Mind of a K9

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween everyone!! Please post pics of your dogs in costumes! We would love to see them!!

10/08/2024

***ATTENTION SENIOR DOGS & YOUNG PUPPY OWNERS*** 🐶 🐶 🐕 🐩

We have been asked to help provide some dogs for a commercial for a local pet store. What is needed:
- an older, calm dog. One who would be fine walking away on a leash, with a child. Without pulling the child. Dog needs to look older (like graying on the face, etc). So the dog cannot have any aggression or separation anxiety & be good with kids.

- 3 or 4 puppies that will be between 3-5 months old on November 8th. Preferably mixed breeds. But feel free to submit any pups. & not all black (doesn’t show up on camera well - white blaze on face is fine). Puppies do not need to be trained or well behaved.

**must be able to come with me for the day on November 8th & 9th - Richmond, VA

If you think you have a dog that meets these requirements, please post a pic in the comments & I’ll contact you if I think your dog would be a good fit. Your dogs photo & description will be submitted to the production company & if they are chosen, I will let you know.

06/11/2024

Just learning our ABC’s over here 📚

06/07/2024

While you're out having fun in the sun, send your dog somewhere where they can have fun too! We offer both board and train and regular boarding. Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about our boarding programs:

Where do my dogs stay while they're with you?

One of the things that sets our boarding apart is the fact that the dogs stay with us in our homes rather than being left alone in a boarding facility overnight. They are integrated into our pack and basically just become part of the family during the time they're with us!

What do my dogs do while they're with you for board and train?

When the dogs are with us for board and train, we are working on all of their basic commands, along with any behavioral issues that need to be addressed. The dogs come with us out in public to practice their training and get some socialization with new sights, sounds, etc. They come to the facility with us for group classes and playgroups. They get tons of playtime with other dogs of appropriate size and play style and lots of outside time in our fenced-in yards. At the end of their training with us, we sit down with you and go over everything you need to know in order to maintain the training.

What do my dogs do while they're with you for regular boarding?

When the dogs are with us for regular boarding, we are not actively working on certain commands or behavioral issues, but we do maintain those commands while they're with us. The dogs still get the structure and routine that they need so that they don't regress in their behaviors. They get tons of playtime with other dogs of appropriate size and play style and lots of outside time in our fenced-in yards.

If you have any trips planned this summer and want to have your dogs board with us, contact us for pricing and more information.
*We do have some spots available for 4th of July week, but they are booking quickly, so let us know as soon as possible!

04/30/2024

Today’s PSA: I feel like I’ve become the scammer police. So sick of seeing these posts being shared. If it says “please bump this post” you know it’s a scam. Just look at the original post & you will see the comments have been turned off. The profiles are fake - on the original post! It’s usually lost or injured dogs or people.

04/14/2024

These Golden puppies are from my client's dogs. She has amazing dogs - the mother of this litter is my favorite. She has 1 male and 1 female golden retriever pups ready to go home weekend of May 4th. Pups will leave with microchip, first set of shots, clearance and DNA screening info for both parents, plus a 3 year health guarantee. All pups are introduced to crates, potty training, and socialized in a household with children. Located in Goochland, VA. You can contact her at [email protected]. Or for to her website https://legacyfarmgoldens.com/
Pics of Dam & Sire attached

04/02/2024

Bruno needs a permanent home. He was given up by his owners because they didn’t have time for him. He is a 2.5 years old German Shepherd. He is great with all dogs, but does play hardcore. He needs time to warm up to strangers, but bonds well when he does. He is off leash trained. He can jump a 5 ft fence but just wants to stay where his person is. He is unneutered. He needs an active owner. He has been fostered by a trainer for 6 months but will need new owner to continue training. If you have an interest, pm me & I’ll will give you the contact info. He can always go for a trial period. Richmond, VA. Please share so we can find him the perfect home.

01/23/2024

Playgroup tomorrow 12-3! Let us know if you want to come!

01/22/2024

I am just realizing that last week's star student didn't get posted here on our public page too! (We have a private Owner's Only group here on Facebook too; if you have trained with us before and would like access to that, message us). Sorry Denver!

We are back from our holiday break, which means it’s time for our first Star Student of 2024! Drumroll please…it’s Denver! Denver is a standard poodle with some of the coolest markings I’ve ever seen. He came to us as a typical poodle…a jumper and a puller. He was also reactive towards other dogs, making it hard to take him in public or to other places where dogs might be. Within weeks of starting group classes, he had made remarkable improvement. Denver also needed some help with socialization. He had no concept of social cues and could be a bit too strong of a personality for some dogs. After introducing him to our structured playgroups and helping him learn social cues, Denver has gone from the instigator of the group to the peace keeper of the group. If he sees two dogs start to stare each other down or get tense, he will casually just walk in between them and hang there until they find other things to focus on. It’s been really cool to watch his social skills develop over time!
Here’s what his owners (who are incredibly dedicated to his training, by the way) had to say about his training:
What is something that you can do with your dog since training that you couldn't do before?
~ “Everything! The best thing is that we can take him anywhere we want to go. We don’t worry about him being reactive around other dogs.”
What has been the best part about starting training with your dog?
~ “The best part is living in the moment, just focusing on training with no outside distractions.”
What have you enjoyed about your dog's training with Mind of a K9 specifically?
~ “It’s a great atmosphere. I feel like we can make mistakes and not be called out, so I am not self conscious about doing things wrong.”
Huge kudos to Denver and his owners for all of their hard work! They have continued to remain in group classes even after he graduated and have gone on to do some of our more advanced Ecollar training classes. Their work has paid off and Denver is living proof!

