Extreme K-9's Canine Behavioral Psychology Academy is the most behaviorally-based Trainers school in the United States.

Learn to:

• Recognize and read canine communication found in dog posture, facial expression, body language, movement, and tonal inflection.
• Identify the numerous and diverse sources of unwanted canine aggression. Accurate recognition of the origins is critical for trainers learning to rehabilitate aggressive dogs.
• Understand how the canine brain processes and stores information, and how to make associations between stimuli and reward to ensure long-term memory and performance under stress. 

What trainers can expect: 

• Personal, hands-on interactive work with untrained dogs
• Examples of canine communication in video footage
• Large field pack socialization
• Personal coaching
• Assigned ‘project dogs’
• A greater understanding of how to work with dogs' instincts to achieve results 

Development of this knowledge will cut years off your learning curve as a trainer. There are many different approaches to dog training, but learning to view the world through the dogs’ eyes and to understand their currencies will exponentially improve your effectiveness as a trainer.

Class space is limited. Register Now! Select "Canine Behavioral Psychology Academy" in the drop down menu or call us at 618-964-1000 to get more info.

Search & Detection Academy

Extreme K-9’s Search & Detection Academy is a must for handlers seeking to work their dogs at the professional level in the fields of Narcotics, scent-discriminating Mantrailing K-9, Human Remains, Bed Bug, and Cell Phone detection. Going far beyond simply training handlers to work dogs, this course teaches you the basic through advanced elements of knowing and training the whole dog.

Learn:

• How the canine brain naturally processes, stores, and retrieves scent information
• How to recognize when a dog is processing information versus responding to subtle handler cues
• To build your dogs drives for search work
• To keep your dog focused through distraction
• To advance your training long after you leave the program
• To be a confident, successful k-9 team

Understanding the way dogs naturally learn and process information cannot be over-estimated. Learning to work with Mother Nature, rather than against her, will help you excel as a handler in the Search & Detection field.

Register Now! Select "Search & Detection Academy" in the drop down menu or call us at 618-964-1000 to get more info. 

PTSD Service Dog Trainer Academy

May 1-10

We began our mission as internationally renowned dog trainers with over 65 years of experience with both pets and professional working dogs. We partnered that expertise with our great love and respect for our military veterans and realized we could do something significant to express our gratitude for all they have sacrificed. We could train high-quality Service dogs specifically for veterans and their injuries.But to do this right, we had to truly understand what they were suffering from. So we trained even more - we worked extensively with VA clinicians and veterans so we could appreciate veterans unique needs.

And we know dogs.

With this background, This Able Veteran’s (TAV) Academy Instructors are raising the bar and redefining the standard for Service dogs assisting our veterans. TAV President and Training Director, Behesha Doan, was a contributing writer of the Best Practices Paper on training PTSD Service Dogs for Assistance Dog’s International. She was also an invited speaker at Harvard University’s Kennedy Center for Government on training PTSD Service dogs for veterans. TAV's Vice-President, Mary MacQueen, herself a U.S. military veteran, trainer, and breeder recognized by the AKC as a "Breeder of Merit" bred "Teddy." TAV team members trained "Teddy" and he is now the first Service dog in the nation serving as a staff member in a VA residential rehabilitation treatment program facility.

The field of PTSD Service dogs is new and must be clearly learned and understood by professionals training and working with these dogs. Training Service dogs for military veterans living with PTSD/TBI (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Traumatic Brain Injury) requires very specialized knowledge and skills - in both the trainer and the dog. The Service dogs must possess an intuitive nature, an agreeable temperament, and a perceptive spirit in order to perform their work independently when the veteran is in crisis. The trainers must learn to correctly identify, evaluate, and select these special dogs and then teach them to recognize and interrupt behaviors associated with anxiety, panic attacks, and nightmares. Learning to correctly evaluate the dog and veteran, and accurately pair the team is critical.

View our video. See the work we are doing and why we are doing it.

Who should attend:

• New and experienced professional trainers who train, or want to train, Service dogs
• VA clinicians who want to add the work of dogs into their therapeutic work
• Veterans who wish to become dog trainers to benefit their fellow-veterans in a meaningful and effective manner

What to expect:

• how Service dogs help veterans with PTSD/TBI
• PTSD Service dog selection process
• to train anxiety-interrupting behaviors
• to train nightmare-interrupting behaviors
• the art of matching the veteran with the right dog
• to understand military culture
• about PTSD/TBI by VA clinicians
• to develop effective WRAP plans for veteran/dog teams
• how clinicians can integrate dog therapy

This is the work we are doing. We are doing it because we care about our veterans, we know dogs, we've done the homework, and we believe our veterans deserve the very best. Join us in raising the bar for these men and women who have given so much for all of us.

Register Now! Select "PTSD Service Dog Trainer Academy" in the drop down menu or call us at 618-964-1162 to get more info.