About Us

You will find Dee on the tracking field on Saturday and Sunday mornings with her Schutzhund titled K-9 Kiwi. Also lead trainer working with the new dogs and puppies on Saturday and Sunday mornings. On Saturday afternoon she is the lead instructor in our AKC Star Puppy Class and works her Kiwi in obedience and protection work on Saturdays and Wednesdays. 

"As a small child around 4 years of age I knew I was meant to work with animals in some fashion when I found a litter of kittens discarded on the side of the road wrapped in a pillow case and I brought them home. This was my first attempt at being an animal nurse.
It didnt work out so well as the kittens all passed away but it made me aware that I wanted to grow up helping animals.
Growing up I was given the chores to feed, water and of course clean up after the dogs.
At the age of 10 we adopted a border collie from a local shelter. It was at this time I realized training dogs was going to be a given in my adult life. I began bonding with her and shortly thereafter we began our training regimen. During the summer I would take her outside and teach her to sit and lay down with treats.
As an adult married to a law enforcement K9 officer my first dog to do serious training with was a small female GSD named "Casey". At the time I did not know the difference between imported dogs, backyard bred dogs, puppy mills, working dogs, show dogs or pets.
Luckily for me, she was the product of two imported Schutzhund titled working line German Shepherds. I soon learned how fast working line dogs could be trained due to their inborn instincts to work and their drive to please their handler.We worked together as a team for almost two years in Schutzhund but before I was able to title her she unexpectedly passed away at 2 years of age.
I was broken hearted and vowed to not have anymore dogs, although with my husband being a K9 officer thankfully that was not the case.
I started holding small classes for my friends and coworkers. That was the beginning and I am still excited and look forward to training every time step on the training field. It is my greatest satisfaction with training to take an untrained and unruly animal and turn them into an animal that their owners are proud to own."
"Dee"

We met Tim for the first time at the fence to our club. He was looking for a place to train with his new puppy and had located us on line after searching. We invited him to come onto the field and he walked in carrying a small beautiful German Shepherd puppy at nine weeks named Titan. Well Dee melted running up and taking Titan from Tim and I'm kinda surprised Tim ever got Titan back. Tim has evolved into a tremendous trainer showing a soft soft for a big man and we are very touched by having him here to help other K9 teams become better. You will find Tim working with Titan every Saturday morning on the tracking field, honing his tracking skills to achieve his IGP1 later this year. Tim then leads our advanced class on Saturday morning, co-instructs our AKC Star Puppy class on Saturday afternoon, then works with Titan in protection training after that and helps with decoy duties. Tim also works Titan and instructs on Wednesday evening.
Tim is also training a second GSD Basco with tracking, obedience and protection getting both dogs ready for many future Schutzhund Titles. Tim is a very important part of our training club and has helped us grow the club and help get others dogs to be what they can become. Tim is a lot of fun on the training field and it is a good time to attend one of his classes.    

"I've had dogs most of my life as pets. I didn't start working with dogs until I got my first GSD as an adult. I wanted a dog that I could leave with my family while I went to work the overnight shift. We started with basic obedience and progressed to home/child protection training. I felt very comfortable leaving my family at night knowing I had my girl to protect them. I had her for 13 loving years.
A couple of years later I know I needed another GSD dog in my life. After finding my Titan I knew I needed a place to advance my knowledge of training and have my dog progress further than I had before.
I showed up at Southwest Florida K9 Services where I met Rusty and Dee with my 9 week old GSD puppy Titan. They asked me what type of training I was looking for with Titan and myself. I had just saw on their Facebook page that Dee had won the club championship and was holding a championship belt for her obedience win. I told them I wanted that belt. That was the start of our training journey.
Under the guidance of Rusty, Dee, and Dawn I progressed from the beginning puppy class to the advanced class. After several months of training I was asked to help out with the start of the advanced class and as time went on I was offered the task of taking over the Saturday morning Advanced Class.
I try to get the handlers to understand that with patience and consistency their life with their dog can be an awesome and rewarding journey.
In the group class I make it fun and enjoyable I use sarcasm and humor to relieve the stress some handlers feel when trying to get their dog to work with them. So if you stick with it and progress to make it to the Saturday Advanced Class make sure you bring proper footwear and a sense of humor.
P.S. Titan has received his BH in Schutzhund and is working towards his IGP1. He has also won the club obedience belt and currently holds the club championship"