08/18/2026
I hate to make this post, I really do, but I must admit to you all that I've come to realize I am a fraud and a hypocrite. For years now, you see, I've been stressing to owners the importance of boundaries and consistency within all relationships--of course, for our purposes, namely the one between you and your dog.
Sadly, I have not practiced what I preach, in that I've repeatedly neglected my own boundaries when it comes to interactions with clients, especially prospective clients and those clients (or would-be clients) who are also friends.
Anyone who has worked with me knows I am extremely approachable, friendly, and eager to help others however I can. I have enormous empathy for my human clients and work very hard to meet people where they're at and relate to them on a human/personal level. I also completely understand the anxiety around training methods, board & trains, and spending a lot of money only to find your dog is now even worse off than before; people are operating at peak distrust thanks to constant bombardment with negative news stories and anecdotes and yes, skill decay as our society moves farther and farther from nature.
In light of all this, I've always striven to be extremely available and transparent for clients, both current and future/prospective, and provided a lot of flexibility according to clients' individual comfort levels.
Unfortunately, just like dogs, humans have a fantastic eye for behavioral patterns. If they see your boundaries flex in one area, they start pushing to see what else you will budge on, even if it's not conscious/intentional.
A lot of people seem to forget that this is a one-woman show and the nature and structure of my training offerings (intensive, time consuming, high quality, close contact, and highly individualized and personalized) necessitate low volume, which in combination with my perpetually looming to-do list (roughly the size of Mount Rushmore) creates a heavy dependence on my schedule being my schedule.
As a result, due to recent concerns around my privacy as well as disrespect for time and schedule constraints, we will be implementing some policy changes effective immediately. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to ANY of these policies, for ANYONE. Changes will be reflected on the website shortly and included in the policies & procedures on all future provided program contracts.
1. There will be NO alterations to lesson package quantity or frequency and NO lessons offered "a la carte." If you cannot make an ongoing commitment to actually practice with your dog, "do your homework," and stick to a schedule, you are not a fit for lessons here. Lessons canceled for non-emergent reasons within 24 hours of the scheduled lesson time will be subject to a $25 rescheduling fee.
2. Free phone consultations will be capped at 15 minutes, and no statements tantamount to advice will be made during these free consultations. They are for you to ask questions about my background and program offerings, not ask training questions about your dog. Any advice sought from me about any dog who is not part of our established client base will only be provided via paid virtual consultations.
3. Phone consultations will no longer take place prior to completion of the new-client-information intake form on the website. (Please note, client data IS NEVER shared with or sold to outside parties; this is a time-saving measure, because these conversations move much much more efficiently when I am pre-armed with context.) Past/current clients referring me (thank you, I love y'all), please provide the website link (impossiblek9.com) in lieu of my phone number, or alongside it with a note that I require the form to be filled out prior to phone consults.
4. I will no longer offer free in-person consultations moving forwards. ALL in-person demos and meet-and-greets will be subject to a nominal fee of $50 to be paid in advance and capped at 30 minutes. Initial meet-and-greets will now take place ONLY in neutral public locations, e.g. parks within an established travel radius of our home facility. Any distance in excess of this radius will require a travel fee. All meet-and-greet fees are nonrefundable.
Please note that proof of current vaccination records MUST be provided via email ahead of ANY in-person contact by me with any prospective client dog.
5. Meet-and-greets will take place no sooner than our previously agreed-upon day and time. No, you may not drop by early because you were in the area. Cancellations within 24 hours of the appointment will forfeit your fee and you will be required to rebook. Requests for reschedule within 24 hours are tantamount to cancellation. More than 24 hours out, reschedules will be limited to exactly one, and then you will be required to rebook.
6. On the subject of meet-and-greets...please do not contact me pretending to want training for your dog if all you really want is to meet Midna or see a sport/bite work demo. I am very honest in my interactions with everyone. Please return the courtesy by being honest with me. I am more than happy to show my dogs off and they are more than happy to meet new people. Midna will come to your rescue event; heck, she'll do your kid's birthday party! She's adaptable like that. But the demands on my time are too heavy and too constant to keep doing what amounts to free private showings wherein I drop everything and trot out the dog-and-pony show for someone who never had any intention of signing up for any training to begin with.
