Knallhart Kennels & Training Academy

Oh my I don't even know where to begin! First off, Chelsea is AMAZING at what she does! When she came for a consultation to see Olive's behavior, wow Olive did not disappoint. Not only did she passively aggressively bark at Chelsea the whole time, but once Olive realized Chelsea had her son Calvin on her back, she just went NUTS. Olive has never been around little kids/babies so this was a first for us! Other things that Olive liked to do was jump at the door whether inside or outside to come in (the sound on the outside door handle was like nails on a chalkboard for my husband), bark like crazy at any sound, bell, ding, etc... or any person/dog/car going by our house, jump on visitors and would pull quite a bit on a leash. In addition, her mom (our other dog) and Olive both like to go towards a car instead of away from it when walking on a leash. Our street is rural with no sidewalks so even if I had them leashed close, both dogs would lunge at the car going by. Needless to say when Olive came home, ALL of those behaviors were gone! Not only did Chelsea train Olive but she also trained US with our own homework to do so we knew what to correct with Olive when she tried to push the limits. Since Olive's mom didn't go with her for the training, we were able to use the concepts presented in the homework and train her momma as well while Olive was gone. She doesn't have quite as good of habits as Olive but it's close enough. :-) One of my favorite things Chelsea taught Olive was the "place" command. When you put the dog in their place (i.e. a bed or blanket, anywhere really), then they are supposed to stay there until you let them up. This has come in so handy, especially when you have service folks at your house. I put both dogs in place and neither of them get up until told to do so. Here's a recent picture of both dogs in place for 1.5 hrs as an electrician worked at our house! I would highly, highly, highly recommend Chelsea to anyone. Your relationship with your dog is a long one and you will not regret your investment in you and your dog's behavior.

Our dog had a number of problems before attending board & train with Chelsey. Most concerning was his extreme reactivity to the strangers and other dogs. Our dog came home his same goofy, lovable self, but with much better manners and obedience! Now our "problems" are - not having enough strangers ringing the doorbell - not having enough encounters on walks with new people and dogs - not having enough big dogs walk past our backyard - so we can show off and reinforce our dog's new skills! Now I can enjoy a walk outside with my dog, listening to a podcast or music, without worrying about his behavior every time we turn the corner. Chelsey not only trains your dog during the boarding and training program - but loves and takes care of your dog, keeps you updated on their progress, and gives you "homework" (which was quite fun and enlightening) to teach you how to have a better relationship with your dog. She is also extremely responsive to texts/emails. She gives you all the tools you need to continue excellent training when your dog comes home and sets you up for success. She follows-up with you and your dog after the dog comes home (with a lifetime guarantee for the dog). She is extremely professional, honest, and clearly a very experienced dog trainer. We loved working with Chelsey and could not be happier with our results. I would recommend Chelsey to anyone. She is a world-class dog trainer and we are so lucky to have her right here in Iowa!

Chelsey is saving the lives of animals!! Our dog we had adopted last year began showing signs of aggression (actually biting two of our friends). He was extremely reactive on the leash. He also completely freaked out when anyone would come to the door, ring the doorbell, or he would see an animal outside the window. We could not have people inside our home without putting him in our bedroom and even then he would bark and be extremely anxious and act like he wanted to go after them. We had contacted the shelter where we had adopted him to rescind his adoption. We were completely heartbroken because he was a good dog with us inside our home, but lost it when there were any distractions. Then we heard about Knallhart Training Academy and decided to give it a go. Our dog did 8 weeks with Chelsey and he is completely different now that he is home. He is not reactive on the leash at all and in fact met up with one of our friends that he bit while we were on a walk this morning. He had no aggressive behavior at all toward them and they commented they couldn’t believe how calm he was! We appreciate Knallhart’s training philosophy. While our dog was learning new behaviors, we as owners were also learning how to better interact with our dog so he knows expectations at all times in all situations. We highly recommend Knallhart Training Academy for training and boarding. Chelsey is extremely responsive and the follow-up boarding and training sessions just reinforce his good behavior! Thank you Chelsey for allowing us to welcome our dog back into our home!!