Smart K9 Training - FARGO (2025)

18/04/2025

Help us congratulate Otis & Katie for getting their Trick Dog Novice!

These continue to push the limits & conquer goals. Their training journey has been nothing less than truly remarkable!

This team always shows us how determined they are to chase their dreams, not letting anything stand in the way. Otis has come so far in life, making us so incredibly proud at every corner! Truly the dream team!!

Congrats again on your TKN you two!! 🤍

16/04/2025

This little nugget is Sydney!
Sydney started training at just 4 months old, to help set her future up for success!

While she is here with us, we will be working on building foundations for future training down the road. We are not focusing on teaching her obedience commands, but rather, we are building a happy & confident puppy! Showing her the world, building engagement, self-regulation & learning how to live her best life in a humans world!

We always love building the foundation work with puppies. It is always a treat knowing we are able to have such a huge impact on the most influential moments in a puppies life!

Sydney & her family will conquer such amazing things & we are lucky to be a part of their journey so early on!

07/04/2025

Meet Mischievous Mr. Moose!
We’ve had such a blast getting to learn one another this past week & we are excited to continue to share our journey with you guys as it’s going to be amazing!

Moose & his housemate, Molly, both came in for evals. Their owners were needing help, & fast! Moose is a wild child, living by the beat of his own drum, lacking manners & structure. He plays too rough with Molly, which often times leads to some pretty serious fights.

Not only are we going to be instilling some manners & self-regulation skills within Moose, but just as importantly, teaching his family how to set rules & boundaries between the dogs & humans. We do this by building a healthy & trusting relationship! Clear communication, consistency, & practice!

We know Moose & his family are dedicated & ready to put in the work to live a harmonious life with their dogs! We are lucky to be a part of this journey with them!!

04/04/2025

Congratulations to our cleints Benny & Mandy!
Hardworking & dedicated is an understatement of this team. The countless hours these two have put in to training continues to inspire us!

Benny is now Benjamin Allen TKI 😍

During pack walks, Mandy has recorded her virtual rally submissions & has passed each one, with scores in the 90s! Every. Single. Time. 🥰 We are just waiting for AKC to add the RN!!!!

We are so proud of Benny & his mom & we can’t wait to add their title certificates to our wall! Go team go!

🐕 Does your dog have a title? Let us know & we will add you to the wall of accomplishments!! 🐕

03/04/2025

📣 BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS HITTING YOUR INBOX 📣

Beginning May 1st Client Exclusive Enrichment Daycare is getting.. even.. better! 🙌🏼

Automatically guarantee your daycare day spot- no more hassling with Gingr- no more worrying about your reservation getting declined. 🎉

Automatically receive monthly public socialization trips for your dog, nail trims, and ear cleanings. Set it up with us once, and never worry again. 💪🏼

We have also updated our pricing so we can continue to offer you the best dog care in town.

New pricing for boarding takes effect immediately, new packages and pricing for daycare take effect May 1st.

Clients, we encourage you to check your emails and snag your spot before it’s gone. Space is limited and the wait list WILL run long.

If you did not receive an email (or want to work on getting your pup re-qualified for client exclusives) please send us an email and we will get all of the exciting information out to you!

[email protected]

26/03/2025

🐾 Delta and Nathan enjoying a walk! 🐾

🐩 Enjoyable walks are the most common goal we hear during evaluations, through training we can get you and your dog enjoying walks again!

Ready to start having enjoyable walks? Check out our website to learn more about us, then sign up for an evaluation to get started on your journey to enjoyable walks! 🐶

After training we are here for Client-Exclusive Daycare, Boarding, & Pack Walks to keep up your dogs new skills, have people you know & trust to look after them, and give them all the love while keeping up with their training! ❤️

24/03/2025

We have some new titles to celebrate!! 🎉

Trainer Hannah and her dog Bean got their Trick Dog Novice and immediately followed it up with their Trick Dog Intermediate title!

Trainer Hailey and Arya also got their Trick Dog Intermediate title!

The TKI title shows that your dog knows 20 tricks! You show off 10 for the Novice title and 10 more/different tricks for the Intermediate!