01/22/2024

This week's Star Student is Mocha! Mocha did a board and train with me over the summer and was such a fun dog to train. She already had her basic commands down, so we got to spend the week advancing them and working on off leash training. This is typically not something we can achieve in such a short time, but Mocha was ready! She loves to be outside and have her freedom, but because she lives near a main road, it was important to her owners that they had a way to reliably make sure she stayed out of the road. After introducing the e-collar to her, it was like everything clicked and she was a different dog. By the end of the week, I was using her as a demo dog for group classes. She even passed the graduation test for our six-week beginner class in the one week that she was with me. So she got to wear the graduation cap and take her picture just like everybody else. Now, she comes to playtime here and there to see her old friends!
Here's what her owners had to say about her training:
Where is your favorite place to practice training with your dog?
~"Anywhere! But preferably large, open pieces of land where we can do lots of off leash practice."
What is something that you can do with your dog since training that you couldn't do before?
~"We can drop the leash and let her walk longer distances with the leash dragging on the ground. We never would’ve done that before! The e-collar training has been life changing!"
What have you enjoyed about your dog's training with Mind of a K9 specifically?
~"On or off leash, when we tell her to wait on us, she actually waits, even if she is distracted. If we tell her to come, she comes. We picked her up and were SHOCKED at the amount she had grown in her tricks and her commands. Also, it was fun to see her do all these commands in a room full of dogs."

01/14/2024

We are back from our holiday break, which means it’s time for our first Star Student of 2024! Drumroll please…it’s Denver! Denver is a standard poodle with some of the coolest markings I’ve ever seen. He came to us as a typical poodle…a jumper and a puller. He was also reactive towards other dogs, making it hard to take him in public or to other places where dogs might be. Within weeks of starting group classes, he had made remarkable improvement. Denver also needed some help with socialization. He had no concept of social cues and could be a bit too strong of a personality for some dogs. After introducing him to our structured playgroups and helping him learn social cues, Denver has gone from the instigator of the group to the peace keeper of the group. If he sees two dogs start to stare each other down or get tense, he will casually just walk in between them and hang there until they find other things to focus on. It’s been really cool to watch his social skills develop over time!

Here’s what his owners (who are incredibly dedicated to his training, by the way) had to say about his training:

What is something that you can do with your dog since training that you couldn't do before?
~ “Everything! The best thing is that we can take him anywhere we want to go. We don’t worry about him being reactive around other dogs.”

What has been the best part about starting training with your dog?
~ “The best part is living in the moment, just focusing on training with no outside distractions.”

What have you enjoyed about your dog's training with Mind of a K9 specifically?
~ “It’s a great atmosphere. I feel like we can make mistakes and not be called out, so I am not self conscious about doing things wrong.”

Huge kudos to Denver and his owners for all of their hard work! They have continued to remain in group classes even after he graduated and have gone on to do some of our more advanced Ecollar training classes. Their work has paid off and Denver is living proof!

12/13/2023

We are offering special play days next week to give you some time to get your holiday shopping done! Please read the flyer below for specific details...
12/20 & 12/21: 12:00pm-3:00pm
We will be offering pick-up and drop-off services for these play days as specified below. If you do not need pick-up and drop-off, you may bring your dog to the facility and drop-off as you normally would for playtime.
Who knows, maybe if this pick-up and drop-off arrangement is convenient for everyone, we will keep it around as a regular thing 🤷‍♀️

12/11/2023

Week 2 of our Star Student series features Arnold!

Arnold is a 2ish-year-old hound mix who wants everyone to know when he walks into a room. Like most hounds, he is very vocal and likes to use his nose. However, Arnold has a special talent...I quite literally believe he could find a way to escape out of ANY situation. Wire crate? No problem! 6ft privacy fence? He's either parkouring his way over or he is digging under! Baby gate in his way? Nah, he will just launch over it! His life mission is to sniff out the outdoor cats, and boy is he good at it! He absolutely adores any and all toys, and wants nothing more than other dogs to engage with him in a very fast-paced game of "catch me if you can!"

