Tarheel Canine Training Inc

We have been customers of Tarheel K9 since we purchased our first Malinois from them in 2006. Since then we have had 3 dogs train with them under different trainers and also purchased a personal protection dog from them in 2019, so obviously we are repeat customers. This review will be about pet obedience with Derek Beckelman and the administration services of Olivia Beckelman. This was our first time working with Derek. We got a Malinois puppy in June 2022. We decided to send her to the in-board training after an unexpected surgery on the puppy got us a little behind with her training. We wanted to get her some experience in other environments. Olivia was great to work with as far as communication, organizing the dates and all the paperwork for the in-board training. We were trying to schedule the training to also get a opportunity for a lesson with Jerry with our PPD. Olivia took care of the scheduling. Our puppy was at Tarheel 23 days. Each week we were provided with a progress report from Derek on what was worked on and how our puppy did. The reports were very detailed and I could tell they were very specific to our dog since I knew what some of her challenges were. Every week we could read about her progress. On pick up day we were given two uninterrupted hours of “out-briefing” including exactly how Derek and the trainers worked with our dog, demos with our dog and then hands on with our dog. Derek was very detailed in discussing his training. He didn’t talk down to us or expect us to just know how to proceed. We left with a very good understanding of how Derek trained her. It was apparent how much our dog enjoyed being with the trainers. She really loved working with them. She was very confident and secure with them and had a great attitude towards the training. Derek definitely set her up for success. She is reliably heeling, knows sit, down, “hier” even under some distraction, place, waiting at all doors and gates, understands “no pulling”, greets people without jumping and she is always looking forward to training. Quite a bit well started in 23 days with a 10 month old puppy. She has been home for almost 2 weeks including Christmas weekend when we had guests. She handled all the visitors and activity really well. She did fantastic placing during Christmas dinner. She continues to do really well and she is eager to work on her skills. In addition to the great start to training, our dog was bathed before we came to get her and she looked healthy and fit. We also saw her kennel which was very clean and safe. We drive over 3.5 hours to take our dogs to Tarheel K9 and we are very happy they now have Derek and Olivia. I definitely recommend them and we will be taking our dog back in the spring for the advanced obedience.

It’s been years, 2003 to be more precise, that I went there to learn to train and be a pack leader. The classes were very informative, and what I liked, is that we actually got to train customer’s dogs! While I was there, I trained 7 dogs of varying size, breed, and problems. At the time, I had Leukemia, but, even though it was tough, and the final test was rough, I made it and became a Master Dog Trainer!

Tarheel Canine, Jerry and Taylor Bradshaw, and the entire professional staff are exceptional. Approachable and personable masters of their craft, you can focus your training curriculum on pet dog obedience, or working dog tracking, scent detection, and intensive bite work. You will put your hands on, and interact with, dozens of dogs daily. They offer very reasonable housing and educational funding options (ask the office manager for details). I have trained elsewhere, but if you want a single source for an education in professional dog training, you will be incredibly hard-pressed to find any training, anywhere, better than Tarheel Canine.