About Thurman’s Place

Who they are

Thurman's Place is owned and led by Karen Oler, named on the site as "our wonderful owner/lead trainer, Karen Oler." Her published history starts in 2000, when "she embraced the opportunity to focus her career on K-9 training", beginning with rehabilitating rescue dogs for a local organization and training therapy dogs to visit children at hospitals. She later founded a scent-detection inspection company and became "an active member of the World Detection Dog Organization (WDDO)", serving several years as its vice president. She moved to Dickson in 2013 and to the Lyles farm in 2018; the barn was completed in 2020.

Where they work

On their own farm. The site says "Our 35-acre farm is located in Lyles, TN, about 45 minutes west of Nashville", with "countless trails, country roads, creeks, and wild life", and a barn that "can hold over 100 dogs!" Transport is offered — "We offer a convenient and safe transportation service that picks up your dog and brings them home!" — and the site says most clients come from the Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin areas.

What they offer

Everything is board-and-train, and the prices are published, which is unusual for this metro.

The E-Collar Complete Program is the flagship at $4,800 for roughly four weeks. It covers leash manners, "Heeling on leash and elimination of leash reactivity", off-leash skills and recall, "Calm on command" without hours of exercise first, crate manners, "House manners and public access behavior (stores, restaurants, and public settings)", separation anxiety and "Confidence building for nervous, fearful, or pushy dogs".

The Foundation Program runs in two phases — Phase One at $2,400 for about two weeks, on leash only and with no e-collar, and Phase Two at $3,400 for about three weeks, which adds e-collar conditioning and off-leash work. The site is candid about who the Foundation track is not for: "Dogs with anxiety, resource guarding, or leash reactivity must enroll in our Complete Program instead."

For puppies there is the Right Paw Program at $1,000, a "4-week Right Paw In-Home Training Program" in which a trainer comes to your home once a week to work on potty training, crate training, puppy manners, nipping and basic obedience. Follow-up sessions are "$125/session" at the facility and "$200/session" in home, and alumni boarding is "$80/night per dog".

How they train

The site's own phrase is "permission-based balanced training", and the structure is the method: pack living, structured walks, place time, and e-collar conditioning in the off-leash programs. Graduates keep access to free monthly Pack Hikes and what the site calls "Lifetime support" with "no expiration".

Worth knowing

Karen Oler's scent-detection work is a genuine specialty but sits largely in a separate inspection business; the published dog-owner programs are the obedience and off-leash tracks above.