The K-9 Center

How cute is this?!
Business card in the shape of a dog's head!

I had my first experience with the K-9 Center on Thursday.

They are a dog training and boarding center on the seaside/chalet area.  That gives them an advantage  as most of the dog centers are in Kabd where there are issues with insects (ticks and fleas) from the farms (livestock pens) and desert area. 

Sidenote:  I recommend that if you are going to take your dog anywhere for boarding/training, make sure he has been treated with FrontLine or Advantix so that he won't be affected.  It literally took me close to a year to rid my house/dog of tiny ticks after the first time he was in Kabd.

Anyways, the K-9 Center is easy to get to - approximately 30 minutes from Kuwait City (less from Fahaheel).  It is REALLY clean.  (Including their bathroom - which is always something that I check out!)

I knew the lead trainer, Saud, through friends in the dog groups that I frequent.  Everyone spoke very highly of him and now I understand why.  He's a quiet-spoken man who has a connection with the dogs.  (Well, Mikey connected more to the various scents, but Mikey is "special".)  Regardless - he liked Saud.  So did The Romanian and I.

Saud starts by evaluating the dog to see what kind of issues he might be having and asking questions along the way.  Then, we were invited to stay and watch some of the other dogs being trained.  And THAT, my friends, was the closer.  

I've visited quite a few dog training facilities in Kuwait during the past few years.  I want to see how they train the dogs; the attitudes of the trainers; how the dogs are kept; and what methods are used. Rarely do the trainers allow you to actually view other dogs being trained.  

The K-9 Center was an exception.  They invited us to stay a while and watch; gave us soft drinks and chairs and explained techniques as they went along.  I learned more from him in the brief 90 minutes I spent there than I have in a long time.  Saud evaluated Mikey, giving me information that I hadn't thought of and asking me questions. He checked his teeth to see if he might be aggressive because he's cranky from a bad tooth.  He saw how Mikey reacted to another dog being brought in (apeshit, as usual!  But glad to see that a professional K-9 trainer had a hard time controlling him as well.)  Saud also worked with 3 other dogs doing protection training and evaluations.  Very interesting and gave me a glimpse to how Mikey would be handled.

Saud and his group have got their stuff together as far as marketing and PR goes. They're on Instagram.  Their very clean/new facility is branded and can be viewed in their training videos:  It is all name recognition and I was impressed by that.  Most K-9 facilities in Kuwait (and many businesses) don't give marketing enough importance to marketing in any language; however, the K-9 Center has obviously given a lot of thought to theirs and they're doing a great job. Information is also in English which makes it easier for people like me to read/understand.

They have a waiting room which has the same colors as the logo and guests can sit inside and watch the training if they're not comfortable outside; or if they are waiting to pick up their pets. They've also got quite a few helpers on hand to assist with the dogs (something that I look for because I want to see how the helpers will work with/treat the dogs).

Check out their training videos on Instagram if you get a chance.  They train big dogs, but also the little ones too.