Follow The Leader K9

Follow the Leader K9 has been an incredible gift to me & Mac. 6 months ago, when Mac came home for the first time, I was concerned that I had taken on a rescue dog that was too difficult, and I wouldn't be able to help him effectively. He was a LOT. Under three years old, and in the shelter for nearly a year, he had significant kennel anxiety, and little training or social skills with people or dogs. He jumped, he pulled, he nipped, he charged at birds and squirrels. Eric was referred to me, and he showed up at my home on Mac's second day home from the shelter. That initial session showed me that Mac could focus & listen, and learn how to behave differently. Working with Eric and the entire team is helping Mac grow into a social, happy dog that interacts with people and other pets. He is great on leash. He responds to commands. He gets excited to do training sessions. FTLK9's support in this process, with follow-up coaching and advice has helped me integrate what started as "training" into becoming regular behavior by Mac. Mac still has a way to go. There are no quick fixes, and it takes consistent work over time, especially when a dog had a rough start in life. For me and Mac, FTLK9 will continue to be a big part of that journey.

I highly recommend Follow The Leader K9. Eric and his team are wonderful people, and the dog training is very professional. My dog’s behavior has transformed in just a few weeks. I spent a considerable amount of time researching online training programs for my 3 year old Doberman, and came to the conclusion that I didn’t know which method would be best for my dog. After an initial consultation with Eric, he explained what motivates my dog and how to leverage that, along with the appropriate methods and tools, to be successful with training. A key factor was establishing “house rules” so the dog learned how to be calm and relaxed, which made it possible to curb behaviors such as barking, chasing squirrels and leash pulling - and be ready to use his energy and focus on the training.

I have had many dogs and all rescues. I have worked with so many trainers and k9 Follow the Leader are an A++. Not only do they understand each dog and the best way to work with them, they socialize dogs unbelievably well too. My dog was very reactive and also high energy and a lot with other dogs. He is now the most well socialized dog… fantastic with other dogs and just a happy great dog. And not reactive at all - he would take him all around town and train him in every situation that possibly could make him react. He also offers an amazing service where the dogs can hang out there during the day and socialize with instruction, so they are learning great habits vs bad ones while playing…they can go hiking as well. If you need extra training he will make sure to take your dog out and about to tackle whatever the issues are. All i know is my dog is super excited to go there every day and my other dog who hates everything, loves it there too! Every dog there of all shapes and sizes are learning and i have watched so many (including my own) have huge changes. They love dogs and more importantly, truly understand them.

I cannot recommend Eric (and his team) enough! We took in a 70lb Husky foster with significant energy and reactionary issues, and the Follow the Leader team donated time and worked wonders with him. They gave us tools that completely changed our experience. He skillfully uncovered the amazing dog hiding beneath all those challenges. Eric's effective training techniques made all the difference, not just for our dog but for me as well. He truly helped transform our foster to uncover the true a "diamond in the ruff". Thanks to Eric (and his team), I am excited to continue fostering.

Follow the Leader K9 has been our saving grace and we wholeheartedly recommend working with them! My husband and I adopted our dog (renamed Milo) a young border collie mix, from SBCAS at the end of July. As soon as we brought him home, we discovered that he was extremely reactive to everything and anything. It was terrifying to take him on walks because he would bark, growl, and lounge at people (especially at older males and those on bikes, skateboards, scooters, etc.). He was incredibly sweet and loving with my husband and I, but skeptical and reactive with others. For example, my in-laws came to visit for my husband's birthday at the end of August and Milo nipped at my father-in-law twice and my mother-in-law once. Anytime someone came to the door, he would bark loudly, growl, and pace until the person was long gone. It was getting to the point where we decided that if he didn't improve by the end of the year, we would try to re-home him. Short story long and after researching several trainers in the area, we reached out to Eric and his team at Follow the Leader K9. We had a initial phone call with Katia and after pouring my heart out to her about Milo's reactivity and how overwhelmed we were feeling, she assured me that he was a dog that they could definitely help. We then met Eric and had an initial consultation session at the Follow the Leader K9 HQ. Milo started off the session super reactive, but after only 20 minutes or so, Eric was able to get him comfortable and following commands with hardly any reactivity. We decided to move forward with Follow the Leader K9 and had Milo attend the day training program for about 5 weeks. By the end of week 3, his reactivity had IMMENSELY improved and his trainers shared that he pretty much accomplished the basic dog training concepts and suggested we do more off-site and home training sessions. We absolutely loved the off-site and home training sessions, because they got to see how Milo is in his home setting and they provided us with helpful strategies on how handle his reactivity in our neighborhood. We also had an amazing session in downtown SB to get Milo immersed in higher activity settings and he was such a good boy! The two biggest breakthroughs/Milo's accomplishments have got to be: 1) Milo loving on my parents and my in-laws now and 2) How he reacts towards/with strangers. He is a completely different dog who just needed some help and support to feel more confident. If you decide to work with Follow the Leader K9, please be honest and open with them about yours and your dogs needs. For example, we found that the prong collar was not a good option for Milo and they immediately switched us over the e-collar (non-shocking, only vibration) which was the golden ticket. We used to have the e-collar on Milo pretty much all day, except for when he went to bed, but now we only put it on him when we know he'll be in a new and/or high activity setting. We highly recommend Eric, Katia, and the Follow the Leader K9 team and are so extremely grateful for all of their support with Milo! ~ The Lynches