1 year ago I adopted a 100 pd Pit Corso (Pit Bull, Cane Corso Mix) He is two beasts in one dog. He was/is solid muscle (he put on a lil weight from all the love lol) Anyway, I did not realize walking him was going to be as difficult as it had become and I am not a small person. His pulling was getting out of control and I was afraid I was going to end up hurting myself trying to control him. Not to mention he has some reactiveness in him when it came to other dogs outside a fence. I came across Rick with Champion K9 thru someone who knew him and his services. I messaged him that night. I set up the FREE evaluation. Blue was put in a room prior to his arrival and we had a good 30 minute talk about what I needed and wanted out of Blue. Blue then met Rick. I did not see his normal reaction when meeting new people of jumping and pacing from sheer excitement. He took one walk around Rick (who was not paying him any attention) Blue just laid down. I knew right then and there he was the trainer for us. He worked with my schedule and got us right in starting the following Sunday. We have had 7 of the 8 private classes and our whole lives have changed for the better. The first few visits were basic commands and getting familiar with each other and what we expect. The next few visits were training on walking on a new leash, social interaction with other humans and walking around other dogs at a dog park. The confidence he gave me and Blue has made a huge difference in our walks. I can control him with little to no anxiety or fear of me being hurt, him possibly being hurt or him hurting anyone else. He also has built Blue's confidence with walking and being 95% less reactive. Don't get me wrong, he still has some but now it is out of protecting me and his surroundings and I am ok with that (I mean, all dogs bark). He has opened up the world to us for new experiences and adventures together and living the best life TOGETHER we both deserve. Trust me, it is not easy, but like he says, "YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN" and I can truly see that. We train and practice daily and it does not stop. If you are not willing to put forth the effort than maybe it is not for you. Rick's knowledge is outstanding. He let me asked all the questions, weither good, bad or just plain stupid to make me more comfortable. He is also a straight shooter and tells it like it is. He does not sugar coat things and I can appreciate that 100% because I am the same way. No need to pussyfoot around anything or waste anyone's time. If I had to do it all over again. I would not hesitate read more

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Rick came highly recommended and while he was expensive, his methods and teaching were invaluable for our first puppy. We chose a Shiba-Inu, which is not a simple breed to train and working with Rick he has become a beloved puppy by all of our friends,neighbors,and vet. If you communicate honestly and openly about your needs, Rick will work with them. His mantra of "train as you live" works well as long as you stick to it. He was happy to work in group classes for our puppy and if you follow his advice to graduate he even offers free advice for the lifetime of your puppy. Most important is Rick's understanding of your dog, which in my opinion is unmatched. He knows the ins and outs of breeds, and has a great sense of personality for the dog and how to work with that. He then works with you about understanding how you and the dog communicate and live together. He trains you as much as the dog, which was invaluable in my opinion. read more

