K9 Kingdom K9 Kingdom Headquarters Embezzling Ex-Convicts Colorado Springs, Colorado

 

K9 Kingdom Claims that they are certified dog trainers. Well great news they have paid money to be part of and group of people that have paid to call themselves “Certified Dog Trainers”! Why do I say this? Because the Colorado and the U.S. Labor Departments do not regulate animal trainers. What does this mean this means that there is no specific training required by the Labor Department for handling animals http://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/animal-care-and-service-workers.htm#tab-4 . There are standards of care required by the Department of Agriculture for kennels and Zoos so there may be certain certificates such as marine biology or zoology for certain jobs but not training per say. The thing about animal training is some people can connect with animals where other people it takes years to get.

Here is another good one that I enjoy from K9 Kingdom, they are certified Service and Search and Rescue Dog Trainers. Here’s the kicker there trainer does not get the certification to train for this anyone can train for Search and Rescue or for Service Dogs you are actually encouraged to do so. The dog earns the certification not the Trainer I participated in 4-H with people that trained Service Dogs and my 4-H leader would donate litters every few years for possible Service Dog training because what makes a good service dog is a personality not training. A dog at the Humane Society may be the next great service or search and rescue dog never know. So no they are not any more certified to train search and rescue or service dogs than you are.

I live up the street from K9 Kingdom; I go for walks regularly, drive by because I’m running kids getting groceries, etc. and almost never see any dogs being worked. I do see the people from the Aspen pet resort and Camp Bow Wow out so I know those dogs are getting activity and leash time. The other concerning this is if there is someone with a K9 Kingdom magnet on the road they are driving like a maniac every time I almost want to pull in just to tell them they should turn in their driver’s license and stop lying about their credentials. I truly hope they don’t cause an accident but I’m just waiting for it to happen.

A good trainer will welcome the owner to be a part of the training process and to come to the training facility. If it is possible that it is a handler issue there may be a separation time and there may be handler classes. A time where you come in and work with an experienced dog and retrain yourself. Animal handling is not always a natural process sometimes we have anxiety. Training should not be a drop off we fix it and if you have problems bring them back it should be thought of as a marriage it a partnership between you and the dog. And if at any time your trainer id blocking you or is rude leave take your dog and leave. It’s your dog your child you should be respected and welcomed to check on your family member.

For people reading this asking why should I listen to this person what do they know about dogs? Well my family has had dogs for as long as I can remember my grandfather raised dogs and hunted. He did field trials and trained dogs for friends. My mother and uncle hunted and competed in field trials my father hunted and competed in field trials. I myself have trained horses and my own dogs. My families’ personal favorite is the use of hand signals as it is silent and can be used in multiple ways without alerting people or other animals. I was also asked by my 4-H leader and my mother’s neighbor to train work and ride their horses in completion. I took a dog from one woman that was going to turn him over to the humane society for being too hard to handle he is now using hand signals and mellow as can be.

We were recent clients and knew something wasn't right. We were told our dog was doing great. We were told we would get a video showing us some of the training done with our dog. We were told we could see our dog anytime we wanted ,only to show up and be told we couldn't see our dog right now but we could make an appointment. Our dog was never given a bath. It has taken many baths and hours of brushing to even start to loosrn the matting. He ended up staying longer with no better results. We have spent 6 additional hours of group training going over the exact same four commands. We paid for equipment we have never received. Our dog now pees on the floor when someon approaches, howls and barks in his kennel and doesn't listen. None of this was occurring prior to being at K9 kingdom. We are now out almost 6000.00 and our dog has regressed instead of improving. I don't give a rip how many hours of training your trainers have, if they can't train a dog, they can't train a dog. We knew in our guy something was wrong but Stephen sure talks a good gamr. I guess a con man should at least be good at that. Just an fyi... THIS ISN'T SLANDER, EVERYTHING HERE IS A FACTUAL STATEMENT. BEWARE! We even tried to look them up before taking our dog to them. At least now, there is some warning for others. Also if the first statement is slander and untruthful then why are all of Stephen's trainong certs off the wall? Are they out for a cleaning? ?!!!

We were recent clients and knew something wasn't right. We were told our dog was doing great. We were told we would get a video showing us some of the training done with our dog. We were told we could see our dog anytime we wanted ,only to show up and be told we couldn't see our dog right now but we could make an appointment. Our dog was never given a bath. It has taken many baths and hours of brushing to even start to loosrn the matting. He ended up staying longer with no better results. We have spent 6 additional hours of group training going over the exact same four commands. We paid for equipment we have never received. Our dog now pees on the floor when someon approaches, howls and barks in his kennel and doesn't listen. None of this was occurring prior to being at K9 kingdom. We are now out almost 6000.00 and our dog has regressed instead of improving. I don't give a rip how many hours of training your trainers have, if they can't train a dog, they can't train a dog. We knew in our guy something was wrong but Stephen sure talks a good gamr. I guess a con man should at least be good at that. Just an fyi... THIS ISN'T SLANDER, EVERYTHING HERE IS A FACTUAL STATEMENT. BEWARE! We even tried to look them up before taking our dog to them. At least now, there is some warning for others. Also if the first statement is slander and untruthful then why are all of Stephen's trainong certs off the wall? Are they out for a cleaning? ?!!!

First off, let me tell you that K9kingdom is not what this person is claiming it to be. For someone that is a disgruntled employee that has been let go, and has no knowledge of any dog training what so ever, to say the things they are saying that is called slander. This person is no better then the report they wrote. 

The General Manager, Stephen D. Torres, has given some of his employees a chance to do what they love to do, and a job, when no other companies would. He has started a company from 7 dogs out of his home to a growing company that is helping people and changing lives. Within this company there are two Master trainers, who have accumulated over 2100 hours to become a Master Trainers, and one Senior Master Trainer, Stephen, who has had to accumulated over 3100 hours to become a Senior Master Trainer,  these are employees that have come from the prison trained canine program. Yes, they were in prison, but they decided to change their lives, just as Stephen did, to become better people and help not just the dogs they trained but the people those dogs belonged to. For some of these dog in this program this was their last chance.

As far as blaming the customers for their dogs' problems, sometimes that is true. If you know anything about training a dog, then you know that the leash you hold is a telegraph of what you feel traveling down to the dog. With that being said, if you are anxious or nervous your dog will feel that and think that it needs to protect you, thus causing some behavioral issues.

Concerning the turn over rate, this job is not for everyone, so yes, they have had people come in and not be able to do the job asked of them so they either quit or are let go. Dog training is not easy and takes TIME and PATIENCE, which most people do not have. You do not become a dog trainer overnight or by just reading a book.

It takes 4,000 hours of hands-on experience to become an apprentice dog trainer by the Department of Labor. People think they want to be trainers because they simply love dogs. It is way more complicated than that and tons of hard work. The trainers not only train the dogs, but they have to feed, exercise them, groom them, clean up dog poop, and numerous other things.  The list goes on. 

I sincerely believe that if you are reading this you will understand that the person that wrote this report has no knowledge of what they are saying about K9Kingdom and what is happening there. 

Apparently this person has hard feelings about not being there and has a personal vendetta against this company, again what they are saying is SLANDER. Go in and talk to K9Kingdom personally and find out for yourself what this company is about and don't just take someone's word for it.