We purchased an 8 week old puppy from Fortress K9. The breeding and training philosophy they follow produces solid, stable dogs. Even though we chose to buy an untrained puppy, the desensitization( coupled with good breeding) Joel did during birth and Indigo’s first 8 weeks helped set the foundation for a stable, fearless dog. Indigo is smart, alert and eager to learn, great with our grandkids, gentle with our older parents and calm inside the house. He ready for adventure and fearless, never backing down from a perceived threat until given the command. He is everything we hoped for and more.

We joined Joel’s K9 academy. Joel is an excellent trainer, gives clear instructions through videos and is willing to answer any questions. Even though I have trained our past shepherds with the Kohler method and feel that is a solid program, I am very glad I joined K9 academy. I learned many new ways to train and highly recommend it. It’s worth the small investment to learn from Joel’s expertise if you cannot train with him in person.
Everywhere we go people compliment us on Indigo’s calm demeanor and great disposition and ask where we got him, I happily tell them FortressK9, we are SO impressed with everything they do!

With my Malinois-X bred and trained by Fortress K9 at my side I have the confidence to travel anywhere. He is always watching, always aware, always ready: A born, bred, and trained protector with a calm demeanor. He’s stable in public places and on the farm around livestock.
I recommend Fortress K9 without reservation. If I ever need another protection dog in addition to Diesel I will return to Fortress K9.

I have purchase a trained Service Dog and Protection Dog from Fortress K9. I recommend them to all who asked me where I got my dogs. I have owned a variety of breeds over my life and by far the shepherds raised and trained by Fortress K9 are far superior. They are cared for lovingly from birth. Education is foremost in training and is taught with explanation and classes for the dog and owner. My opinion is unsolicited. If you want a trainer who lives and breathes his business, Fortress K9 is the place for you to purchase and train a quality dog.

As a service dog user for over 30 years, I've worked with a lot of dogs and dog trainers. The professionals at Fortress K9 are definitely some of the best folks I've worked with. Joel has an amazing understanding of a wide variety of training techniques, and more importantly, he communicates that to the humans who need that knowledge in their daily lives.

My husband and I took our 4-year-old Aussie to Fortress K9 for 3 days of training. Our dog's obedience was decent, but a humane society had told us that our dog was aggressive. We took him to Joel for another set of eyes from a trusted professional. We learned new skills to enforce with our dog, and we also learned how to read queues to prevent interactions that might be interpreted as aggressive., By the time training was done, we really had a new dog! The foundation was there, but Joel helped us create a rock star!

Our experience was 100% personalized to my disability and our pet's capabilities. Support after training was amazing too! If I had known how life-changing the choice to train with Joel could be, I would have done it when our pet was much younger.

Thank you, Joel, and Fortress K9 for being amazing!

My experience with Fortress K9 has been nothing short amazing. Joel is a top notch trainer who raises amazing dogs. My family and I could not be happier with our pup Being Panzer. Looking forward to a possible second Mali pup here in the future.