Olympia Kennels

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for Olympia Kennels and their knowledgeable staff. I’m truly pleased with the progress my girl and I have made. When we got Tessie in June 2024, I took training seriously from the start. I didn’t need her to be overly social or love everyone honestly, I’m selectively social myself, so I wasn’t going to fault her for that. What mattered to me was that she be stable and manageable in the world. We did everything “right” early on took her everywhere once she was vaccinated, exposed her to new environments, and worked hard on socialization. She was doing great… until around six months old, when it felt like a switch flipped. Suddenly, none of that early work seemed to matter. She developed that high-pitched shepherd “scream” and became reactive in situations she had previously handled just fine. I hired a personal trainer, which helped a lot, and we made solid progress, especially with people. But dogs were still a major challenge, and it became clear we needed more support. With a large, powerful German Shepherd, this wasn’t something I could afford to manage halfway. I’ve known about Olympia Kennels for over 40 years, I actually grew up across the street when they first opened, so I decided to bring her in for an evaluation. At that point, Tessie was showing severe fear-based reactivity toward both people and dogs outside our home. I could manage her in our environment, but it required a long list of rules for visitors, and unexpected guests were especially difficult. Walks weren’t possible, and even getting her out of the car in public felt like a full-on military operation. The hardest part was knowing how incredibly sweet and loving she is with the people she trusts. At the evaluation, I could barely get her through the door. She was barking nonstop and even reacting aggressively to her own reflection. It was overwhelming, and honestly, pretty scary. She spent about two weeks in Olympia Kennels board-and-train program, which was exactly what she needed beyond what I could safely handle on my own. I wasn’t comfortable asking others to help given her behavior, and I wanted experienced professionals who knew how to work with a large, reactive dog. The transformation has been incredible. Tessie is more confident, more balanced, and able to safely exist in situations that were once impossible for her. It’s clear she received consistent, high-quality training, and that means everything to me. I’m extremely impressed with the results and so grateful for the progress we’ve made. I can’t wait to see what more she can do, we will absolutely be back.