I'm so lucky to have found Total K9 Training to work with my family! My husband and I have 2 dogs that we absolutely love. We have 2 little terrier mixes, Chester and Bella, and they are both great with us at home, but were a little harder to handle with walks, strangers and distractions. We knew we needed some help to work with our dogs. On top of all this, my husband and I found out we were expecting a baby earlier this year and so we also wanted to find a dog trainer that worked with expectant families and transitioning an adult and dog only environment to include a little one. By recommendation of my Vet's office we were recommended to Shannon with Total K9 and am very pleased we choose to go with her. Shannon is amazing to work with. She's professional, extremely knowledgeable, flexible to work with, supportive and genuinely cares about our relationships with our pets. Knowing that we had 2 dogs and a baby on the way, we wanted to personalize our training. After several calls and emails about our situation with Shannon, we decided to go with the 6 Private Lessons. Even from our very first class, there's such a difference with our dogs and now we're starting to bring our dogs to the group obedience classes and you can see how well Shannon's been able to work with all the dogs there. She really tries to set you up for success with her training and knows how to read animals and gives us humans the right skills to be able to have a great relationship with our pets that can be achieved only by great training. With our baby now here, we're implementing all the training that we've learned with our dogs and are very pleased with how things are going. If your looking for someone to help better the lives and relationship with your dog through training I highly recommend working with Shannon and Total K9 Training. read more

Total K9 Training - Pet Training Near Me

It was an awesome experience working with Shannon. She trained us as first time fur parents, as well as our little 6 month old yorkie pup. After the first session itself we were able to house train our puppy! She is very professional, easy to communicate with, and always receptive to all of our questions. Our puppy has come a long way after training with her for four sessions. I look forward to continue working with her for future training for my dog. If you are looking for a dog trainer, she is the BEST!! I would highly recommend her. read more

She was straight up rude with me and my dog. She charged me for 4 hours and nev heard of her after the 3rd hour. she was very judgmental.

Had Shannon come over for one hour to work with our two dogs. Two 4 year old large littermate sisters. Exuberant friendly greeting of neighbors at the front door is their issue. Friendly, but assertive. Shannon showed us a training exercise to eliminate assertive greetings at the door. After 5 repetitions of the exercise both dogs learned what was expected from them when guests come over. We need to continue with the training to reinforce the exercise. Both our dogs liked her and she answered all our questions. We will test Shannon's skills next time to train our dogs to aggressively scare unwanted solicitations. Lol. Highly recommend her. Her knowledge is extensive and right on the money. read more

Shannon's in-home training and group classes have worked wonders for our miniature schnauzer! She is great with all the dogs and is always extremely patient. We have had our dog in Shannon's classes since he was a baby and have seen great improvements. Highly recommended! read more

Shannon is an exemplary dog trainer both in knowledge and natural training abilities. I brought my 6 months old doberman to her and after 4 training sessions i have noticed the significant effects she has had on my dog atlas. Shannon's strong presence yielded atlas' high energy into attentive obedience and challenged her to learn manners and tricks. If proper follow through is administered by owners then i have no doubt you will see the impact of Shannon's work and will be much happier with your dog both in private and public settings when you see them acting calm and obedient. I really appreciate Shannon's patience with my boisterous dog and will go back for further training for atlas. read more

My husband and I did a lot of research before selecting a trainer to help us with our 2yo bichon/ shih tzu pup Milo. He is generally a well behaved boy but there are a few things we would like to work on like him not jumping when excited and letting us groom him without putting up such a fight. After browsing many profiles and reading many reviews (and pricing around(!)) we decided to committed to a 4 session private training and 1 round of group training with Shannon and we are very glad we did. Shannon arrived very promptly and evaluated the situation with a short yet inclusive checklist and quickly took charge of the room. She commanded the attention of everyone in the room including our boy Milo; he realized who was in charge really quickly! Shannon gave us a wealth of training information and some grooming secrets that proved to be very helpful. She taught us some fun games to get our kids involved with training Milo and was patient and attentive with all of us. When she left she gave us "homework" and asked us to sign a contact to promise we would practice with Milo 15 minutes a day. (On a parenting side note it's helpful for our girls to see that adults need to follow through with the homework they committed to as well!) The girls are really enjoying the game and Milo is on his way to LEARNING OUR NAMES! Love it. Shannon is a wealth of information and we are so glad we consulted her on many issues from feeding, grooming to playing and learning. She comes highly recommended from us and we are so excited to work with her again! read more

