The Complete K9 - Birmingham, Alabama

Had a super positive experience with our pup, Kaiser! Before Adam worked with him, he would bark aggressively and jump on anyone who came into our house making it difficult to have people over. He also was not very easy to walk on a leash. After having a few sessions, and Adam teaching us how to use the collar correctly- Kaiser has done much better on a leash and has stopped jumping and barking at people when they walk in the door.

Edit: We have never said we wanted Adam to be terminated. We just wanted to honestly review our experience online to the public. I do not want nor expect anyone to be terminated. I’m happy they are receiving further training and installing cameras -- that was the resolution. Their responses highlight the unprofessionalism we’ve seen. TL;DR: I would not trust Adam to train my dog. Please heed that warning. We have talked with several people in the community who have had similar issues as us and I wish I would've seen even ONE negative review before spending nearly $1,000. The reason they have 5 star reviews across the board is because any negative reviews are met with the office staff asking you to change it. Justin is our new trainer and he is incredible but that does not make up for the service from the owners and training from Adam. My significant other recently left a negative review regarding our experience with OLK9. That was met with a phone call where we were told we would receive 2 free training lessons if we would change our review. When we got clarification on "changing our review," we were told that they wanted us to remove Adam's name from the review because it "looked bad on the whole company." We declined to change the review in that way, so they offered one free lesson instead (rather than the previous offer of two). Two lessons if we remove names and help out their reviews, one if we didn't. When the office staff read our initial review, we were told they "were completely shocked, that's not how we do things" and that "Adam was on thin ice." However, on the Internet, the issues we had are watered down to just "communication issues on stimulus (e-collar)," that "Adam has received nothing but positive reviews," and that WE were "taking things the wrong way." I am glad that they will be receiving further education on training and anxiety and also installing cameras into the facility, but I just don't understand why this wasn't common practice beforehand. We first received training from Adam with our 6 month GSD. I remember driving away from our first lesson and saying "...that was it?" but she already knew "sit" and "come" commands so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. We had hopes that the training would improve. After the second lesson covering "place," our dog was acting in ways I have never seen -- thrashing, barking, and screeching. We (unfortunately) decided to give it one more lesson to see how she would respond with Adam and by the third lesson she was absolutely miserable. OLK9 uses e-collars which the stimulus ranges from 0-100 in regards to strength. Adam was using upwards of 75. When I would practice at home, at the park, or anywhere really, we could use 5-15. That does not sit well with me (to put it lightly). Adam told us countless times that our dog was the worst dog he's ever seen and he's thankful we didn't opt to board and train her because he would've hated it. After our third lesson and the increasing issues with Adam, we called because we did not want to continue training. Now, I am usually overly polite and don't want to step on toes so I wanted the staff to be aware that our dog has separation anxiety but Adam was NOT a good fit regardless. I went over some of the issues they were having and was told that "different trainers have different strengths and weaknesses." We did not want to continue into the Advanced Training (we purchased Basic + Advanced and had yet to begin the advanced classes). We were told that this was impossible and against policy (which I understand BUT it is possible as payment is via PayPal) so we were switched to a new trainer. Justin is GREAT with our pup and we are thankful for the change. He's taken the time to make sure our dog is comfortable in a space that she has learned to hate. As great as he is, it does not make up for the service we've received from our first trainer and from the owners.

Edit: Vanessa from the office was super helpful. She offered me 2 free lessons (which I was happy with) on the condition I change my review and take Adams name out of it so he isn't affected. That wouldn't reflect the service I got so I said no. The owner then went back on their offer and said I can have 1 free lesson but still need to change the review. After dealing with Adam I was hoping the owner would be more understanding even though I'm choosing to be honest in my review to help others get better service. That being said I'm changing my review and stars to reflect the service. We were first placed with a trainer named Adam who was supposedly "great with German Shepherds". That being said I had really high hopes for the training since we were told he was so good. The first lesson, he took no time whatsoever to get to know my dog. He immediately put the shock collar on her, started saying commands over and over so quietly you couldn't hear him over the buildings A/C, then shocking her over and over. That was with sit. Mind you - my dog already new sit when she was 3 months old. The second lesson, my dog wasn't comfortable with him since he's just this strange man that shocks her every few seconds and he didn't get to know her. She was clearly scared of him and didn't want to be held on a leash by him to which he said "this is the worst dog I've ever trained and I've had a bunch of aggressive ones. I don't think she's mature enough for the training". They whole thing is any dog, any problem so obviously that didn't sit well with me but, we pushed through in hopes the lesson would get better. Long story short, it didn't. ON TO LESSON 3 AND BOY WAS IT A DOOZY. The trainer touched her for 5 mins and wouldn't handle her anymore because my dog was trying to bite him (she's never had an issue with being aggressive) since he hasn't made any connection with her yet. He hands her off to us and very poorly explained how to teach his WRONG version of heel. After 40 mins he calls the lesson and that was it. Shortly afterwards we call to try and get our money back since the trainer, Adam, clearly doesn't work well with GSDs or any dog for that matter as you can't without making a connection - which he did not. The lady over the phone says it's impossible so I know that's not true given the fact we paid over PayPal and you can easily issue returns there. I thought about just disputing the payment so we could get a refund but she suggests we switch trainers... alright, fine, didn't know that was an option. But why wouldn't Adam (the worst trainer I've ever seen) mention that since he said I have the worst dog he had ever seen and complained about how long his day was every time we walked in? I actually have the answer: they make money off each dog they train so he doesn't want to lose the paycheck. All that being said, we switch to Justin. JUSTIN IS A SAINT. He took the time to get to know my dog by playing with her and rubbing her, to which she literally rolled over in his lap and kicked both back legs. He starts training her 4th lesson which was the down command using just a leash and a hand signal. He would only shock her when she was really stubborn. He was shocking her between 5-15. (Strength of the shock) Adam had her collar on 70. Think about that. If my dog listens in 10, 70 is boarder line animal abuse. After her lesson we had down pretty well engrained but still haven't learned Heel which was supposed to be her 3rd lesson but now we have to use an extra class on that command or go with out it - so we really got shorted a class because of an awful trainer (Adam). I feel like we should get a free one but with our service thus far, I don't suspect that will happen. The only reason im giving 3 starts is because of how incredible Justin is. 5 stars for Justin - ZERO For Adam.