About Hero K9 Academy

Hero K9 Academy is based in Hartsville, in Trousdale County, and is run by a trainer the site introduces simply as Hannah.

What they publish

The published training tracks are board and train, private training, group classes and specialty training. The mission page frames the work through the problems owners arrive with: a dog that does not listen, a dog destroying the house, an anxious dog, a household that cannot have people over because of the dog, and owners who simply want a closer relationship with their dog. Across her own description of the work, the areas she says she takes dogs into are basic obedience, advanced obedience, sport training, scent detection and protection work.

Who runs it

Hannah took a degree in Zoology with an emphasis in animal behavior from Tennessee Technological University. While there she founded a club focused on the medical and behavioral needs of shelter dogs to make them more adoptable, won multiple research grants on developing shelter dogs as service-work candidates, and trained a beagle mix in peanut detection with the aim of placing him with someone with a severe peanut allergy. That research earned her an Excellence in Creative Inquiry award at Tennessee Tech's 2019 Research Day and a team research grant, and her shelter work earned a "Wings of Kindness" award in 2020. She has competed in protection sports including PSA, IGP and WDA, and in AKC scent work and dock diving, and continues to train her own sport dog.

How she frames the training

Her stated belief is that every dog is unique and that the job is to find the way that particular dog will excel, rather than run it through a fixed program. She also puts weight on working with the owner as much as the dog, to build the handler-dog team through clear communication.

Practical notes

Contact them directly for programs, pricing, credentials and availability.