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Agility | Aggression & Behavior Modification | Obedience | Pool Safety
Puppy Pre-school & Socialization | Working Dogs

Agility
Aggression & Behavior Modification

Growling at the Baby!

Just thought I would give you an update on Duke, since it\\\'s been a little while. He really has improved so much. We are so thankful. The dog park is still going to take some work since it\\\'s been hot, we haven\\\'t really been going there. However, our home life and "in the car" life has been so much better. He hasn\\\'t even growled in months. He has been way more into playing with our daughter and he is just overall doing better with our family. Thanks so much for your help. It has meant so much that we didn\\\'t have to give him up! Thanks again,

 Christa/TJ/Kate/Rocky/Duke  Roberts

2011-07-21

Maiya’s Saving Grace...

Maiya came to our family through a rescue at barely 3 months of age. In this short time of this little girl’s life, she had been beaten, starved, and kept in a tiny crate all day and night by her previous owners. When she became part of our family, it was apparent that she had never had anyone who loved her. We have two small children and two very territorial Bengal cats at home as well. Maiya became increasingly protective of our family and escalated to severe fear-based aggression tactics. She would literally attack anyone who wasn’t a member of our immediate family. We were terrified that she would be taken away from us and traumatized even further, so we started looking into our options. We were referred to Kristi by our veterinarian and from the moment that Kristi and Lori walked through our door, we knew we had our answer. The kindness and compassion that the two of them had for this little dog (that literally wanted to rip their ankles apart), was truly amazing. Even by the end of the evaluation, Maiya was eating out of their hands. Maiya went through the doggie bootcamp and came back a self-assured, trusting, trained sweet little angle...still ornery....but we wouldn’t have it any other way. She is full of life and no longer afraid of everything that moves. We can take her to the park now, on walks, have our friends and family over to our house again, all without worrying whether or not Maiya will be negatively affected. Maiya loves new people now; she loves the attention, and can’t get enough of strangers rubbing her belly! She has even been to the mall! We couldn’t be happier with the outcome for what seemed like a possibly hopeless situation for this little dog and our family. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you that worked with Maiya at K9-Games and gave her a new chance at life. I couldn’t be happier to recommend you to anyone that needs help with their dog, no matter how small or big the problem may be. Kristi has been a blessing to Maiya and our family.

2009-09-15

LUCY or LUCIFER !!!!

We adopted Lucy from The Humane Society when she was 11 months old and was on her second trip back to their facility. She had a few problems with loud noises and simply needed someone to spend time with her, give her the exercise that she required and build her confidence. Well, 2 plus years later she had us completely wrapped around her little paws, was getting into scuffles and was being entirely too dominant. She is a cross between an Australian Shepherd and Husky and is very prey driven, often pulling so strongly on her leash towards birds, bunnies, motorcycles and trucks she was nearly totally unmanageable. We never knew if we were walking Lucy or Lucifer! We were introduced to Kristi Smith some 7 weeks ago and we still cannot believe our new dog. She walks to heal, will sit or down and stay in a field while we walk away and she always comes when called. She places on rocks and does not move until called and has become a much more relaxed dog now that she no longer has to prove her dominance. We can hike with her off leash and even if she sees birds and bunnies she gives them nothing more than a cursory glance. She has also recently passed her Canine Good Citizen Award and Therapy Dog Exams. In reality it was us, Lucy’s owners, as much as Lucy herself that needed training! Kristi showed great patience with us, explaining everything in very clear and easy to understand terms and, with some work on our part with Lucy between lessons, Lucifer has been banished forever! Lucy was always a very playful dog and we are happy to say that she is still as playful as before, just on our terms now and not hers. She is a very smart dog and we fully intend to employ Kristi’s services well into the future with Agility classes and as many group lessons as we can find the time for. Thank you Kristi for giving us the dog we always knew we had. Sincerely, Mark & Kim Squire Cave Creek, AZ.