Despite his tenacious spirit, however, Arnold exceeded our expectations when it came to learning his commands. Hounds can be some of the hardest breeds to train to sit and lay down. They lock those legs and say, "No thank you!" In the beginning of his training, Arnold was no exception to this hound stereotype. However, in just two short weeks, he had learned how to sit, and not much longer after that was he laying down on command. His owners have worked SO hard with him on their homework in between group classes, and their work has really started to pay off. As a trainer, there is nothing cooler than having your clients surprise you with how far their dog's training has come because they went above and beyond to work on the training at home. And as a personal friend of Arnold's owners, it's even cooler that I don't have to nag them to keep up with his training ;)

His owners had this to say about his training journey thus far:

What has been the best part about starting your training journey with your dog?
~"Getting him socialized with new friends in a good and safe environment."

What improvements have you noticed about your dog's behavior since beginning training that you weren't necessarily expecting or that have pleasantly surprised you?
~"His attention span is slightly longer (>3 sec), we got him to sit and he discovered it's actually kind of comfortable for him, and he is able to wait.

Describe a scenario where your dog's training came in handy.
~"When getting out of the car, he waits for our command more often than not to jump out of the car. Safety first!"

What is something that you can do with your dog since training that you couldn't do before?
~"Literally everything - sit, lay down, wait, controlled walking."

12/03/2023

Starting off our new Star Student of the Week series, we have Ember! Ember really deserves his own month to highlight all of the hard work that went into making him the dog he is now.

Some of you may actually remember Ember from his six week board and train with Kalli at the beginning of this year. He is an 18-month-old Dalmatian with a whole lot of strength and, historically, not a lot of focus. Kalli worked with him tirelessly on leash manners, staying off of the furniture, socialization with other dogs, and exposure to new sights and sounds. He had dragged his 70 year old owner down multiple times and was almost impossible to take anywhere out in public. Because he wasn't able to be taken in public when he was young, he had fear behaviors and anxiety when it came to new people or inanimate objects. He showed some concerning behavior with strangers and bikes, lunging and sometimes snapping at them. Since his board and train, his owner can now walk him without fear that he is going to take off and drag her down. He is much better behaved when playing with other dogs now that he has learned social cues, and he is now one of our favorites to board. For those of you who remember him, you may remember Kalli crowning him "the hardest dog she has had to train in her 35 years of training dogs." But with great difficulty comes great reward, and Ember is living proof.

When asked some questions about his training, here are some things his owner's daughter had to say:

What is something that you can do with your dog since training that you couldn't do before?
~"Walk him!"

What have you enjoyed about your training with Mind of a K9 specifically?
~"As you know, Ember was one of your most challenging dogs to train. Mind of a K9 completely changed how Ember acts and instead of being worried he is going to hurt someone, he is happy, well mannered, socialized with people and other animals and I feel like my mom is safe with him. Thanks to Mind of a K9, my mom can handle Ember and she can keep him. Just when we thought Ember was untrainable, Kalli and Lauren took on the tough job, and with much time and effort, patience and perseverance, Ember can be considered a success story. Thank you Kalli and Lauren for all your hard work with Ember and for always being willing to take him in for training even when he’s still a work in progress."

What improvements have you noticed about your dog's behavior since beginning training that you weren't necessarily expecting or that have pleasantly surprised you?
~"Staying off the furniture and knowing his 'place'"

Some of his training videos will be posted in the comments. Tune in next week to see our next Star Student!

09/05/2023

09/05/2023

Announcement: Due to illness, Beginner & Beyond Beginner classes will start Tuesday the 12th, not today. If you still need to sign up, let us know!

08/25/2023

Y'all...big news!!! We have new classes on the schedule! And we have a change to the structure of classes...we have decided to make our classes rolling (NOTE: this does not apply to Ecollar class). This means that you do not have to come each week and can use your six classes at your own pace. Each week we will be going over the same commands, so you won't miss out on much if you have to skip a week. We recommend that you come weekly for the consistency, but we know that life can get in the way sometimes. For our beginner class participants, this also means you can come to a different class if your normal one doesn't work with your schedule (we just ask that you tell us ahead of time that you plan on coming). We will take attendance each class to keep track of how many classes each person has used. On your sixth class, we will have you do your graduation test like normal. If we have the demand, we will add additional classes. If there is a class that you don't see on the list that you want, let us know! Our hope is that having the flexibility of coming to class when it fits in your busy schedule will make group training classes less stressful for everyone.

*ALSO, we will be running a deal on day training days when they are purchased at the same time that you sign up for classes. Day training days will be discounted to $100/day versus the normal $125/day. You don't have to schedule them at the time of purchase and can use them at your leisure. Pick-up/Drop-off at your home is available for an additional $20.

***If you would like to sign up for classes, please email us at [email protected]!

Beginner Classes: 6 weeks, $185
Tuesdays at 7pm starting 9/5
Thursdays at 6:30pm starting 9/14

Beyond Beginner Classes: 6 weeks, $185
Tuesdays at 6pm starting 9/5

Ecollar Classes: 3 classes, $185 (Ecollar can be purchased from us for additional $220)
First class- Thursday, 9/7 at 6:30pm
*Remaining two classes will be scheduled based on the schedules of those in class