About Wilson County K9

Wilson County K9 is a family-run training and boarding facility on Nokes Road in Lebanon, just off Highway 109, led by trainer Chase Hale.

What they publish

The service menu is boarding, day boarding, obedience programs, behavior-issue resolution and personal protection. Obedience runs as three graded residencies: a two-week Puppy Obedience program covering sit, down, recall, place, attention and release; a four-week Basic Obedience program adding sit-stay, down-stay, on-lead heel and threshold manners at doors and boundaries; and a six-week Advanced Obedience program built for "true freedom and dependable off-lead control", with advanced recall and complete off-lead obedience. The behavior program is aimed at aggression, excessive barking, leash pulling and separation anxiety, and is priced only after an evaluation. Personal protection is offered both as a trained dog and as an assessment of a dog you already own.

How the training runs

The site is unusually specific about method. Obedience dogs are trained on an Educator e-collar, and the trainers describe finding the dog's "base" level – the lowest setting that produces any reaction at all, such as a head turn or a neck scratch – and using that as the foundation for every command. They write that many trainers misuse the collar as punishment, and position their own use of it as a communication bridge. Every dog enrolled in an obedience program is supplied with the collar, or a slip collar at the puppy and basic levels, as part of the price.

Who runs it

The published team is drawn from the Metro Nashville Police Department K-9 unit. Chase Hale has been an MNPD officer since 2013 and a K9 handler since 2017, became the department's Head K9 Trainer in 2020, and is described as a USPCA Certified Trainer. Sergeant Danny Hale served 18 years in the same K-9 unit and later as its Training Sergeant. Garrett Reingardt came to the unit in 2021 after running a wounded-game tracking program in Middle Tennessee.

Practical notes

All dogs must be evaluated before enrolling; the evaluation is $35, non-refundable, and credited against the program you choose. Boarding is sized into three kennel classes, with the large kennels the only ones that take aggressive dogs, and proof of rabies, distemper/parvo and bordetella vaccination is required as a printout from your vet. Behavior-program pricing is quoted after the evaluation rather than published.