MAMA'S VIEW - $1,600 WAISTED So I called this place last at the end of 2020, beginning of 2021 (I do not remember those specifics). I called to get training for my son's dog; I initially spoke with a lady who stated she was the wife/owner of the training facility. I thought this was great as I felt like I was getting a little extra touch of customer service dealing with the wife and co-owner of the company- how wrong I was. First off, we were speaking and I made mention that I have my little guy (dog) and I trained him myself but was wondering about a possible refresher course (just to maybe have a professional input) but I was so far away. I reside in Florida while my child is in the state of Ohio. The owner (do not recall her name) told me that she knew people out here in my area and she would get me a referral. Great, right? Well, I never got a call back nor a text with a referral name as I was told I would. While on the phone with her, we obviously spoke prices and payments. She advised me they used to break down payments, but sadly some people would not complete the payment at the end - to which I understood; and she assured me that I could at the least do a split payment $600 and then $600. The agreement was that I would put the first half down if my son chose to move forward with his fur baby and this company - and since there was a bit of a wait for the first appointment, I could pay the remaining balance prior to the first "class". This did not seem too bad for me - I was made aware that we may have to wait a month maybe two for the secondary appointment due to all the covid bs that had been occurring. I was again - ok with this. Well, let us just say that when my son met with the trainer (owner) and my son decided to move forward, I spoke with the gentleman and inquired on paying half and then the secondary half. I was denied and told I had to pay the $1,600 in full - ugh; I agreed as this was something important that needed to be done. My son and his wife were expecting a new baby and the proper training for the dog is essential. Then of course the time frame we were given to expect services was extended dramatically and they did not get to do any training at all until months down the road and the new baby was already getting ready to make her appearance. Now fast forward and here we are - we are here because when I inquired on if my son had gotten back into the training; he finally divulged that he did not feel comfortable with the trainer/training in question. My son did say he followed up but was not consistent about it due to his feeling uncomfortable about the training - this is when I began to inquire as to "why"". My son told me that the few training sessions they had - the training advise was to lock her in the room if she did not properly due the command or if the she did something she was not supposed to do. I am not a "professional" dog trainer but me and my son both trained my little dog and he is a chihuahua that is now a service dog - home trained! I knew my son would need help as it was no longer just him and I - my son now has a family, a wife and three kids - he needed help; especially with me being so far away. Well the "training" for his fur baby was to LOCK HER in the playroom for 10/15 minutes until she breaks the habit - what the hell kind of training is this?!?!?!?!?!? You do not lock the dog away in a room, crate or any other thing you can think of - you correct the behavior and continue with the training as you reward the accomplishments. Once I found this out - I did contact my bank to do a chargeback; as I have no desire to speak with anyone from this institution in anyway shape or form - they lie, do not follow through and DO NOT KNOW HOW TRAIN. Sadly, the time for me to financially correct this has passed me and my bank actually told me, that they advise I take these people to small claims court. Unfortunately, since I reside in Florida and they are based in Ohio - it makes it pretty difficult to do so. So, here I am writing this review in the hopes that no other family goes through what we went through - locking the dog up or away for not getting a command is no training! You are causing the poor dog to be fearful of the room, crate etc. and to NOT trust you. Stay away and look for other options and do your research before finalizing anything - as we should have done. In the end, we were in such a rush to be responsible and take care to ensure the family dog was trained and all we did was lose money and get completely unqualified people to assist us. In the end I told my son we will happily take the $1,600 loss as long as these people do not come anywhere near my fur grandbaby ever again. read more

Rick McCray from Champion K9 Dog training doesn't openly disclose that he uses various aversive training tools & methods. He was very deceptive in what is included in his training fees. He never informed us that we would be purchasing training tools. He presented it like we would be borrowing them from him. We told him that we don't want these aversive tools used on our dog but he downplayed the use of these tools & convinced both me & my husband that these are harmless & may or may not be introduced much later in training. Without consulting with us or warning us he showed up to our second training session with an e-collar. He didn't provide an outline of his protocols or training plan & what will happen for the 10 lessons ahead of time. He requires all money for the 10 lessons up front and doesn't give refunds. He doesn't even provide a copy of the contract you sign. We could only tolerate him for 3 lessons before we cut our losses & completely cancelled the last 7 sessions even though we paid $1,850. I never write bad reviews. It takes a lot for me to even write a review at all so this is extreme for me but I have to share. Rick was unprofessional & disrespectful by using foul language in my home even when my kids were around. He would talk badly about other trainers/shelters/people in the dog training world in general, made not-so-subtle digs at my husband, crossed boundaries by confronting my neighbor about yelling at my dog when that is not his place. During the one hour training sessions he would waste my time (that I paid for) by telling too many personal stories that don't relate to training & by constantly talking in circles. He was extremely arrogant & talked to me in a condescending manner & like he was the only authority on dog training. After our 2nd training lesson our dog had a bad reaction to the e collar & her anxiety was skyrocketing & she became fearful of us. We told him we refused to use the e collar & he got angry & hostile. When he arrived at our 3rd lesson he didn't even work with our dog at all. She stayed in her crate the entire time. I felt like since he already had our money he was being vindictive. Presumably because he was perturbed that we didn't want to use an e-collar & he doesn't know how to train without one. I told him that there's a reason e-collars are illegal in multiple countries around the world. Recent scientific studies have shown that aversive tools aren't good for dogs and can even make them more aggressive after removing the tool. Rick even tried to trick me into giving back the $200 e-collar that I already paid for without even offering us a refund. I refused. He is dishonest & manipulative. We will be hiring a certified professional positive trainer who has good credentials, who only promotes humane, positive techniques & who doesn't use quick fix tools like e-collars & other aversive tools in lieu of thoughtful teaching. We needed someone who utilizes the latest science, research & ethics in dog training. If you care about any of that this trainer is not for you. Really disappointed. read more