Mark Squire
2009-05-02

Johannas Reincarnation

Kristi, Just who IS this dog you returned to me? I sent a German Shepherd puppy to you in the hopes that you could alleviate her fears. She was six months old when I got her. Her breeder told me she wouldn’t go near anyone, but surprisingly, she laid her head on my lap and went to sleep. She was so afraid of everyone and everything -- going out the door, near a car, strangers and anything else that came her way. Her only comfort zone was in my bedroom. She balked at her initial training – didn’t respond well to the training methods (nor did I), which I’m sure she sensed. She was so very sensitive, which you recognized, and knew just how to handle her. Now after a few short weeks, I have this dog I barely recognize. She is happy and self-assured but, I must confess, with a bit of attitude, which for her is a good thing. She now enjoys going for walks, car rides and is comfortable around people she doesn’t know. My grandsons can finally play with her without her freaking out. She obeys commands and sometimes commands aren’t even necessary -- she instinctively knows what is expected of her. She is such a joy to have around. quirky sense of humor notwithstanding. I’m looking forward to her passing her CGC and TDI tests later this year. Thank you so much – you’re wonderful! Thanks also to Lori & Claudia. You all work so hard to help us and the dogs and it’s much appreciated! Claire

2009-05-02

OUR dog whisperer Kristi

Kristi smith saved our house! Basically that is the gist of it. We had a 18 month old yellow lab that was digging holes in our yard big enough to bury us in. He would knock down guests as they arrived at our house or bolt out the front door and be gone. We also had a 6 month old Westie that decided it was better to use our house as a bathroom instead of going outside. We were referred to Kristi and sent both our dogs to her bootcamp while we moved to a brand new house that we REALLY didn’t want destroyed by our pets. The dogs came back like new dogs. We had a freshly landscaped back yard that remained holeless, we have stairs in our new house and hadn’t in the old and Kristi trained the dogs not to go upstairs as we had asked her too and they actually stop at the bottom of the stairs and wait for us there. It’s amazing what she can do. Our Westie likes to potty outside now. We sent them about 3 years ago and they are so well trained that when we adopted a puppy 6 months ago, they participate in training him. THEY let him know right from wrong, it’s unreal. Although he is a puppy and puppies have their issues, he’s the best puppy we’ve ever had and I believe it’s because our other dogs were so well trained. Kristi comes to us whenever we have a new issue and remains with us until we feel it is resolved. She’s come over and gotten in our pool to train our dogs how to swim so that if they ever fell in they’d know how to get out safely. She’s fabulous. She boards our dogs when we are away and they just LOVE to go with her, they’ll run and jump in her car without even saying goodbye to us. We can tell them that they are going to "Camp Auntie Kristi" and they know to be ready for fun! I could not recommend her more to anyone with a dog. She will save your household!

2008-11-01

Sparticus

My husband had just passed away and my Yorkies shortly thereafter decided it was their time too. After a few months with just me in the house, I was going a bit nuts so on February 15th, 2007, I took a drive to California just to get away for a while. I stopped at a dog rescue and just fell in love with Sparticus, an 18 month old Harlequin Great Dane. I thought it was a match made in heaven. WRONG! When we got home, he let me know right away the trainer was. Of course I took him out of the car first and then proceeded to unload the 40 lb. bag of dog food that came with him. He decided it was time to eat and didn’t want to wait and mind you I was still holding the bag when he decided that he wanted it. Actually, I was grateful the bag was between us as I remembered he is a little larger than my four pound Yorkies. Anyway, after this incident, I thought it best we go to bed and things would be much better in the morning. WRONG again. Note: when you get an animal from a rescue service, remember they do not know the animal’s entire upbringing. I have to admit, I am a bit stubborn, so I decided that this was going to work. I started watching the Dog Whisperer and doing things that he suggested to stop the aggression and get Sparticus more under control. Some of the things worked, like filling the saddle bags with full water bottles when we took walks and it somewhat tired him out and at the same time quenched my thirst and he didn’t pull as much on the leash. When in the house I told him "off" when he decided the couch was his and some times it worked, but I did learn that you did not grab his collar and tell him off at the same time. I also learned that you did not sit on the couch the same time he was there, because it was his. After a few months of this, I decided to take the best advice the Dog Whisperer had and call a professional. His web site recommended Kristi Smith owner of K9-Games and I’ve been so very grateful I did. When I called Kristi, I was to the point that I needed to make a change and Sparticus was the change that had to be made. At the same time, I was madly in love with the dog and just couldn’t see taking him back to the rescue and letting them put him down. Kristi came to my house and gave me private lessons with Sparticus. Eventually, we went into the obedience group classes with other dogs and even though Sparticus was the class clown, he did great. In addition, Kristi worked with him for five weeks straight at her home doing therapy dog training and he has become the most wonderful service dog I could ever want. I use him as a "walking cane" since I have walking challenges at times. He goes everywhere with me, grocery store, restaurants, malls, hospital, etc. Unbelievably, Sparticus went on to earn the AKC Canine Good Citizen Award Certificate as well. We do cause a bit of a challenge for other people though, they all want to pet him which most people don’t know this distracts the dog from its duty when working, but again this is better than him just lunging out to bite them as he was doing prior to me working with Kristi. He has found that he really likes the attention from all of the people. I have to say, if it weren’t for Kristi, Sparticus would be a "failed challenge memory" for me, but because of her he is adding loving memories on a daily basis. I will admit we do still have challenges and like he has to wear his shoes when the pavement is hot during the summer and he cannot use the pool float as a chew toy, but these little things we can work through as they come up. If you see us around town, please don’t hesitate to stop and talk and don’t pet but talk. Sparticus and I are happy to recommend K9-Games with our whole hearts. You can call us anytime. Regards, Kathi Faust