We have a two year old (very active) son. When our older dog died a year ago it left a big void in our lives. We wanted to get a puppy ever since but have been concerned about how to introduce a fragile little life to our rambunctious toddler and have both come out safe and happy. Years ago I worked with Shannon, the owner of TK9, at SeaWorld and knew she had started a dog training business. I called her and sought her advice about preparing our son for the puppy. I followed her advice before selecting a puppy about working with our son. We also chose a breed she recommended as being good with kids. I'll cut to the chase: it worked. We've had our Havanese a week now and he hasn't had an accident in the house in three days. He even slept all night last night! Our son is delighted to have a doggy and is being very gentle. His first reaction to meeting the puppy was to blow him a kiss and then do a dance of happiness while chanting "Doggy! Doggy!" (thank you for training me on how to train him, Shannon!) I think of myself as being an animal lover, but I know when to ask for help. This situation with our son calls for a specialist, and I do believe Shannon is very special with animals- and patient with owners. She has always been one of those rare people who animals just love and respect immediately. (if you think she's good with dogs you should have seen her with rescued sea lions. That's hard!) What makes her so special in this role is that she carefully and methodically explains how she thinks about training your individual dog and why. It lets me get inside the mind of a master and try it her way. Low and behold, it's working! We still have a lifetime of working with our dog ahead of us, but because of Shannon's help I feel prepared. read more

After a lot of research I decided to get a private training session from Shannon, the transformation in that short time was incredible! She just knew exactly what needed to happen to get the behaviors I wanted, and stop the behaviors I didn't want. We decided to join the puppy class as well, and nothing but the same awesome results. I will continue to work with Shannon for all my dogs training in the future. read more

Shannon was great to work with. She made some impressive things happen with my dogs in the first session. Even when we had to cancel our remaining sessions (our issue, not Shannon's), she was super understanding, professional and took care of us. If we ever need a dog trainer again, I will definitely call Shannon. read more

We brought our 5 month old rescue pup to Total K9 and we're very impressed with all the knowledge our instructor had to offer. Through out our 6 week experience, we've picked up so many techniques and learned how to communicate with our pup. We would recommend Total K9 to anyone who is looking to train their pups. As pet parents, it is really important that we trust our instructor. Shannon was very approachable with any of our concerns, whether it's staying a little after class to answer our questions or answering questions via email. She's also very attentive to each individualpup's health and behavior issues and addresses it even before we ask. read more

Shannon was fantastic! I have brought all my dogs to her for person training. She understands how dogs act! She gave us plenty of one-on-one training and We highly recommend her! She helped us train our Aussie Shepard, French Bulldog, and Chocolate lab. Will continue to use! read more

shannon (total k9 training) was highly recommended to me by a neighbor when i fostered then adopted a sweet but holy terror of a mutt pup ~ ! ~ my neighbor took both of his (now) extremely well-behaved dogs to shannon. apparently they were willful and challenging pre-shannon. i can attest to their wonderful 'post-shannon' behavior. i called shannon to enroll diez (aka: diablito / devil dog) for one of her classes. while the geographics might not work in the time frame i'm looking for (largely due to shannon's popularity), shannon has kindly, patiently, spent a significant amount of time on the phone with me on more than one occasion to help me work on my pup's alpha-behavior challenges. her advice has been spot-on, incredibly helpful, and wonderful in establishing boundaries firmly yet positively. as busy as she is, this is a true testament to how much shannon cares about animals. she knows i probably can't enroll diez in her class because of geographics (although i would love to!), but takes the time to help in spite of this. she even told me to stay in touch regarding diez! wow! i had called a few other trainers who didn't want to spend ANY time on the phone. i felt rushed and pressured to sign up for pricey, in-home training sessions. not shannon! she is phenomenal, has an impressive background, is kind, patient and truly a patron saint of pups!!!! thanks, shannon!!!! :) ~ felicia, diez & zei read more

This review is coming late, but I had Shannon come over to work with me and my puppy for one session. I was really lucky that Shannon was available when I needed her most! Having a puppy as a first time owner is serious business! They really do require a lot of attention and care which has good and bad points. My husband and I were coming to our burning point because of our puppy's teething and potty training. She was nipping at everything and every person that tried to give us advice on potty training seemed to just fail. Shannon showed up on time and quickly bonded with my puppy. She asked a lot of questions of what we wanted to improve and what our goals were. I really appreciated Shannon wanting to know what we wanted, rather than just going for the general topics. Also, she is very kind yet firm with training, which I appreciate! It was nice to know that you can be firm and loving at the same time. I spoke with some other trainers and they made me feel like my puppy is always going to misbehave, but if you give them a lot of treats and constantly watch them, they eventually get better. Shannon definitely proves that you don't have to bribe your dog with treats to teach them how to listen. From that point on, she started showing me how to work on my puppy's obedience, potty training, some tricks and even gave tips on food and products. After one session with her, there was a HUGE improvement in my puppy's habits. Although she isn't 100% potty trained, she is totally getting there! She also understands what "no" means and she isn't biting everything in sight! If one session did this much, imagine what more sessions would do! We are hoping to sign up for more in the future, but seriously, money well spent! read more

