— Before You Ask —
Direct Answers
The answers, including the ones that cost us work.
The answers, including the ones that cost us work.
Most of the questions we get are the same questions. Below are our direct answers — including the ones that cost us work. A client who understands what this program is, and is not, is a better client for everyone involved.
If the question you need is not here, the phone is the right channel. Twenty minutes, no charge, no obligation.
If we are not the right program for you, we will say so directly.
A phone call. Twenty minutes. No charge. We ask enough to know whether we are a fit; you ask enough to know whether we are the right people. Nothing sensitive is stored on the website, and no personal detail is submitted through a public form.
No. We decline work driven by ego, intimidation, image, or careless ownership. We also decline when the dog, the household, or the intended role are outside what we can do responsibly. That is a favor to you.
Yes. Independent assessment is a service we offer separately, whether or not the dog was ours. We tell you what the dog actually is, not what you want it to be.
It depends on the dog, the household, the goal, and the honesty of the intake. Anyone quoting a fixed timeline before they have seen the dog is guessing or selling.
No. Structure, sequencing, and advanced application are not published, not sold as a course, and not casually shared. What the public site shows is the philosophy and the standard — not the system.
Both, together. Every engagement develops the dog and the owner or handler as a team. Judgment, communication, control, and household management are trained deliberately — not assumed.
Safety in the fight. Inside the facility, inmates had a habit of grabbing the ears and pulling on the tail to leverage or injure the dog. Cropping and docking removes those handles.
It is a working decision, not a cosmetic one — the dog goes home in one piece.
We have run short coats since 2009. Before that we kept the traditional Schnauzer cut. That changed after one operation.
Coming off a mission, we noticed something dried and scabbed on one of the dogs’ coats. We did not immediately realize he had been stabbed — the long coat had absorbed the blood, it had coagulated, and it was invisible until we clipped him down. From that day forward, we cut them short.
Three reasons it stays that way:
1. Immediate trauma is visible. Cuts, punctures, stab wounds, bruising — nothing hides under a long coat.
2. Hygiene and decontamination. MRSA, bodily fluids, and biohazards are part of the environment these dogs work in. A short coat means we can clean and decontaminate them quickly — not shampoo through inches of hair while contamination sits on skin.
3. Heat management. The majority of their working life is spent indoors or in transport. A short coat keeps them cooler, more alert, and less stressed in that environment.
Sometimes. Availability is discussed after intake, not before. We do not publish a catalogue and we do not use social-media inventory posts.
You can tell us what the household needs. We tell you which K1K9™ matches. Preference is respected; fit is decided by the dog, the household, and the role — in that order.
No. Every placement includes hand-off, on-site work with the household, and a scheduled follow-up. A dog delivered to a driveway and waved off is not a placement. It is a shipment.
No. Assessment before promises. If the fit is wrong we decline, we refund reasonably, and we help you find a program that suits what you actually need.
No. For obvious reasons, our client list is not made public. Our clients are particular about their privacy and anonymity. In today’s climate — where security and family members can be targeted — we are very protective of who we work with and how they are named.
Only what is needed to serve you. Sensitive detail moves through verified channels, not the website. Access is time-limited and revoked when it is no longer needed.
Where appropriate, yes — before deeper discussion, and always at our expense.
By invitation only. Access is limited to invited guests, active clients, and government agencies — and only after the relationship warrants it.
Several factors drive this. Units and personnel training on-site may be working in clandestine roles or protective details where anonymity is highly guarded. International visitors often arrive with their own security teams. The nature of the work does not permit casual foot traffic.
If a visit is appropriate, it is scheduled, cleared, and structured.
Yes — through the Senior Handler. What is posted publicly lives on the Senior Handler’s personal social channels, never with client detail. The site itself is the record. The feed is where the standard is talked about, not where it is proven.
Links are listed below.
Short answer: yes — we can recalibrate your dog, depending on how far he has fallen off standard and what he was originally trained to do.
The assessment determines the timeline. It also depends on your requirements, and whether the dog has already met — or can meet — those requirements. This is not a phone-call decision.
It takes a working conversation with the Senior Handler and several of our K1K9 specialists, followed by a clear-eyed evaluation of the dog on-site or at your location. Only then do we commit to a plan.
If we have first-hand knowledge of another program — or the information provided is credible and specific — we are willing to give a professional opinion and comment.
We will not disparage another company for motivational reasons. We operate in a professional atmosphere, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with a given program’s methods.
If we are not the right fit, we will name a category and let you find a provider suited to it.
Ask it on the phone. If we are the right fit, the conversation will keep going. If we are not, you will have a clearer picture of what to look for than you had before you called.