If it weren’t for Kareena from Koru K9 (Denver), I would still have a very leash aggressive, explosive, door-rushing, out of control dog.
My sweet, sweet 3 year old, 42lb. Border Collie/Pit Mix was until she was attacked a few times when being introduced to “nice, friendly dogs” after we adopted her. She slowly began becoming aggressive to the point where I would walk her after dark and cross the street if any dog, bike or runner was coming towards us to try and eliminate the dirty looks and frustration for both Lola and I. She was not welcome to come to river to fish with us anymore and we had to take her to the dog park when no one else was there just so she could play with her frisbee.
I had been researching in-home dog trainers in the Golden, CO area for a while and never pulled the trigger because I was never sold on the philosophies of other trainers in the area. They weren’t specific enough.
What caught my interest in Koru K9 was their philosophy of Balanced Dog Training. Not positive reinforcement only training. Not harmful/dominate training….Balanced. It is truly amazing and it has changed how I see my dog for the better. The cost is extremely do-able and our training was tailored to Lola and the goals we wanted to reach with her.
I was very nervous for Kareena to meet my dog for the first time as I had a laundry list of bad habits and incidences that Lola had acquired within the last two years. Within the first 10 minutes of the consultation (HUGE BONUS of Koru K9) Kareena had evaluated that her aggression started as fear based but had turned into a game for Lola. Game on.
The first session/consultation we had Lola walking in the heel command which we were never able to do before and making slight corrections. We just kept building from there. I could tell right away that Kareena has a passion and immense knowledge of dogs and a passion for helping owners gain knowledge to better understand their dogs. Kareena brought her dogs for a couple sessions to work on leash aggression which was beyond helpful. She also wanted to try an E-Collar with Lola. We spend a solid 30 minutes learning how and when to use it and how to gauge the levels based on her behavior so that we felt comfortable using it. It is humane and Kareena described it as a “tap on the shoulder” which I now use to explain it. We also got comfortable with the life-changing “place” command. 5 sessions later, I was walking my dog in Wash Park on a Saturday afternoon without one aggressive episode towards other dogs, bikes and runners. She was executing her “place” command where ever we asked her to. Lola has more confidence in herself and it is showing through her actions. I also am so much more confident with my understanding of Lola and what she needs from me as her owner to be successful. What I appreciate so much is that Kareena explained everything to us each session as “here is the behavior to look for” and “here is how to correct”.
We had to re-locate to Bozeman, Montana shortly after our last session and I am able to confidently take Lola on hikes, fishing, floating and in public with out stress. There is still things to work on with her but I now have the tools to keep the training going thanks to Kareena. I am beyond grateful for Koru K9 and Kareena!