Bean is officially, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Bean TKI and Arya is, Arya Z Waltonhaus RN TKI ! Catch us on the hunt for more titles soon 👀

20/03/2025

Your favorite trainers favorite controversial takes 🤪

1. Use a flexible leash, we LOVE our flexi! I could list 101 reasons we love our retractable leash for training or daycare dogs! ❤️
2. We don’t take our personal dogs on walks daily, instead we make sure we play & train but rarely do structured walks with them!
3. We use prongs and remote collar systems! For us, it depends on the dog and the goals of the family to decide what’s the best route to take, sometimes that’s neither!
4. We love personal play! Not every dog will play this way but as long as the dog knows when it’s allowed and how to stop, we allow the craziness that comes with it! 🤩
5. Don’t require our training or personal dogs to sleep in the kennel at night! As long as everyone is getting the rest they need and not getting into mischief we don’t care!!! 💤
6. Take training at the dog’s pace! Relationship is a large part of our training, knowing when and what to push is something we learn as we build the relationship with your dog! We aren’t going to tackle spooky things right away or flood your reactive dog with seeing a bunch of dogs. These things take time and a relationship, leading to more confident, resilient and successful dogs! 🐾
7. We encourage talking to your vet about medication in extreme behavior cases! Behavior rehabilitation is hard work, climbing the mountain without the help of the correct gear makes it so much harder! 💊
8. We let the dog process triggers and don’t correct the dog for looking at something! It’s our job to set the dog up for success in these situations which means we can allow the dog to take in the world around them and encourage better behavior rather than suppressing!
9. You won’t catch us in a dog park! We highly recommend the only time you go to the dog park is to train outside of it! We see a lot of reactivity stem from dog parks!
10. Car kennels! You wear a seatbelt and your kids wear a seatbelt, restraining your dog in a crash tested kennel keeps your dog safe and keeps you safe too! Dogs will become flying projectiles in the event of a crash and they are not restrained. Your dog deserves to be safe. 🚗

Got questions? Ask!!

19/03/2025

Duke has graduated!
This team has truly put in the blood, sweat, & tears into training. Their progress over the last few months has been nothing short of extraordinary!

Duke started communicating unwanted attention towards guests by using his teeth. Immediately booking an eval, we came up with a game plan for private lessons!

We worked on teaching his mom how to read his body language for prior communication that he was uncomfortable, re-building their relationship together, & learning to advocate for his space. After a few lessons & proving she was dedicated, Duke’s mom wanted to push him further! We crushed his reactivity, built his confidence around new people, worked on his reactivity, & finally we tackled heeling & e-collar conditioning!

To say I’m so proud of this team is an understatement. Everything that was thrown her way, Duke’s mom crushed with ease. She showed up every lesson proving she did her homework!

Congratulations you two! Keep crushing your goals!!

17/03/2025

SHARE! For a limited time, we are offering free new dog training client evaluations for new clients!

Use code “2025” at checkout!

We now also have interest free payment plans available!

Exciting clients it’s a great time to get refresher training in.. soon there will be squirrels, birds, and more people / dogs outside!

SmartK9Fargo.com

14/03/2025

If I asked you to name three things these two have in common, your list would probably start like this:
1. Both adorable herding dogs
2. Both wearing muzzles

The 3rd thing might surprise you:
Bean and Jammer take medication that allows them to live their best lives!

Medication can be a controversial topic in the dog training world but we know in combination with training it can change a dog and their humans lives!

These two take a daily anxiety medication (fluoxetine) and a daily pain medication (carprofen), both for different reasons!

Jammer struggled with isolation anxiety and chronic pain, with medication he’s much more comfortable being left alone and no longer panics, he is also able to live a more fulfilling life running around without pain!

Beans journey with medication is an interesting one, she started showing extreme panic over repeating noises, like the beeping from a truck backing up. We tried everything we could think of and resulted in improvement! 😅 Turns out that a large percent of dogs with noise phobias also have pain struggles. Which turned out to be true for Bean, for her some noises = pain!

Medication has truly changed the game for these two and several other SK9 kiddos, and may be something you hear us recommend talking to your vet about!

Medication can be tricky, like people, the first or second medication may not be the best fit but finding the correct one can make training so much easier for you and your dog!

When doing behavior modification we want to ensure the dog and their humans are set up for success as much as possible, sometimes that includes medication! 💊

(Or muzzles but that’s a post for another time, today enjoy these cuties keeping up their muzzle conditioning!)

13/03/2025

Hi friends! 👋

I’m Nike, a happy-go-lucky, silly Staffy mix! 🤪

My family did a great job building up my foundation skills but needed a little extra help teaching me how to regulate my emotions and arousal levels, which makes it tricky for me to think! I also get pretty mouthy and jumpy when I’m excited so I’m working on building better habits with that too!

Trainer Hannah & I have been working super hard learning all the things! We have been working on thinking through arousal and self regulating, building up my obedience skills and having a blast!

Keep an eye out for me on the story while I’m learning and showing off my skills! I’m so excited to start showing my family my new skills during our lessons, and then we get to tackle the world together! 🤓

11/03/2025

Hi Leia!
Leia & her family started their training journey with a few private lessons before we made the jump into Day Training! In those lessons we worked on starting some new habits in the home between Leia & her housemate Rosco, as they have started to cross one another’s boundaries!

During day training, we will be working on pushing Leia’s obedience & loose leash walking skills, as well as build some confidence & work on a proper communication system through using markers.

Leia & her family have such a wonderful future together! We are so grateful to be a part of this journey with them & to help guide them in the right direction!

10/03/2025

Happy Graduation Day Dewy! 🥳

Dewey and his mom just finished their package of private lessons! These two have packed so much into their lessons and crushed it!

During their lessons we worked on:
- climb - he can now stay while guests come over or he needs his own spot to chill
- leash pressure - Dewey came in on a gentle leader and would pull through it frequently, we taught him how to respond to leash pressure to have more relaxing walks! Including being able to walk next to the stroller!
- muzzle trianing - Dewey can do all the things in his muzzle!

Way to go you two! So happy for you and ready to watch you keep tackling the world!

27/02/2025

Hi Molly!

Sweet girl Molly is here for day training!

Mollys dad adopted her last fall and after giving her time to settle into life with him, he wanted to make sure she had the best foundation to strive!

Molly is a teenage GSP who is here to work on some anxious tendencies, especially when separated from people, and learn obedience skills!

We are so excited to watch Molly & her Dad flourish together!

10/02/2025

Hi! My name is Poppy, I’m a 4 month old German Shorthair Pointer!

I’m a little bundle of energy all the time and have a hard time settling even after a busy, fulfilling day! I also find the world soooo exciting I get distracted easily :)

Trainer Hannah says while I’m here for training I’m going to work on learning how to settle and self regulate, learn how to focus with some distractions, and how to refocus if I do get distracted, she said this was the most important because I’m still a puppy!!

I’m also going to build up the obedience foundations Mom and I have been working on at home!

Keep an eye out on the stories to watch me grow and learn to be my best self! I’ve had such a fun first day so far, this place is a blast!

07/02/2025

Zeus the Belgian Malinois!

This young man is the true definition of his breed; intelligent, driven, intense, & sensitive.

Being a thoughtful & diligent owner, his dad knew Zeus has a ton of potential & to set him up for success in the best way possible, he got him signed up for training right away!

While he is with us, we are thoroughly making sure this puppy knows how to shut his brain off & relax. While also learning basic manners & obedience foundations, it is so important that this breed has a biologically fulfilling outlet. Learning proper play & other ways to both physically & mentally enrich Zeus is very important!

We are grateful to be a part of this training journey with Zeus & his dad! The future is beaming with excellence for these two!!

06/02/2025

Gertrude, the fabulous Frenchie!

In her first few days she has been such a delight to build a relationship with! While becoming best friends with Gertie has been quite easy, teaching her how to settle is going to be what we focus on these next few weeks!

This little lady is here for training to help learn some self regulation skills & some basic manners. She’s a pretty confident lady that has quite the desire to use her brain to learn!

We cannot wait to show her parents how bright their future is together!!

Smart K9 Training - FARGO