I bought a Jack Russell puppy from Kathleen in 2015 and had a great experience. When it came time to get a second dog in 2017, my husband and I knew we wanted to adopt a rescue dog. He was a 3-4-month-old independent, goofy, sweet, lazy mixed puppy. As he grew older we realized he lived to chase anything that moved! He was nothing like Eva, our 2-year-old faithful, food-motivated Jack Russell, who lovingly followed us around everywhere we would go!

My dogs come to work with me daily at a horse farm where they can have free range all day if they stay on the property.  Louie, our 1-year-old mix rescue dog, was chasing deer into the woods and by the busy street. Coming when I would call him was certainly the last thing on his mind! It was beginning to disrupt my work environment and I knew it was time to get some help!

After researching and speaking to a few trainers in the area, I never found the right fit, until I contacted Atlantic K9! They returned my call right away to discuss the issues I was having with Louie. They were very knowledgeable and personable. I felt like I was talking to a friend when talking to Kathleen and her staff. 

Once I discussed the problems I was having with Louie, I was able to set up a time and place to meet Kathleen. One of the biggest differences between Atlantic K9 and some of the other training facilities I spoke to is that Kathleen came right to my work at the farm, which is where I was having the most trouble. It was important to me to be involved in the training with my dogs every step of the way and Kathleen was very respectful of that. 

Upon Kathleen’s recommendation, we decided to train the dogs with an E-Collar. She was very patient with my initial hesitation about the E-Collar training, but I knew in the end it was for Louie’s own good or he would end up lost in the woods or hit by a car. I made the decision to train my Jack Russell on the E-Collar at the same time since she told me the benefits of them for other commands such as barking and walking more politely on a leash. Kathleen explained how they worked and did all the initial training with both dogs with me right there.  Honestly, I was terrified of making a mistake when it was my turn to use the collar, but with Kathleen’s help every lesson got easier and easier.

Kathleen was always available to answer my questions in between training sessions or if I needed clarification on something (or just needed some moral support) but at the same time was able to give me additional homework to work on if my dogs excelled at an exercise before our next session. Over the course of our sessions, we were able to take Louie and Eva to new places, with new scents, to test the progress we had made and it was remarkable to see the results! Louie was actually focused on my husband and me instead of his instinct to hunt and chase.

Kathleen’s training method really brought Louie closer to our family. I think he is a happier dog now that he knows his boundaries as well. I could not be happier that we chose to go with Atlantic K9 for our dog training when we did, as we are welcome our first human child this spring! I know we will be able to walk our little one with our dogs and have full confidence Louie won’t be taking off after any deer. We can’t thank them enough for their help!