If you want to watch her for free, you are welcome to attend any trials she competes in or, if you're local, volunteer to help out with training sessions; an extra pair of hands is often VERY appreciated! We're also normally happy to stop and chat for a couple of minutes should you happen to catch us out and about :).
7. A full, PAID behavior evaluation will now be REQUIRED as part of the initial booking process for any program. The (already paid) cost of the evaluation will be subtracted from the remainder of the program cost at time of booking. Please note, the process for long-distance (i.e. driving/flying across multiple states to get here) behavior mod cases will stay the same as it is now, preliminary virtual screening with the in-person evaluation taking place at dropoff.
8. Behavior evaluation may coincide with a tour of the farm/facility; no tours will be provided prior to that point. While it is the place where your dog will be living and completing the majority of his/her sessions for the 4-6 weeks that I have him/her, it is also where I live all the time.
I sleep, shower, and drink coffee outside in my pajamas here. As a result, no entry to our farm will be permitted for anyone except paying clients. This will remain true whether the distance between us is 5 hours or 5 minutes.
9. Behavior evaluations are subject to a cancellation fee and otherwise paid up front PRIOR to evaluation. There will be NO refunds on any behavior evaluation charges after the start of the evaluation (which coincides with the moment the dog arrives on our property). Reminder that board & train deposits are only refundable in the event of very specific extenuating circumstances, such as the premature death of the dog the board & train was intended for. Lesson packages are "use them or lose them" and ARE NOT refundable.
10. The normal 25% board & train deposit will be required prior to ANY scheduling discussions beyond general statements about my calendar/availability or ANY rendering of materials. I will be requiring the full deposit in advance regardless of if you are local or long distance, regardless of the length of the period between booking and dropoff.
11. Non-emergent board & train reschedules within a week of the scheduled start date for that dog will now be subject to a $250 rescheduling fee. (Please note, I do not mean "Can we do Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning for dropoff?" I mean "[insert family member here] pitched a huge fit when I reminded him/her the dog is leaving for training later this week and I just can't stand watching him/her cry. Can we cancel and/or reschedule for a few months down the line? So sorry to do this to you." Is that family member dying of cancer this week? Does s/he need to sob into the dog's fur with his/her last breath? No? Fee. Please see: I am a one-woman show with limited training slots and bills to pay!)
12. ALL FAMILY MEMBERS in the dog's daily life MUST BE PRESENT for the evaluation! NO further exceptions to this rule will be made!!
13. This should go without saying, but no slander/libel/lashing out at me will be tolerated in the event of an unfavorable evaluation determination; in laymen's terms, DO NOT SHOOT THE GOSH-DANGED MESSENGER. I work frequently with dangerous dogs, many of whom manage to fly under the radar, sometimes even for very long periods of time, due to owners walking on eggshells around them and precluding exposure to what would otherwise be extremely common, normal everyday triggers. There is an inherent level of risk and liability in keeping and handling dangerous dogs that I MUST be forewarned of prior to any exposure of my personal animals, friends/helpers, or other client animals to those dogs.
When you agree to a behavior evaluation, you agree to step back and let me check to make sure your eggshells aren't covering up a surprise minefield. Do NOT hire the human equivalent of a bomb-sniffing dog if you aren't emotionally ready to hear "Hey, there's bombs under here." That is between you and your therapist. I am only your dog's therapist, not yours.
13. "He's never done that before/he doesn't do that at home/he doesn't normally do that" as an excuse for any maladaptive behavior beyond normal-untrained-dog level that presents during an evaluation, especially as it pertains to aggression, will NOT prevent raising the offered program tier to adjust for the dog's behavior. I do NOT offer obedience-only board & train for dogs with behavior issues, they MUST enroll in the behavior modification board & train that allows for extra time to address the behavior issues up front.
Our board & train is a holistic program that provides dogs with extensive experience living peacefully in a home environment and SAFELY, freely interacting with the big wide world, including other dogs, livestock, strangers, and often even babies and/or children. There are plenty of obedience-only programs that keep client dogs strictly confined to contexts which make it possible to ignore many unsafe and maladaptive behaviors for the entire duration of the program. Ours is absolutely not one of them, and our prices, policies, and procedures will continue to reflect this.
Thank you all for your cooperation and understanding. Pic for the algorithm (it punishes text posts)
