Our Training Philosophy
We believe effective training is built with
- Clear communication between handler and dog
- Consistent structure and expectations
- Real-world application of skills
- A strong, trust-based relationship
Every dog is different, and so is every owner. That’s why our programs are customized to meet individual needs, lifestyles, and goals. We focus on helping dogs become confident, stable, and reliable while giving handlers the tools and understanding to maintain and continue learning progress.
At Fortified K9, training isn’t just about commands. It’s about building a working partnership that lasts.
Meet the Team!
The Massey's
Steve, Hope, Mikayla, and Gayle
Steve Massey
Steve began his journey as a trainer in a unique way. Unlike others who buy their first dog with expectations, he bought his first pup on a whim with no knowledge of genetics or even what a working dog was. He brought home his first German Shepherd in 2000 and named him Sampson. Soon after bringing him home, he decided that he wanted a trained dog, so he began attending puppy lessons. Long story short, his spontaneous puppy purchase led to a lifetime of training.
In 2001, he and Sampson competed in their first Schutzhund trial, and he continued competing until 2009. During his career, he and Sampson earned 4 Schutzhund 3 titles as well as an advanced tracking title (FH title). Along with trialing his own dog, Steve was also a successful trainer and trial handler for other owners.
Not only was he a trainer and handler, but he was also a regionally certified Schutzhund decoy. This led to his extensive knowledge of decoying work. He is not only a competent trial decoy, but he is also a very educated training decoy, who has had years of experience decoying dogs of all ages, phases of training, and mental maturity.
When he stopped competing in Schutzhund in 2009, he became a police officer, and in 2016 he became a k9 handler. He chose and fully trained a police k9 named Argo and worked with him for 6 years. While he was a k9 handler, his knowledge and experience as a trainer and handler became evident and he was presented with the opportunity of becoming an NNDDA (National Narcotic Detector Dog Certification) certifying official. The NNDDA is a national police canine certifying agency.
In 2020, he quit the police force and founded Fortified K9. Since founding Fortified K9, he has worked with hundreds of dogs ranging all breeds and ages, and he is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Certifier. He now spends his time managing a kennel, breeding quality dogs, and training pet, police, military, and service dogs.
In 2025, He was offered a position at Murfreesboro Police Department as their K9 Training Director, and currently holds that position.
Mikayla Massey
Mikayla an MTSU graduate who majored in Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship which is just a fancy way of saying small business planning, start up, and management.
She has grown up around working dogs and has been training since a young age. She began professionally training at 16 and has been consistently working with pups of all ages and breeds since. She has experience in many different disciplines including obedience, behavior modification, dog sports, and police k9s.
In 2022, she began training in PSA, a protection dog bite sport. In 2023, she competed in her first trial and achieved her PDC certification, and later that year her PSA 1 title with her 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, Maya.
In the fall of 2023, she spent 3 months interning with the Murfreesboro Police Department shadowing their K9 training director during K9 training. She also worked with K9 handlers on shift to more fully grasp what is expected of trained police K9s.
She now runs the day to day of Fortified K9, and is the face behind our social media, website design, and photos. She also manages the kennel, works with our board and trains, and teaches lessons. She is most likely who you will be speaking to when you contact us!
Hope Massey
Hope is 17 years old and has been training dogs since she could walk. She is currently a Junior in high school and helps with the pups as much as she can with her busy schedule.
She primarily helps us raise and train our pups and occasionally will take on the responsibility of training board and trains.
Recently, she made the decision to be primarily responsible for raising a police K9 named Jerry. He is now certified and working for Shelbyville Police Department.
Currently, her primary responsibilities include ensuring all dogs on the property are properly cared for including being in charge of exercise, play groups, and feeding,