Method K9, LLC

Good trainer. Videos are nice quality, but the upselling of other products in emails is a bit of a turnoff. Much of the information (by other balanced trainers) can be found for free- but having it all grouped together is nice. As a less experienced trainer who has purchased many online classes with a variety of trainers (Ellis, Balabanov, TBTE, Muto & listen to Canine Paradigm pod etc). Wish her bio mentioned mentors & influences- that is the only thing stopping me from purchasing her premium content. Seems like she is similar to Ellis, but I've never heard him mention Pack Drive. For people who know who the top balanced trainers are, it is helpful to know where a trainer has picked up their information and at her age, it can't all be from trial and error or her inventions. List sources please, give credit where credit is due. This is not a sexist comment- I went to learn from her specifically because I wish there was a 'top' female balanced trainer. Aside from Ellis, the male egos are a huge turn off. I think women are not immune to this problem and that is why she wants clients to think she has invented these ideas and training methods - some of which date back to thorndike, skinner & pavlov. Anyway...I support her from afar and hope she rises to the top as there are so few female balanced trainers (who show their training and are good with people and dogs).

We recently took the Basic Foundation series of classes at Method K9 in Post Falls, and it was great. The classes given are very informative and very hands on. The class size is limited to 6 or 7 owners and their dogs so there is a good ratio of instruction to dog. The first class is held without your dog and teaches theory and the basic commands, etc. The classes were given by Hope and she was ably assisted by Lauren, another trainer. Not only did she explain each new instruction in great detail but afterwards she also made sure that the class practiced with their dogs and understood what was being explained and the how- to of handling their dogs while doing an exercise. Hope was always willing to answer questions that came up during class and helped after class as well. It was sad to see the classes end (but exciting to see our dogs graduate and get their diplomas!). We heartily recommend this class to others with new, or new-to-you dogs. There are more advanced classes in this series, and we will likely schedule one.

We had been dealing with reactivity, lots of barking, and nipping from our 3 year old Aussie, Scout. We used 2 trainers prior to Method K9 and while Scout was extremely well trained/obedient, his reactivity, barking, and nipping continued. We sent him to Method K9’s 8 week board and train and got him back the beginning of August ‘23. While he was away, we went through all the learning modules Method K9 made available to us and trained our other 2 dogs based on their methods. We picked him up and are able to go on walks without barking about 95% of the time, we are able to go hiking now without issues although he isn’t well enough to be totally off leash for those even now. I am really grateful to be able to brush/groom him and dremel his nails without it being a big battle! Method K9’s online modules taught us a lot and we were absolutely given great tools and methods to manage our dog’s behavior. Method K9 has been excellent with responding to emailed questions and even providing us further videos to troubleshoot the ongoing problems we’ve been having with Scout. We have waited about 6 months to post this review, mostly because we REALLY wanted to give 5 stars. Although we have way more knowledge and tools to manage his behavior, I have to leave 4 stars because unfortunately for us, the board & train didn’t exactly meet our expectations as far as correcting/changing his behaviors and mindset. While we are thankful for everything Method K9 taught us, did for us & continues to do for us, we just didn’t expect after 8 weeks training + 6 months at home implementing all that we have, that we would still be dealing with the same behaviors and barking fits when we come home, nevermind have guests over. We love our Scout and will never give up on him or his training but I did have to be honest in my review that the board and train fell slightly short of our expectations in those regards. Thanks for all you do!!