SHIELD K9 - Dog Training Guelph

Good Afternoon.

I wanted to share our story and say thank you. We have 2 PWDs that we trained at Shield a few years ago through their group classes. The training we received was incredible. All the staff and Haz were amazing. We learned so much. I still laugh when people say I am going to have my dog trained. It’s true you are but really it’s you that needs the training.

We purchased a 3rd PWD. Half sibling to our other two. While in hindsight the decision wasn’t the smartest. The disruption it caused is hard to explain. Our new puppy was very different than our other two and much more stubborn and head strong. She is also small for the bread but so strong in so many way. Her nickname is the BOSS.

We worked with Bailey but it was very clear that we needed professional help as the training we were doing wasn’t sticking so we decided to enrol Bailey (1yr) in the 3 week board and train program. I was very nervous about this but WOW what a difference. Our stubborn girl is now amazing. She is a different dog. Still the ball of energy she has always been but disciplined.

I can’t say enough about the people at Shield but I do want to single out Kelvin. He is an outstanding trainer. We have sent friends to Shield and each have worked with Kelvin and we all can’t say enough about him.

The board and train program saved our household from the mayhem we were experiencing. Now we have 3 pups that have great foundational training and are a true pleasure and joy to work with and just hang out with. I wish I had done this sooner.

Thank you Shield K9. Thank you Kelvin. We look forward to continuing to work with you and our pups!

This here is Miska, i rescued Miska when he was 3 as he was going to be put down for his bite record. Miska was a reserve dog with not too much of a record about himself other than his biting. 2 years later and many scars on me i decided it was time to enrol him into a board and train program & decided to try shield as they trained my brothers dog and she turned out wonderful. I cannot stress enough how much of a handful my dog was to deal with before training, get bit trying to put on a muzzle.no vet visits aside from forcing a vaccine into him to get him into the program, which ill add was a complete nightmare and thankfully it was an old work truck he clawed up. He really was a loose cannon & his will on making sure he did whatever he wanted was unmatched. I have now had Miska at home after 8 weeks of training and hes been wonderful, not even so much as a growl or snarl, no showing of his teeth. He listens beautifully now, comes and sits right at my hip when i call him. I do practice sessions with him in the backyard everyday from what shield has taught me to do and it’s been great!

I consider my dog a special kind because of how uncertain you could be of him at times and know that if his will was strong enough he would make whatever decision he pleased and that is no more.

To anyone reading this, if you don't think some trainers / training facilities will be able to handle your dog because he is some what like mine, i believe you found the place here.

Thank you to Haz & Heff!

Before my current two eastgerman GSD working lines, I had a west german showline.
Back then, no one believed I could raise a GSD male dog.
Well, looking back, it wasn't art either.

Unfortunately, in the country of origin of this breed, the differences in temperament are talked about the least and information is only available when you are already in the middle of the dilemma and start to do more serious research because there are suddenly two maniacs in the room.

It quickly became clear to me that if I wanted to do justice to my two littermates, both males, I urgently needed to continue my education. With a little seat, space, it's no longer enough here.

The two of them were incredibly wild. There's 1 year of walking and training separately for both of them. They simply couldn't be managed together.
My husband then gave me the entire online course because I just couldn't get any further. It was ok now, but I want perfection. So I didn't start from scratch, but the course catapulted me further. The finishing touches made a huge difference. They are now 1 year and 5 months old. They walk together neatly on a leash. Separated they are now almost exclusively off leash. Together they are still too unpredictable for me and also too argumentative with each other.

We're working on it and, above all, I'm working hard on myself. Good isn't good enough! We can do better. I can do it better.

Recently someone spoke to me who supposedly trains service dogs professionally. His hearing was worse than mine. He was full of praise for how focused the dog is on the job. Focused solely on me. Work motivated.

Of course there is still a lot of work to do for us. Many tears pave our way. Lots of lack of sleep, frozen hands from feeding in the cold.
They told me that I would never be able to do it with the two of them. How stupid you have to be.

We'll show everyone! Thank you for your course.

Despite being a sweetheart at home, our rescue 3 year old girl Hana was a hopeless case! She would drag us all over the streets, lunge at passing cars, and bark and attack at every dog close and far. We had tried 3 trainers with no results but decided to give it one last try and joined Shield K9 aggressive/ reactive dog group class… the best decision we made!
Heff, our trainer’s wealth of knowledge and experience helped us to learn how to control Hana and use different tools to manage her behaviour on our walks and with other dogs. Now after 6 sessions, we have a changed obedient dog with loose leash walk and working to master off-leash and recall in the next sessions.
Shield K9 trainers are all amazing and knowledgeable and the facility is made for the purpose. Heff and Calvin address individual concerns and issues which makes the course like a private lesson.
This training has been exceeding our expectations and has improved the quality of our lives so much. If you have a similar story as us, this is the place for you and your furry friend.

We are so thankful Heff and Shield K9 team!

We brought our dog Cooper here for 6 private lessons to work on leash training, reactivity, signs of agression, and general obedience. We worked over the course of our time with Ivy and she was absolutely amazing. She was so helpful and took the time answering any questions we had. We have seen a complete 180 in Coopers behavior since the beginning of our training and we owe it all to this amazing team! We began this process feeling frustrated and out of ideas. We have left feeling so relieved and happy with our results. Would recommend Shield K9 to anyone and everyone!

I bought the online course
Reactive dogs " and of leash obedience.
The plan is paid for one year of content use
After about 10 months I was blocked.
I tried twice to contact the company without success

We got our rescue husky mix when he was about 2 years old. No recall, he would run off and react to other dogs. He spent 5 weeks at board and train and he is amazing now. Great recall, well-behaved, very attached to us. Walks off-leash now. Highly recommended!

The Reactive/aggressive training has truly changed my life. I brought my Rottie-mix here in hopes of seeking help with aggression towards new people. After going to a trainer in the past with no help whatsoever towards aggression I came across Shield K9 and thought what do I have to lose at this point. After 8 weeks of training it’s like I have a new dog. Over the past weekend my dog was with 4 new people as well as another dog and he showed 0 signs of aggression. He was able to enjoy the whole weekend amongst everyone with NO muzzle. I could not have done this prior to training whatsoever. If anyone is in the same situation as I was and felt hopeless with their aggressive dog I wouldn’t hesitate to bring your dog to Shield K9. This is all thanks to trainer Kevin.

Best trainers in my experience in the country. I flew my dog all the way from Vancouver for the best work. And I'm still getting that.

Brought my 2yr old Husky/Retriever mix for a 3 week board and train. We are so happy with her progress. Ivy did a wonderful job exceeding my expectations. I had some basic obedience trained in her before going but she was not reliable out in public. Now I have complete off leash control over her with perfect recall, and a solid heel. With the e-collar training I feel fully confident in maintaining control under any situation and best of all my dog is living her best life. She loves working with me even through ecollar pressure and we enjoy our daily outdoor public training sessions.

Thank you Shield K9 for everything, I 100% recommend your services to everyone I meet.

We took 2 of our 3 girls to Shield K9 for the Board and Train program. Our dogs were pretty good with us but I was always concerned when other unleashed dogs in public parks would approach us. I was told by owners that my dogs were aggressive (they were leashed the others weren’t), I shouldn’t have 3 dogs, I shouldn’t bring them to that park or I should let them run free. Because of the breed of two of my girls Malinois X and Cane Corso X I was afraid that if an incident happened they would automatically be blamed. Our third dog is a chocolate lab. We decided we wanted our girls to get better training than we could give them. Shield K9 was awesome. Ivy worked with our girls and did a terrific job. We were very happy with them when we picked them up. At home we slacked off and had an issue. We immediately contacted Ivy and were back at school. Upon our return a head trainer with Ivy gave my husband and me a lecture on training dogs. We deserved it! He was absolutely right! We’ve been much more diligent working with the girls at home and we’ve been back learning more from Ivy. We are more than pleased with the training program and the additional help that we have received to become better dog parents. They are good around other dogs, walk well on their leashes, getting better everyday at listening. Our Malinois X is too smart and doesn’t miss a thing, she’s been a challenge but her training and what we learned is worth it. I highly recommend Shield K9 to train your dogs. They care about you and your dogs success.