2008-04-07

A Beautiful, Well Mannered FAMILY Dog

We obtained Bailey, a Newfoundland/Retriever Mix from the Humane Society at the age of 9 months and weighed over 80 lbs. He was a handful and we contacted Kristi for guidance in obedience. We had many issues with a dog of this size. He was a protector of the male in our family and aggressive towards females or anyone who came near my husband. Bailey now weighs in at 108 lbs but is a gentle giant and will be 3 years old in March. He loves everybody!! Without Kristi’s guidance and structure we would have had to return Bailey. Bailey is now sociable and my 3 year Grandson can now chase and remove "Bailey’s" toys from his mouth and we do not worry. Bailey is their caretaker. Thank you Kristi

Jackie & Bruce Todoroff

2008-01-15

Obedience

Brio is Successful !!!

What do you do with a High in Trial Novice Obedience dog who stresses, cannot breath and breaks his out of site stays as a result? You call Kristi and she works her magical training methods on you and your dog and he earns his CDX title in 5 trials with 5 sets of happy relaxed confident out of site sit and down stays as other dogs break and even a couple leave the ring around him. I love this training method!! It helped me transform a stressy, dog aggressive, reactive dog into a calm, confident happy self controlled animal. Brio improved so much that we were able to confidentially introduce a puppy(who was trained in puppy boot camp with Kristi) into our household who became his best friend. My daughter came home after a semester at college and asked in amazement what I had done to Brio? She said he had changed into a calm sweet and happy dog who we could trust. Using Kristi’s methods I have been able to communicate clearly in a very black and white manner to Brio and he has responded with confidence and precision. It has allowed us to communicate in competitive training without stress or pressure on him and he has eagerly responded. My OTCH friends who train are amazed at the strides I have made in Agility and Obedience with both my sweet gentle thoughtful puppy Kyra and with reactive high strung Brio using Kristi’s training techniques. They are both happy well adjusted trusting dogs who love to work and have great house manners and are responsive to all my family members. What more could you ask for??? I was amazed to learn a new training technique after 25 years of experience that worked so well!! Who says an old trainer cannot learn new tricks? Thanks Kristi! Happy(or Harriet) Gregson, Brio and Kyra

2010-03-12

Bite-free at last!!!

I cannot say enough great things about Kristi and her training. I have an 8 year old cocker spaniel who began snapping at people and running off. This started when I moved from Tennessee to Phoenix. He spent time with Kristi and I have a wonderful new dog. He NEVER snaps at anyone. Visitors come and go and he doesn’t even jump on them. I walk him every morning off leash and he stays on the sidewalk. He knows to go to his blanket when I say place." He is still spoiled - sleeps in bed with me, etc., but mine and his life are so much better after "boot camp’s the best thing I ever did!!! If you have any questions, I’m happy to talk about the experience with you. You will LOVE your dog even more.

Dr. Kay McClain kay.mcclain@yahoo.com

2008-01-15

Pool Safety
Puppy Pre-school & Socialization
Working Dogs

First Flight

Mojo and I flew to Missouri this week. She had never flown and went through it all like a trooper. 

I had to strip her of any collars, leashes, etc. for the magnatometer in the airport. She sat and stayed while I went through the scanner and then came to me when called. I was really proud of her. 

 Without Kristi helping me with Mojos training along with lots of advice as Kristi has flown with her dogs so much,  I would have been unprepared along with Mojo and I would have had no idea what was coming, would probably have been nervous and the feelings would have transmitted straight to Mojo.

The flight went well until I had to go to the bathroom. Mojo is nervous due to recent happenings in her life.  She got worried when I disappeared for so long and did not remain where I left her but instead came to wait in front of the bathroom door. The flight attendants were busy loving her when I came out. 

With Kristis advice and training expertise our first flight was successful and I now know the areas as well as how to to work through the additional things that I need to get Mojo really solid on, in her training.

2011-04-10