About Positive K-9

Positive K9 at Creekside is the training arm of the Creekside Resort site in Walworth, and it leads with difficult behavior rather than basic manners. The site states plainly that the business specializes in difficult behavioral issues, particularly aggression, and that many clients have not been successful using other methods, so the program is often their last hope for rehabilitation.

How a case starts

Everything begins with a one-on-one evaluation of the dog and the owner. The site says these appointments run about ninety minutes, are available seven days a week, and are used to prioritize long and short term training goals and to run a series of tests so the right method can be chosen. Owners leave that first visit with exercises to begin at home.

The residency program

The residency program is the centerpiece. The site describes it as nationally recognized, says over nine thousand dogs have been trained through it and that clients travel from as far as Canada and Florida, and frames it for two cases: a dog with in-depth behavioral issues that needs intensive work, or an owner whose schedule will not carry a series of private lessons. It is explicit that owner training matters as much as the residency itself.

The rest of the menu

Private lessons are sold on an as-needed basis rather than in packages, and owners are encouraged to watch the training. A breed selection service exists for people choosing a dog, on the argument that books and websites are overwhelming and misleading. Puppy management covers housebreaking, crate training, play biting and chewing, plus feeding and socialization, in what the site calls the developmentally critical first six months.

Scale and history

The site says the customized approach has been in place for more than two decades and that over ten thousand dogs from across North America have been through the program, naming chewers, biters, jumpers, barkers, diggers, and the aggressive, fearful and anxious. It also announces that Frank Guido of Black Beard K9 has joined the team.