My husband and I recently certified in the Pet Trainer Certification course at Top Tier K9. I was previously a Military Working Dog Handler (MWD handler) while on Active Duty during my time in the military. I had a lot of experience under my belt training and working military dogs. There are many basics I wish I was taught when starting my career as a MWD handler, such as load, load management, and a few other defining factors that clearly set this training apart.

There is a lot of misconceptions out there for the dog training world, the biggest ones all center around the load of the dog and teaching the dog to manage their own load. Many things I was taught while being a handler were taught as in “that’s just the way that dog is” or “that can’t be fixed only managed or worked around.” After going through this course, I learned that we as trainers can actually fix anything by teaching the dog how to control and manage their own loads.

Again, I worked many years both training and handling military dogs. In this course alone, I genuinely believe I learned more about teaching the dogs themselves to actually train them, not just manipulate or control them as a trainer or handler.

My husband and I are both extremely grateful for this experience and would like to thank Jeff and his team for all their knowledge, hard work, and time put into everyone who goes through these courses and certifications. All you guys do genuinely does make a difference, and my husband and I cannot wait to continue through the process through the master programs at Top Tier K9.