Dog training and boarding

Training

At Fortified K9, our training programs are built on a foundation of clear communication, structure, and real-world purpose. Whether you’re working on basic obedience, reactivity, sport, or protection. With over 20 years of experience, we shape well-rounded, reliable dogs for a variety of needs.

What we offer:

Obedience Training: From puppies to adult dogs, we teach all the fundamentals including come, sit, down, place, heel, stay, and more. These foundational skills set the stage for a well-behaved, confident dog.
Leash Manners & Public Behavior: We help dogs (and handlers) master calm walking on leash, greeting manners, environmental exposure, and distraction training.
Behavior Modification: If your dog struggles with reactivity, jumping, or unwanted habits, our programs adapt to your goals. We troubleshoot behaviors and help build clear communication.
Agility & Scent Work: For those who want a fun and mentally stimulating outlet, we offer scent detection, agility, and other canine activities to keep your dog engaged and stimulated.
Protection Work / Personal Protection: We also provide personal protection training for dogs with the right temperament and drives. Under our guidance, these dogs learn clarity and how to be confident protectors for their families.
Police / Working K9 Foundation: While we have a separate Police K9 sales and training program, we also train handler-dog teams, and our obedience and protection work serves as a strong foundation for working K9s.

These skills are achieved through either lessons or board and train programs. You can learn more about them by clicking the link below!

Boarding

Our boarding program is unique because we are located on a 34 acre farm. This allows your dog to get plenty of exercise and lots of socialization. We find that physical stimulation helps ease the stress that comes with being in a new environment, and all but a few (usually the ones who would rather sniff) of our boarders love their daily runs around the property.

Your pup will receive 2 main exercise times per day once in the morning and once at night; these usually consist of runs around the property. They will also get group play (if they are social) or individual play time periodically throughout the day. Your dog will be kept in a climate controlled building in Ruffland Kennels at night and when the weather is not inclement. During nice weather, we have 5x10 runs for them to move around in when other dogs are training or exercising.

***ALL our client dogs wear FI tracking collar while staying with us and the property is fully fenced. We also supervise play time.

Police K9s

Training & Sales

At Fortified K9 we provide a wide range of police K9s from fully trained, NNDDA certification ready dual purpose K9s to green single purpose K9s. The breeds we offer include Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, German Shepherds, and Labrador Retrievers.

Because we are a smaller kennel the number of dogs and level of training they have attained varies.

If you have interest, please don't hesitate to reach out and we can discuss your individual department's needs and what a realistic timeline looks like for K9 preparation and placement.

We also offer handler courses for departments who purchase K9s from us. The length of the program is dependent on the handler's experience and what level the K9 is at at the time of purchase.

Breeding

Our breeding program is the result of two decades and many generations of carefully selected dogs. We value attributes like health, sound nerves, confidence, and ample workability. The definition of workability varies depending on the breed, but all of our dogs are bred with purpose. That being said, our pups require jobs, structured play, and training. We currently offer Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, and Labrador Retrievers.