About Nashville K-9

Nashville K-9 was founded in West Nashville in 2005 and is now one of the largest training operations in the state, working from a 15,000 sq ft fully indoor facility opened in 2020. Its distinguishing feature is the working-dog side: alongside consumer pet training it trains police, search and rescue, detection and personal protection dogs, and has stood up K-9 units for multiple Middle Tennessee agencies.

What you can book here

In-facility board and train is the core consumer program – you drop the dog off, the team handles the training, and at the end the owners go through a course covering everything the dog was taught. An owner-handled option is offered for people who would rather do the training themselves. There is also an online training product, described as access to over 600 dog training videos plus interactive webinars and podcasts. On the corporate side the business offers executive protection dogs and trained entertainment dogs for music video, television, photography and film work. A lifetime guarantee on training is claimed; ask about prices.

Method, stated clearly

This is the detail most likely to decide your shortlist: "Utilizing progressive, reward based training methods, we aim to solve your daily dog obedience and behavior programs", and, separately, "We do not use electronic collars or choke collars in any of our training programs." In a Nashville market where e-collars are common and usually disclosed as a feature, that is a deliberate line in the other direction.

Track record and community work

The site's own timeline lists starting or training K-9 units for the Davidson County Rescue Squad, Overton County Rescue Squad, Livingston, Millersville, Nolensville, Manchester and Franklin police departments, and Williamson County Sheriff's Office CID, plus donating dogs to the Tennessee Highway Patrol and other agencies. It states the business joined Nashville Fire Department's Task Force 2 K-9 team in 2007, deployed for the 2010 Nashville floods and received a commendation, and became a TN P.O.S.T. Certified K-9 Instructor in 2017. Volunteer work running government K-9 units and giving demonstrations to schools, shelters and pet stores is described as ongoing.

Scale

The site says the team trains several hundred dogs a year and describes itself as the largest canine training facility in Tennessee, having grown from around 30 dogs a month in 2011. Affiliations listed include USA Schutzhund, the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association, the AKC and the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission.