My dog has been to many, many trainers and this one is the best! My dog is great – but he is a rescue, and he had some reactivity issues, anxiety issues, he had been abused before we got him, combine that with the fact that he is so energetic and just wants to bounce around all day – it makes for some frustrating times.
When I contacted AKA K9, I was at the end of my leash! I was tired of always having my dog bark at anything that moved on a walk, I was tired of him pulling all the time, I was tired of people staring at me, and judging me like I’m the worlds worst owner, because I couldn’t control my dog. I was tired of him never listening, and throwing little dog tantrums in the house; where he would basically tear around in circles and bark constantly at 3am. It was all very, very frustrating. (I think my neighbours were at the end of their leash too.)
I initially contacted them with the intent to board and train my dog. The owner, Adam spent a good 20-30 minutes with me on the phone, explaining his techniques and his different programs. He was very nice on the phone and seemed to be quite knowledgable so I decided to sign up for a consultation package they had at the time, which included a consultation and a private lesson. I went for the consultation where I brought my dog and he talked in-depth about my dogs issues, my goals, and some resolutions which really helped, and we developed a training path. He was realistic about the time, and work I had to put in, and how long it would take. I decided to not go for the board and train route and I went to the private training class that was included instead to start.
The private training lesson was life changing. I saw so so so much improvement after that one day, I learned so much that helped immensely on his walks and in his day to day life. Honestly, Adam was with him for an hour and he was so good with him, you could see right away that he knew how to handle dogs and create a good relationship between owner and dog. He gave us so much information that we understood and we were able to apply at home.
After that, I worked with my dog for a few weeks. (we had a lot of work to do.) and it was so rewarding to actually see results! lots of improvements, all around.
It so happened, that they were starting a group class right when I was about to book another private lesson, and I decided to put my dog in it. I wasn’t sure if he would be ready for a group setting; he tends to get other dogs riled up around him and be very leash reactive. However, everything went smoothly. They really are professionals, and knew how to run the class efficiently and every staff member was great with the dogs.
When my dog first started the class he would bark, and be so crazy until Adam or his staff came over. He also got very distracted by all the dogs, but at the end of the 7 weeks, he walked in and sat down calmly, ignoring the dogs and things around him. He was basically a different dog by the end of it, and his behaviour at home is like a new dog. I can take him on a walk and be barely reacts to anything around him. He still has work to do, don’t get me wrong, but I am so proud of him!!
After working with AKA K9 for the past few months (I think it has been around 4 or 5 since my first consultation) I have seen more improvements then I thought were possible. The thing that is also really great is that Adam is so open about being able to contact him whenever you need assistance, advice or have any issues. He really seems to care about each dog he works with and building a successful relationship between owner and dog. I will continue to work with Adam and his team at AKA K9 as I do believe, he is the best trainer out there. I live in Downtown Vancouver, and I drive 40 minutes to get to his training facility, I would not do that if it wasn’t worth it.
It kind of makes me annoyed at all the money I spent on the other trainers, (I know that sounds kind of cheesy but its true) I wish we had just found this company from the get go.
Strongly, strongly, strongly recommend.