Shannon is an amazing trainer, she has advised and been a part of training us and our 3 dogs, a greyhound, a very dominate German Shepherd and a Australian shepherd/healer mix. She helped take our shepherd who we were told by our vet "this dog is going to bite someone one day." Into a dog that became a local favorite pet therapy dog at Scripps hospital for almost 6 years. There isn't a dog or issue Shannon can not work out! She is amazing and has a ton of patience and mad skills and is a nice person to boot! read more

Shannon has worked with both of my dogs both in private sessions and in group classes. She has also worked with many of my employees pets as well. I am so impressed by her commom sense and her understanding of animal behavior that she incorporates in her classes. I highly recommend her. I also will mention that I am a Registered Veterinary Technician and I recommend her to all of my clients at my Veterinary Hospital. read more

Shannon came to our house for a private session. She was very professional, easy to communicate with, and introduced us to methods we hadn't previously considered, but worked amazingly well with our dog! Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the dog we had due to issues with our cat, and Shannon happily refunded the money we paid her for additional future training we had signed on for. I would go back to her in a heartbeat for any future training needs! read more

Shannon is amazing!! She really knows what she is talking about and makes it really easy for you to understand and be able to apply her techniques yourself. I did one at home session and a 6 week group class and was very pleased with the results. Unfortunately, my dog is still pretty crazy, but that is only due to my lack of follow through with the lessons learned. I work at a local pet supply store and Shannon is the first person we recommend for training new puppies/trouble dogs and I have yet to hear a negative comment from our customers. What really made her training worth every penny is that she trained me as well as the dog. During the group sessions she taught us about nutrition (Which foods are bad and which are good) as well as grooming requirements for each kind of coat. Lastly she used to (or still does...not sure) work at Sea World so training animals is definitely her expertise. read more

I have known Shannon for about five years. She came highly recommended by my veterinary office (Rancho Mesa Animal Hospital). It was and continues to be an awesome referral. She is an excellent resource and wealth of knowledge. She has trained two of my dogs. She is highly knowledgeable regarding canines, their behavior and how to correct bad behaviors (and helped me teach my dogs some fun tricks as well as tips on general care, grooming, nutrition, etc., and she has provided awesome suggestions (that have worked well). She has an excellent rapport with the dogs (and their humans), has a positive attitude, she is patient and supportive. She always has outstanding advice and is always immediately responsive to my inquires. I highly recommend Shannon. read more

Excellent! Had my first private in home session today with my new 3 month Aussie... Shannon was amazing, very knowledgeable, I learned sooooo much from her, that I booked 3 more sessions. My wild puppy responded better than I could've hoped for and she gave me great tips! Highly recommended! read more

I can't say enough about Shannon Anderson, dog trainer extroardinaire. When we got our puppy last Christmas, I thought either she or I would have to go. She was an absolute monster. After getting a couple of separate referrals for Shannon, I had her come to our house. Within five minutes, she had our little "alligator", Lacey, under control and minding her every command. Shannon is professional and knows her audience, dog and human, extremely well. She explains what, why, when, where and how for every behaviour that dog owner's may encounter with their family pets. I feel like I am in the company of a consumate professional always when working with Shannon and our dog. read more

/we are so pleased we found Shannon. Our plan is to have our new rescue Shit su dog become a therapy dog. She is walking us through the process and will certify our dog Ferguson if he passes the requirements. Beside training for a therapy dog, we are learning all kinds of tricks that make owning a dog more fun. This is all rather new to me and I couldn't be more pleased. read more

When we adopted our two 7- year old Bloodhounds a few months ago we were afraid we had bitten off more than we could chew! Although they came to us from the dog rescue group as "bonded" littermates who had to be homed together (sounded perfect to us!) we were experiencing some very distressing altercations between the two of them. We were determined to make it work and knew we needed help. I contacted Shannon at Total K9 Training, having found her business info at my veterinary office. Our initial contact by phone gave me confidence in her, and after our first private session it was a no-brainer to sign up for the 4-session package. She assessed our home, gave us great tips on how to avoid the fighting and how to stop it safely if a skirmish did break out. And, the training was great. It gave the dogs something to focus on and gave us a better feeling of loving control. Completely positive reinforcement-based, no punishment--but strong and benevolent leadership skills is what she encouraged and fostered. We are very grateful to have found her, and our hounds absolutely LOVE their Auntie Shannon. read more

