What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 7pm Tuesday 9am - 7pm Wednesday 9am - 7pm Thursday 9am - 7pm Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 5pm

Quarterback K9 Training, Charlotte, NC (2025)

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! ✨

Scott, Lara, Durango, Lemon & Doc 🐾🎄🤍

12/07/2024

A puppy was not part of our plan this year!

Sure, we had talked about eventually getting another dog, especially as Durango is getting older and Lemon is becoming more social, mature & confident. Another dog made sense to welcome into the pack. A dog to benefit from the wisdom and calm energy of Durango, to be a playmate and friend to Lemon. To carry the torch forward from Callie and Edgar and all the other dogs we’ve had in our life.

We’ve always tried to keep the original thread of our pack alive - to have a continual touch point through at least one of the dogs who had lived with the previous pack members. Quite possibly just for selfish reasons but I like to think there is a bit of magic that gets carried forward!

We knew we wanted our next dog to be sweet and social. As much as Lemon has developed socially, she still gets a little worried in some situations, and we knew a more confident friend would help balance that out.

We weren’t in a hurry. We thought about our favorite breeds - retrievers, collies, and of course spaniels. We also knew what we wanted in terms of personality - social, sweet, easily directed, easygoing, adaptable, brave, playful, food and toy motivated with a touch of independence.

And sometimes the universe says, well here you go! ✨

Doc. We love you so much little buddy!! Welcome to our family. 💙

09/22/2024

Corrections and reinforcement: Whether you have a puppy who barks in his crate or a dog who growls when new people come into the house, it is not enough to just correct the behavior. Correct, yes - but spend most of your time teaching and reinforcing the behavior that you actually want!

For the puppy, this means progressively conditioning them to be in the crate and reinforcing when they are not barking. For the dog who growls when new people come over, this means progressively conditioning them that when new people come over, nothing bad happens so they don’t need to be growly and will be reinforced when they are quiet and neutral.

Progressive conditioning means starting at the spot where your dog is comfortable. For the puppy this may be walking into the crate and being quiet while you walk 5’ away. For the nervous dog this may mean being in their crate with the new person 20’ away or walking with them 8’ apart.

Then you systematically, over days and weeks, progressively increase the challenge by 1-5% each time. The best way to do this is to practice several short sessions every day.

For example, the puppy can walk into the crate and be quiet while you walk 5’ away. If you walk out of their sight at 6’ they start barking. So, you practice at 4’, 5’, reinforcing that. Then you try 5.2 feet for one second and they are quiet! Great - go back to the crate and they get a piece of food, reinforcing that. Then you try 5.3 feet, 5.4 feet both successful and reinforced - then give them a break and practice again later that day, trying for a bit further each time.

Continued in comments.

09/02/2024

The best gift you can give your shy/ anxious/ fearful/ nervous dog? DIRECTION.

These dogs are the ones who capture our attention. They pull at our heart strings. We see them suffering and we want to help. In an effort to make them feel more comfortable, many people remove boundaries and what they see as pressure. Meaning, these dogs are allowed to have free roam of the house and yard, they are allowed unrestricted access to personal space like beds and couches, they are rarely crated and allowed to “choose” where they want to be at any given time.

I get called in as a trainer to help these dogs when they start displaying behaviors like reactivity, resource guarding, inability to settle, not wanting to eat or shutting down completely.

To the surprise of their people, these dogs often start turning around the very first session, with some simple and kind direction.

The command we usually start with is “place.” This is an easy way for dog and person to work together and have success speaking a shared language. Person shows dog how to do something new. Dog may not be sure about it at first, but is reinforced and rewarded for following the direction. When they achieve it, both dog and person are happy! Their confidence and mutual trust gows!

Then we work on walking together, in a manner where the person is leading the dog. The dog learns to follow this person who they are learning to trust. Dog feels relaxed, grateful that someone is taking the lead. Their confidence grows even more.

We also look at structure within the house. We go over how the crate is such a helpful and kind gift you can give your dog. Crating at night and when you are gone, as well as feeding the dog in their crate, can help a nervous dog feel reassurance that the crate is their safe spot within the home, and will always be there if they need it.

We also cover how the best acclimate the dog to new environments. You guessed it - baby steps of directed exposure, setting the dog up for success.

