HardKnocks K9

14/03/2025

Mijn nieuwe visitekaartje zijn aangekomen!

11/11/2024

Als je naar de winkel moet gaan maar je hebt de honden 🐕 💪

28/08/2024

Wij zijn heel erg blij met Matthew !

Wij hebben een Bouvier pup die absoluut niet alleen kon zijn.
6 maanden oud en wij waren al 4 maanden druk aan het trainen om hem aan te leren alleen te zijn.

Na 4 maanden van alles en nog wat geprobeerd te hebben is het enige resultaat dat onze pup elke keer als hij alleen gelaten werd, helemaal uit zijn dak ging, piepen blaffen springen......

Nadat wij in contact zijn gekomen met Matthew is hij dezelfde week nog langs gekomen om te bekijken hoe en wat we eraan zouden moeten doen.
Na een training sessie en een uitgebreid gesprek met Matthew hebben wij de nieuwe techniek toegepast.

Het ging eigenlijk vrijwel meteen al 100x beter en onze pup bleef al gelijk veel rustiger dan de 4 maanden daarvoor.
Nu zijn we 4 weken verder met trainen, en ondertussen al zo ver dat onze pup nu zeker 30 minuten alleen kan zijn en helemaal stil, rustig en relaxed op zijn plekje blijft liggen tot wij weer terug zijn !

Eindelijk hebben wij er weer vertrouwen in dat het alleen laten goed zal gaan.
En kunnen wij eindelijk met een gerust hart onze pup eventjes alleen laten om naar de supermarkt enz. Te kunnen gaan.

Wij raden Matthew dan ook zeker aan bij iedereen die een probleem heeft of een goede training nodig heeft voor zijn of haar hond !

Heel erg bedankt Matthew !!

16/06/2024

Calmness for some dogs comes easily, for others such as Ayla, it is something that needs a little help in nurturing!

In this video you can see that I am building off of the previous behavior (where Ayla was learning how to “Down” as soon as I sat in the chair).

15/06/2024

Behavior driving the reinforcement =????
Reward driving the behavior = ???
Which one is Ayla learning ??? 😃 🐶 🙌

Why is this important?

-One focuses on the behavior itself
-The other focuses on the reward
-One can be self reinforcing
-The other will always need rewarded
-One gives a choice
-The other is a bribe

Great job Ayla 😃

12/06/2024

Working on impulse!!

Send a message to learn more

11/06/2024

Everyone this is Ayla, she is currently learning how to remain in one spot and be calm at the same time. If you understand her energy then you know that being still is not something fun for her! You can do it Ayla 🐶

24/04/2024

HardKnocks K9 is now officially here in the Netherlands!!

17/02/2024

THE FAMILY IS BACK TOGETHER ❤️ 😊

Hello HKK9 family 😃 🐶!!

Sorry for the late update, but we have been extremely busy with the move and preparing to live here in The Netherlands!! Finally, I have the time to make some posts and update everyone that is following our journey.

The pups did amazing at the airport in D.C and in The Netherlands 🇳🇱 The preparations that we made on our trips to Lowe’s in the kennels really made a huge difference for the dogs.

Hades (tan Mal) has always barked and growled at people while being kenneled. I adopted him when he was 11 months old and he came to me with many issues. I have helped him throughout the yrs with his trust issues, anxiety, frustration and communication. I never felt the need to address him barking at people while being in the kennel (I kinda liked it) because to me it wasn’t an issue.

It wasn’t until I did some research with KLM airlines and discovered that they can deny your dogs flight if deemed aggressive. So I thought I better not give them any opportunity to deny me from starting my new life and I am so glad that we trained for the trip.

There were only two incidents where he barked at someone and that was no fault of his own. One lady in D.C had a COVID mask on and put her face in the kennel door, needless to say that she probably will not be making that mistake again to another dog minding their Buisness in the kennel. The 2nd was in Amsterdam, again a man (security guard) put his face close to the kennel to say hello, and again the same result. Other than those two incidents, they did exceptionally well.

Can both of those situations be prepared for? Yes!!! 💯

I could set these situations up and work on them over and over again and maybe it will improve.

Will I work on those situations? No!!! 💯

Sometimes people have to learn organically (the real life situation) and from the actual source (dog in this case) that it may not be a good idea to put your whole face in a kennel door and expect candy to come from the other side. Not all dogs are the same and would like for you to show them attention (in this case it was personal pressure) and it is perfectly ok for them to say back up and give me some space.

After both of these situations, I offered some words of advice and Hades went right back into minding his own business and never made another sound. Sometimes we have to advocate for our dogs, but in this case it was justified that he advocated for himself. Remember, De hond zal je alles laten zien wat je moet weten!!!

More posts to come shortly!!

Left to right:
Hades,Taz and Honey 🐶

08/01/2024

At Lowe’s preparing for our upcoming flight!!

08/01/2024

We stopped by Lowe’s today to get ready for our upcoming flight!!

08/12/2023

Good morning everyone 😃

I would like to start by stating that I appreciate everyone that has supported and trusted me with their pups over the years, wether that was with Dutchess K9, or HardKnocks K9.

As of 1 December, with a heavy heart, I had to permanently close HKK9’s doors in NC and will no longer be available for any future training sessions 😔. Over the years I have really enjoyed my time in NC and I have gained so much more knowledge about life and dog training, greater than I could even imagine. So I would like to tell everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart for every inch of knowledge that I have gained 😃

Although this may be a chapter finished in NC, it is by far the end of my dog training journey. I have plans and other opportunities happening my way and I will share those details as soon as they unfold. Happy holidays to you all and I really appreciate everything!

As always, If you need anything, I can still be reached through messenger or at [email protected].