. We took our 9 week old puppy to their obedience training. We were told to purchase a prong collar, a 6ft leash and sign their multi page disclaimer, which included a reference to physical corrections. i have no objections to physical corrections of a dog in principle, so we signed. Cut to Texas weather in May, 85 degrees, a field and a dog who looked like a sheep with un-groomed hair and burrs stuck a mile thick, barking at our 9-week old puppy. The dog clearly belonged there and was not part of training. The trainer told us to walk puppy, with prong collar while she was tending to other clients. Make sure to “nip” she said. For 40 mins (search the internet for how long you should walk a puppy that old) we walked that dog, nipping, while trusting the trainer we were doing the right thing. Dog was dead-tired after that and rather fearful of us when we approached. I will not have a dog in my life that is fearful of us. Coming home we reflected, decided no, and cancelled. We paid $400 upfront for 8 lessons, took 1. No refund. I hope the remaining $350 is spent on burr control for the aforementioned sheep. Not saying this is a bad trainer, I wholeheartedly believe she may have success with problem dogs. Their website states they had 5 dogs which were out of control theirselves. But to quote Maslow: “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Our dog is not to be treated as a nail, nor will he be, nor will it be handled out of fear. Do not fear your dog. Look up the monks of New Skete’s book on dogs, they have some interesting philosophy on dog training, nothing to do with your personal views on religion. TL;DR: Do your homework, visit the training and believe that your dog is not a problem dog from the get-go. Make up your own mind, but know for us it’s a big fat no.

We sent our first dog to board and train at Christie's 4 years ago, and she literally saved our dog's (a rescued pit bull) life with the behavior training she instilled. We just picked up our second dog (another pit bull rescue) from a month at board and train, and once again, Christie has proved what a brilliant trainer she is. Ruth (our second dog) is now an expert at heel walking, sits and down stays, and recalls. She is infinitely better at walking on leash, and her overall demeanor is much calmer and more confident. My husband and I appreciated how much time Christie spent with us when we went to pick up Ruth, making sure we understood the exercises and techniques to work with Ruth at home. Christie clearly cares a tremendous amount about all the dogs she trains, and she is invested in their continued success--always happy to answer any questions we may have via email. We drive an hour and a half one way to get to Christie's ranch every time we go. It is totally worth the drive and every penny of the investment in our precious fur babies. Thanks as always, Christie!

Our very social, 16 month old Doberman, Jax, came to us when he was 8 months old. He didn't have formal on-leash training, and while he did make progress, we needed some help getting him to the point where we could trust him not to pull and follow our commands. Our big baby, is 100 pounds, so it was imperative for us to be able to trust him to listen while we were on walks and in public. We heard about K9 Mastery, and watched all of the videos on the website, and we were very impressed. My husband and I knew that Jax would benefit from the formal training, and decided to send him to the Board and Train Program. He is about a month post training, and we couldn't be happier with the results. Jax's listening skills during our walks and outings are excellent, and strangers often comment to me on what a good dog we have. We can't thank Christie enough for all of her hard work, and we plan on sending him in the near future for the next phase of training. If you are looking for someone to train your dog; I highly recommend K9 Mastery to your training needs.