Amazing. Above and beyond in terms of service. We brought our 2 large dogs in for a 6 class session of private lessons with their trainer "Heff" - and his knowledge is 2nd to none. Our main problem dog had some mild aggressive reactive issues around the house and Heff gave us a full training regiment to fix all of this. We had no real idea how to properly reward or punish her, nor how to properly lead her & give her structure/rules around the home. Heff guided us through this so well and now both dogs are just a pleasure to live with, walk and have off leash. We live in a very happy home with lovely, obedient dogs thanks to shield k9. If you have any issues with a dog, I wouldn't take them anywhere else. They also deal with very severe aggression cases too from what I saw when my pups were there, and I saw them handle it /train around these issues really well with other owners too. Remarkable facility & people. You're making a mistake taking your dog anywhere else in the KW/Cambridge region in my opinion.

I’ve been here for in person appointments and I subscribe to their online programming! Love all the staff and experiences.

Shield K9 educates dog owners real practical advise for dog owners to have better control & experience with their dog. 5 stars

Shield k9 is the best of the best. I have a dog reactive German shepherd who was honestly out of control when I first adopted him. I tried so many trainers and nothing worked, until I sent xeno to a four week board and train at shield last year. He is soooo much better now, and Hef and Sal were fantastic. They went out of their way to help me after the board and train.the best advice I have for other dog owners who feel exasperated is to consider balanced training and tools like the ecollar. The ecollar saved us! Also, don’t expect perfection: my dog will never have the personality of a golden retriever, but I can safely and happily walk him through Central Park and that’s all I can ask for!

What a difference 6 weeks of Shield K9 training has made for myself and my Blue Heeler Nola. We both learned a lot from Kelvin, who was both teacher to me and trainer to Nola. I would highly recommend the program to anyone who is struggling with their dog's negative behaviors - for us the experience has been life changing. Thank you Kelvin.

Steven has been a huge part of our dogs success with our very fearful and reactive Shepard. Since getting our dog back from their boarding program, we haven’t had any issues. Thank you, Steven and Shield K9!

Great training facility tucked away in the back of the property. We completed the puppy essential’s course this past week, and I can’t say enough good things about it. Ivy and Matt, were very informative and patient. They took the time to listen to each individual’s concerns and addressed them with the owner before moving on. They worked with Rooster to help him get into the car, even after class was dismissed. Highly recommend for stubborn bullheaded breeds, they do wonders.

Great facility and great trainers.
Brought our Rooster to puppy school that just recently finished. Had an amazing experience, we highly recommend shield K9 to anyone.
We previously tried other trainers and nothing compares to how personal everyone is. The trainers help individual concerns and needs, not just read a script.

Kelvin & the team at Shield K9 were great! My 9 month old golden retriever, Sunny, came out of the Board & Train program with a calm & mature temperament, without losing her puppy charm. She knows every command we say. A large stress in our life has been relieved. We will do our best to keep up with her training & bring her back in a year or so to show you all how she’s doing. I could not be more pleased with the results & the customer service provided by everyone we interacted with through the process.

I'm sure their methods work for some dogs but not all. Not a very adaptable place and extremely high priced. Please do your research before wasting your time and money like I did with little to no results. I'm not saying they don't work; however, they do not know when to decline a dog/owner that will not fit well with their training and methods. So be wary and do your own research to make an informed decision because for almost $3k, these guys will not.

We picked up our dog, Moxley today. He is like a new dog! At almost 100lbs, he was nearly impossible to walk. And now, he walks nicely beside me. As a bonus he sits and lays down and stays there perfectly. Also, his off leash recall is amazing. A big thank you to Heff for the kindness and dedication be showed our fairly shy dog. I'm so excited for his new and amazing quality of life thanks to Shield K9

Haz is not only a great trainer he also is fantastic at explaining/demonstrating so it is easy to understand his methods. Easy 5 star rating.