Ohana K9

Raised in the mountains of Montana, I was immersed at a young age, in the day to day ranch life of working with dogs, horses, cows and other various ranch animals. I've handled many types of dogs as a child, from a Saint Bernard, Doberman Pincher to a Rottweiler, Cocker Spaniel, Blue Heeler, Schnauzer, and German Shepherd. This formed the foundation of what would become my career. As an adult, my first dog was an Australian Shepherd along with a Golden Retriever and two mutts. After moving back to Florida, I met my epic husband and we had an amazing child. Due to early detection of developmental delays, we realized our son would benefit from the use of a service dog to help him in his day to day life. In seeing the difference a service dog made in our son's life and watching that magical relationship bloom, I was inspired to help others in our community who were struggling with similar challenges. As early as 2014, I began to work with several trainers to learn all the things to do (and not do) when training service dogs. That experience helped to develop the style that I would call my own and lead me to launching my own company. Ohana K9 was officially founded in 2017. geared toward providing service dogs for all ages but specializing in small children. I decided to start slowly, only taking on a few clients at a time to advance my skills and develop the successful service dog program. My son has been by my side training his service dog and helping to train others. He remains the inspiration for Ohana and I can envision him working by my side as a trainer in the future. (If that's the road he chooses) With the expansion of a dog friendly culture, I began to see more and more dogs in public. I realized the community needed more experienced dog trainers. So in 2021, I made the decision to expand my business to include pets. Board and train services have been the latest evolution providing an in-home training experience for puppies, adolescents and older dogs.