Total K9 Training - Spooner &Stella, happy hounds! - Pet Training Near Me

We've been working with Shannon on both private and group sessions for our puppy. Becuase our family is new to the "dog world," it was important that we find a trainer who was very patient and was able to teach us from the ground floor up. Shannon is a gem. We couldn't have asked for a better trainer. I should add that Shannon was recommended by our Vet. As well, Shannon has access to some fabulous products which she NEVER attempted to sell to us, but had handy when I commented on liking hers (e.g., 20 foot leash, leather lead, dog food). I was suprised to see the previous reviewer's comments about Shannon, becuase I am convinced she would never give up on an animal. read more

We had Shannon come to our house for a one on one when we first brought our puppy home. She was great. She gave us some helpful information and basic training to get us started. We then took the group 5 week session to build on what we started with. It was very helpful and she has given us a lot of good tools to use and our puppy is absolutely learning. She was so great in our group setting to even give us individual help, when needed. We were also guided in grooming, food choices and needs our breed of dog might need. We would highly recommend Total K9 and Shannon for any dog training. read more

I can't say enough good things about Shannon and Total K9 training. We've always considered ourselves to have a good dog, but we wanted to teach him basic obedience skills from an early age. We took him as a puppy to Shannon's group classes and he learned so much so fast. We've continued on to the more advanced obedience classes and had Shannon over for some in-home sessions. She is a wonderful trainer and the nicest person you could meet. She always finds a way to help with your particular problem/question and is so generous with her time. She's an invaluable resource for raising our dog, we are so glad we met her!! read more

Shannon Anderson is truly the dog whisperer! She is extremely knowledgable in her field and always has a solution to even the most difficult of dog-related problems. She is like a Fairy Godmother to our Great Dane and we could not have survived his puppy year without Shannon! We have used Shannon's expertise both at home and in her training classes. She is FABULOUS! read more

Got a Morkie puppy (Maltese and Yorkie mix) and planned on going to Petco or other Pet chain for training. Won 6-wk puppy training class through a silent auction and we are so glad that we did! Shannon is an amazing teacher for both the owner and dog. Our 6 month old puppy is so much better behaved than any of the dogs that we know that went through other programs. She took the time to learn our dog's personality. Helped us train our small/extremely hyper dog to behave as well as many of the bigger dogs, while providing an excellent and safe learning environment for owners and dogs. Would've signed up for home learning program if we had known earlier. Plan on taking next level of classes in the fall. Would recommend to any owner interested in basic obedience, health and nutrition, and advanced understanding of our best friends. read more

Shannon is a great dog trainer, and she truly does train both ends of the leash. I started with Shannon by having her over for an at-home puppy training visit. She gave me invaluable information on basic obedience, potty training, crate training, nutrition...everything I needed to know for my new puppy. I continued to work with Shannon by enrolling my dog the 6-week puppy training class. It was such a valuable experience, I have now enrolled my dog in the intermediate class. She is an excellent trainer, and I would highly recommend her to any dog owner. read more

Shannon has worked with our 2 puppies for a year now. We had in home training for both of them and have attended several group classes with her. One great benefit to her in home training is the life time free group classes that are included. It is a great way to socialize and train your dog. Shannon loves animals and is very kind and patient . Our puppies adore her and can't wait to see her. She is a great trainer and we can recommend her without reservation. read more

We had Shannon come to the house for an initial puppy training session. Upon meeting her, you could just sense she was an 'animal person.' She did a quick assessment of our house and gave a few quick tips. She also got a good sense of how we live in the house, what other pets and kids we have and our daily routines. She then met our 3 month old beagle and first started us with some corrective training for biting mainly. It was easy to understand and easier to implement. Within a few minutes, we were able to begin to teach her "No!." You could see the difference right away it will make, but like any skill, we will need to practice. She also taught her a couple of very simple commands (sit, come, where's "Mommy"). She actually picked these up very quickly and responded well. She gave us a TON of useful information that we will use. I would recommend any new dog owner work with Shannon. She is very good, very easy going and obviously a very good trainer. She will help mold your relationship with your new dog for the better. read more

My husband and I have taken our beagle/Boston mix to her for over the past 6 months. Shannon is not only an amazing trainer, but a wonderful and friendly person. She has really been able to teach us how to handle our dog's behavior issues. It's as if we have a completely different dog! She has great group training classes and I highly recommend her one on one sessions if your dog needs special attention! You will not regret taking your dog to Shannon! read more

Shannon is amazing! I've been going to training classes with her for over 4 years. Not because my dog Cooper hasn't learned, it's because Shannon makes the classes so much fun and I like to reinforce everything Cooper has learned over the years. Shannon has so much knowledge and never hesitates to answer questions or work on individual problems that you may have. When I had some behavioral problems she was right there with different techniques to try. Sure enough....the problem seem to be solved. Shannon spends probably far more time than she should answering my questions and giving advice whether it's before/after class or via email. She is always friendly and approachable, and the dogs love her! I can highly recommend her. She's the BEST! read more