In the absence of direction. the majority of anxious dogs will progress very little, and many will regress. Direction and leadership provide dogs with immense comfort and confidence!

08/29/2024

The most underrated technique in dog training? REINFORCEMENT. The second most underrated technique? Reinforcing BABY STEPS and building progression towards your end goal.

Corrections absolutely have their place in shaping behavior but correcting a dog will only take you so far. They can quickly become desensitized to corrections if it is the ONLY thing we do to try and change their behavior.

If a dog isn’t behaving the way we want, they truly don’t know how!! If we think we have taught them and they still aren’t behaving the way we want, we have to do better. We have to do things differently.

The most effective method to teach your dog is to spend time clearly showing them what we expect and reinforcing that behavior. Which is why we spend a lot of time working on teaching and reinforcing baby steps towards the overall goal of everything from walking on a leash, how to sit still to put a collar on, how behave in the house, and how to behave around other dogs and in public.

Think about how many steps can you take towards your end goals. There is no limit!

🐾 The easier the small step is to teach and learn, the more you and your dog’s confidence will grow; you will start working better together and you will reach your goals more quickly. 🐾

Take the time to clearly show your dog the direction, one small behavior at a time, reinforcing and repeating that step and then pausing between practice sessions to let the dog absorb what was learned. This is absolutely the most effective time way to teach your dog new behavior in a way they will understand.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions! Always happy to help you & your dog reach your goals. QBK9.com

07/31/2024

Crate training: is it really a part of our dogs living their best life?

The concept sounds odd, right? Put your dog in a cage when you leave the house and at night to sleep. Your trainer may also suggest that you put the dog in the cage even if you are home and can’t supervise the dog.

How can this be helpful to our dog? They are active, living beings. How can training them to willingly go into a cage be part of a good life for them?

Imagine you have just moved and will be staying with a family member while you look for your own place. They warmly welcome you, but never really show you where you can sleep, where to put your stuff, etc.. They are on call for work so you also never know when they will be there on not. And they have two roommates that come and go as well. How would you feel?

Yes, you could just ask them but can your dog really ask you when they are unsure? If they can, do we all pick up on it?

When we bring a new dog into our home, the dog will feel much more comfortable if we orient them to where they will be able to safely rest, eat and sleep. Unlike humans, the majority of dogs prefer a small den instead of an actual room. This is why we will often find a dog laying under the table!

Likewise, dogs who are not crate trained and always have full run of the house when left alone, may also feel unsettled, even if they have been in the household for a while. This is especially true if the dog has developed behavioral issues.

When done the right way (incremental conditioning with positive reinforcement), crate training helps your dog settle easily and feel much less anxious about life overall. All good things happen in the crate! They are fed in there. It is their individual space. Your dog will feel safe and appreciate the consistency.

By training our dogs to use and enjoy their crate, we add to the construct where our dogs absolutely can live their best lives. Of course, a balanced day including exercise and play is essential as well.

We all know the safety reasons behind crate training. The added bonus is a well adjusted state of mind that carries over into all other aspects of behavior and everyday life!

06/28/2024

Gracie and her mom absolutely crushed it on their field trip lesson today!! Gracie has always been a happy go lucky pup but after being attacked by another dog (while out walking on leash) she has understandably been a bit fearful and reactive when she sees other dogs on her walks.

We put together a home program with lots of things that Gracie’s owner can do with her daily to rebuild her confidence and trust in their partnership.

Slowly over time we worked up to going for field trips like this, at first practicing in controlled environments and making sure that Gracie and her mom were communicating very well. This foundation leads to better navigation in more distracting environments like today.

I am so super proud of them for putting in all the daily work!! 🤩

06/08/2024

Our foster dog Marlowe has come so far from being a scared little pup in a busy shelter to being a fun loving dog playing with Lemon & Durango! She is ready for her forever home! Please share this post - she is available for adoption through Billies Buddies Animal Rescue ❤️

03/14/2024

The young pup and the old pro… foster pup Marlowe and our Durango.

Catching these two soaking up the sun yesterday and it hits me.. 12 years between these two… there are years of beach trips, mountain hikes, car rides, games of tug, chase, playing fetch, trails explored, sticks carried, socks carried, greetings when you come home, holidays and birthdays unwrapping chew toys and tennis balls, kisses right across your face, snuggles, sweet moments and so much love.

I’m already preparing myself for when Marlowe finds her forever family.. This is the bittersweet and hard part of fostering and it never gets easier no matter how long you’ve been doing it. We love her so much! She has a beautiful lifetime ahead of her and we are just helping her get ready! ⛰️🐾🩷🌻

12/25/2023

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from our family to yours! ✨❄️🎄🩷 We have so much to be grateful for this year, including all of you, our friends & QBK9 family! Here’s to a wonderful 2024!

10/27/2023

Here at Quarterback K9 Training, our 4 pillars are SAFETY, TEACHING, RELIABILITY & VALIDITY. These 4 pillars have proven to be the successful package when it comes to helping our clients train their dogs and achieve long term, lasting results!

1. SAFETY: A safe environment for both dog and owner is our first priority. This includes everything from equipment selection, how your house is set up, how the dog is supervised, how to appropriately correct unsafe behavior like jumping, and how to keep you and others safe when working with your dog.

2. TEACHING: This covers teaching your dog a new language that you can use to communicate commands as well as teaching you to recognize and learn your dog's inherent language. When you begin to understand and are able to appropriately respond to what your dog is communicating, the trust your dog has in you will skyrocket! Being a teacher means being a leader. Being a leader doesn't mean being forceful or harsh or always strict but it does mean being 100% consistent. We will teach you how to easily practice everyday moments of leadership that will boost your dog's confidence, reduce their anxiety and have them respond more quickly to your direction.

3. RELIABILITY: We create a comprehensive training plan so that your dog understands and can reliably respond to commands consistently across various environments. Although this does take time to develop, we have a specific blueprint that we will teach you to get long lasting results.

4. VALIDITY: Equally important is striving for validity -- meaning that the dog's behavior is truly representative of what we are teaching. For example, is your dog truly checking in with you or are they simply responding to a "look" command? This also takes time and practice to develop and maintain, but the result is a true working partnership with your dog in all situations!

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions! We would love to help you with your dog!
PC:

09/20/2023

Excited to announce some new training options at QBK9 coming this fall!

HYBRID GROUP PROGRAM:

We have been working on developing a group training program composed of weekly in person private lessons plus regular touch points and support during the week in an online facilitated group setting. There will be an opportunity to share what’s working well/ what you need support on and be able to receive timely feedback to stay on track. Additionally, you will gain insight from others’ questions and feedback while you all follow similar objectives. As the group progresses, we will work towards some in person group lessons/ outings as well!

IN HOME TRAINING:

Back by popular demand! In home private lessons will be available in the Charlotte, NC area starting in November!!

If you are interested in signing up, have questions or suggestions, please reach out! QBK9.com

Photo credit

07/11/2023

Had our first birthday and now we’re kissing boys. 🙈😆

One of the many things I love about being a dog trainer is getting to know so many unique dogs and observing how various traits and personalities usually play out.

When I met Lemon, I instantly recognized so many things that appeal to me just from working with similar dogs over the years. I had a good idea about what qualities would be constant (intelligence 😅) and which ones would fade over time (timidity).

Banks, C**t, Freya, Blue, Durant, Lancie, Evaleen, Austin, Bella, Lenny, Georgia, Murray, Ellie.. I see a bit of all of you in Lemon. 💗 🐾

#🍋⛰️🐾💛

02/27/2023

Recently losing both Edgar and Callie to cancer, within just a few short months of each other, left us crushed and heavy in grief. The saddest thing was watching Durango also grieve the loss of his friends.

We were so very touched to receive this beautiful painting of Durango, Edgar & Callie by gifted by our sweet friend, .by.a 🤍💙

The golden years of this trio have sadly passed. We are beyond grateful to have shared those years with them and for every bit of their magic that this beautiful portrait will always remind us.

We will never forget our sweet Edgar and our beautiful Callie. ✨🤍🐾🤍✨

Thank you Sarah & Ang, so very much. 🤍

02/10/2023

We all know how hard it is to get one dog looking at the camera, let alone two!! Big congratulations to Shep & Rosie and their family for completing the 8 week lesson program that includes modern ecollar communication!

What makes the QBK9 program stand apart from others is our unique and unparalleled client support. Lessons are tailored to the way YOU learn best, along with your dog, and support is provided through videos of your lesson, email recaps after every lesson, reference videos and availability in between lessons to answer any questions and help troubleshoot things that come up!

Feel free to reach out if you have been considering training for your dog! We specialize in training family dogs - basic obedience, manners, socialization and behavioral issues!
—

01/08/2023

A few days ago, we tearfully said goodbye to our sweet and beautiful Callie.

Over the last week she began slowing down significantly. The vet confirmed that sadly the cancer was beginning to spread rapidly, particularly in her liver and abdomen and that her blood counts were severely declining. We kept her as comfortable as possible but Friday morning we knew.

Our vet and the entire team at Birkdale Animal Hospital were so wonderful to Callie. She enjoyed whipped cream and cookies, her favorite bumper, tennis ball and passed peacefully surrounded by flowers and so much love. 🌸

So many of you and your dogs know and love Callie like we do. She led me to the path of becoming a dog trainer and worked with me to help hundreds of client dogs. She was a best friend and playmate to many foster dogs over the years as well.

Fly high my sweet girl. Catch those waves.
Thank you for choosing us and all the joy you brought to our family!

I see your beautiful angel wings and I love you so much. 🤍✨🐾🤍

12/26/2022

Hope you all enjoyed wonderful holidays and a Merry Christmas!

Simply caring for our animals and our little farm during these unusual below freezing temps has given me a new appreciation for all the farmers and boarding barns that care for large numbers of horses and livestock!

Our animals are such a gift and I am beyond grateful for the unexpected awe and simplicity they bring to our lives.

Nothing else really matters when you have to focus on their basic essentials, like fresh, non-frozen water to drink!

Nothing else really matters when you have to keep your self relaxed and in the saddle when your horse is feeling fresh after 3 days off work!

Nothing else really matters when you do night check and your horse comes to the stall door just to let you kiss her forehead and inhale all the peace that her presence is. ✨

Here’s to some warmer days this week as we head into the beautiful new year.. wishing you moments of awe that truly are the best gifts of all. ✨❤️

📷 credit to our neighbor, J. Eagleson - thank you for capturing the beauty of our home & our horses. ❄️

12/10/2022

Callie update: 🎉🎉🎉 Since undergoing an urgent splenectomy and being diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma 6 weeks ago, she is doing great! She is running around like a puppy, playing fetch and rolling around like nothing is wrong! Gotta love our dogs and the wide open bliss they have for life. ❤️

We talked with the oncologist at length and elected not to do chemo like we did with Edgar. But we do have her on supplements prescribed by the vet (I’m Yunity and Yunnan Baiyao) that have actually been proven in studies to extend the life of dogs who have this type of cancer. (We had Edgar on them too.)

Hemangiosarcoma unfortunately is a fast growing, highly malignant cancer despite treatment. Prognosis without chemotherapy (surgery only) is 1-4 months life expectancy; 6-8 months with chemo.

Only about 2% of dogs live past a year of being diagnosed but we are hopeful that Callie is in the 2%!! We are just appreciating every minute with her and so happy that she seems to be super comfortable right now.

When we were waiting for the pathology results, I told Scott that if it wasn’t cancer I wanted to get another dog so that it could grow up with both Durango and Callie’s good influence.

We put that whole idea on hold when we found out about the cancer. However, since Callie has been feeling so good, we are again considering getting another dog so that it has time with her to learn her good manners and social skills — I know there will never be another dog like her but if she could share even a little bit of her magic with a new dog that would be a gift.

Hug your pups and go have fun with them!! Get outside, run around, jump in the air, roll on the ground and live every minute to the fullest!! Much love to all of you and thank you for all your love and support for our best girl, Callie. ✨❤️🐾

As always, a huge thank you to our amazing vets, Dr. Stephen Etter at Birkdale Animal Hospital and Dr. Claudia McFadden Carolina Veterinary Specialists, Matthews and their teams. We appreciate you all so much! ❤️

Quarterback K9 Training

12/25/2024

12/07/2024

09/22/2024

09/02/2024

08/29/2024

07/31/2024

06/28/2024

06/08/2024

03/14/2024

12/25/2023

10/27/2023

09/20/2023

07/11/2023

02/27/2023

02/10/2023

01/08/2023

12/26/2022

12/10/2022

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Monday	9am - 7pm
Tuesday	9am - 7pm
Wednesday	9am - 7pm
Thursday	9am - 7pm
Friday	9am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm