Testimonials

I can’t believe it has been 13 years since I attended North State Canine Academy, now called Tarheel Canine School for Dog Trainers. February 1999 was a time that shaped my entire adult life, and I would not be doing what I do – or even be the person that I am without the time that I spent at Tarheel.

In December 1998, I graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Animal Behavior and Neurobioogy. However, there was nothing in my collegiate career that prepared me for the world of dog training and canine behavior modification. Certainly, I learned nothing about the intricacies of running your own business. All of these were skills that I obtained at Tarheel.

The key to the success of the Tarheel program is the balanced approach. Students are taught all of the skills needed to be a professional dog trainer. There is book work – with well thought out diversity in the knowledge needed to truly understand dogs and the dog training world. There is classroom time, where all topics are covered from behavior to creating a successful business plan. Most important, there is supervised leash time where student can hone their skills actually interacting with dogs. All of these segments are absolutely necessary for success (for both the trainer and their clients) and often very ignored by other schools and programs.

Since graduating from Tarheel, I have referred multiple friends to the program, all of which are successfully working in the dog training world. Many of which are competing and teaching at the top of their chosen specialty.

Personally, I entered Tarheel with idealistic thoughts, big dreams and little skill. The knowledge that I gained and friendships that I made created the person that I am today. I am proud to have successfully trained hundreds of dogs and owners, and to have built a reputation of honest communication while refining a niche in the clinical behavior world.

While at Tarheel, although I was enrolled in the Professional Pet Program, I was invited to attend all events and I caught the bug for the protection world. After leaving, the continued support that I received made it possible for me to get involved in the Police K9 and protection sport world. It is that involvement that lead me to compete in and later become a judge for the Protection Sports Association (PSA).

In closing, I cannot recommend the Tarheel Canine School for Dog Trainers enough. It is single handedly the most important and influential decision that I have ever made. The knowledge that I gained gave me the tools to be successful. The relationships that I formed gave me support to bring everything together. Anyone interested in canine behavior should attend this program. But for anyone considering a career in dog training, this program is a must. It will be the decision that makes the difference between struggling through and guaranteed success.

Christie Meyer
Co-Owner/Trainer, Thunderhawk Canine
Clinical Behavior Consultant
Certified Police K9 Trainer

My name is William Chi. I am a veterinarian in Taiwan and I’ve been working with specialty detector dog training programs for 9 years. I attended the “Pet dog professional obedience and detector dog trainer” classes at Tarheel Canine Training, Inc. in August of 2008. Staff in this organization is very nice and friendly to foreign students. The head Trainer arranged a great schedule for me when I was there. I attended the class of obedience training half day and the other half I had field training with police K9 teams. Head obedience trainer and all the instructors were kind and helpful to me, too. They taught me many things about dog training. The police officers who were having class together were also very helpful. They always picked me up to go field training and shared knowledge about K9 with me. Housing is available and the dormitories are located at the training facility. So, there is no need to rent a car to rush back and forth between hotels and the school. If you are a foreigner and want to be a professional dog trainer, Tarheel Canine School is the best choice for you. Thanks to Jerry and all the staff in Tarheel Canine.

William Chi

Former student from Professional Obedience and Detector Dog Trainer

Taiwan, R.O.C., Asia.

I have been a K-9 handler for 12 years now, I want to tell you your method of training police services dogs is remarkable. I have gone through two of your basic handler courses and your Police K-9 trainer course. All three courses were invaluable. Each course I went through, I continually learned new techniques to train service dogs. Both of my K-9 partners were absolutely excellent. My current partner is fantastic to work with. The dogs you sell are absolutely great. I believe they are some of the best scent detection dogs I have ever had the pleasure to train with. I conduct monthly maintenance training for 19 different police teams. Most of the K-9’s were purchased from Tarheel K-9. I also would like to say the Police K-9 Instructor course you offer is great whether you are a rookie or a seasoned handler, you will learn a lot. I would recommend this training to anyone who is serious about K-9 training. Thanks again for the great dogs and awesome training.

JC Richardson

Wicomico CO Sheriff Office

K-9 handler/ Trainer

Dogs have always been a huge part of my life, I knew at a very young age that my adult life and career would be centered around dogs and other animals. Before attending Tarheel Canine I was studying PreVet in college, it was during courses in animal behavior that I became very intrigued in the non-medical aspect of the canine world. I began to look up dog training schools around the country and focused in on Tarheel Canine Training Inc.,/North State K9 Academy and one other school. I researched and decided from my research to take a drive to Tarheel and speak with Jerry. I was more than impressed with all the information Jerry and other trainers were able to give and all my questions were answered. I decided that I would take a break from my PreVet education and go forward with animal behavior and training at Tarheel Canine. I attended TK9 in February 2007 and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun and memorable times in my life. I got to learn under Jerry himself and his team of amazing trainers/instructors who were not only extremely talented but who were also wonderful people with such a passion for not only training but in teaching others. There was an even closer connection between instructors and students as the instructors for former students of Tarheel. Aside from the great instructors I also made great friendships with everyone who was a student at the same time as me and who have all also graduated and gone on to do wonderful things in the dog training world. Upon graduating I traveled from East Coast to West Coast apprenticing under 3 different trainers to further my education in animal behavior and I was also the head obedience, agility, service dog and protection canine trainer at a large training facility in Charlotte NC and later started up my own private Obedience Training and Custom Behavior Modification specializing in extreme behavior cases. I also went back to school to be a Licensed Veterinary Technician and have been the training consultant at 3 different animal hospitals I have worked for. So now I have the best of both worlds -the knowledge of medicine and the knowledge and behavior and training in the canine species. Of the people I have learned from and worked for, I have been most impressed with Tarheel Canine and Jerry Bradshaw. The training instilled in me while a student there will always be the core of my ways of training. I am so proud to say that I am a graduate of Tarheel Canine and would recommend it to anyone seeking interest in canine training.

Emily Faircloth

Graduate of TK9/NSK9 2007

Having a respectable background in sport protection and Army patrol dogs I came to Tarheel K9 looking to enhance my knowledge of working dogs in the areas of detection and man trailing. After the first day I knew I was in the right spot and the old adage of “you’re never done learning” rang true. To say it simply, you are completely submersed in working dogs. At Tarheel K9 you get a refined professional education, complete with classrooms, lectures, and paper cuts as well as more hands on and on the job experience than you can absorb. This wasn’t the twice a week two hour long club meetings I was used to. I literally lived, slept, and breathed training my entire time there and developed a knowledge base that can only come from that kind of environment.

Today I use this education for side jobs as well as in my numerous working dog hobbies. My education at Tarheel K9 has made me a welcome sight at military working dog facilities and local police K9 departments. The methods I was taught at Tarheel K9 have empowered and qualified me to be a paid consultant for local departments while easily transcending to my hunting dog kennel allowing me to produce quality working dogs.

Whether you’re looking to open your own training school, qualify for a working K9 job, or just satisfy that desire and learn everything you can, Tarheel K9 is the place to go.

Chad Reynolds
Certified PSA Decoy
Texas

Jerry,

What can I say? The training I received from you and your staff at Tarheel Canine was absolutely the best. The Police K-9 Instructor Course that you provide is full of information and not only was my questions answered but most were demonstrated by you and your staff while using many K-9s that you offer for sale. The chance to get to personally handle many different working Police K-9s that ranged in age from 6 months old to 2 year old was just awesome. I learned so many new tactics in K9 training but I also learned that there were a lot of things that I was doing wrong. Many times I and other Police K9 handlers and instructors train the way we have seen others train on the field, but so few of us really had any understanding of why we were using certain tactics, other than we just had seen these tactics used on the field or at other facilities. I have been in K-9 for the past 10 years and I have had the nice opportunities to go to different facilities to train, but I have to say Tarheel Canine is the best I have come across so far. Your staff treated me in a very professional manner and I’m looking forward to coming back!

K-9 Sergeant James Harris

Cookeville Police Department, TN

As an aspiring dog trainer, working the internship at TK9 was the best move I could have made. I knew I wanted to train dogs and started looking up dog training “schools” to find a place to get the experience and direction I was looking for. A visit to a school in California raised many red flags, other places seemed unreasonable with the high price tag and seemingly little actual hands on dog experience. I started communicating with Jerry about attending Tarheel Canine. The classes looked very interesting and the reviews were many and impressive. While I was taking a trip to D.C a friend and I decided to take a day trip to NC to meet with Jerry and visit the center. I told Jerry I was interested in the internship but would plan on being there in the fall for classes or as an intern. A week later I got an email saying I’d been selected to be an intern. Thus a course of my life was put into play that I never could have imagined on my own. My time at TK9 was hard. The days were long, I feel I earned every bit of the training I received.

Early mornings were spent cleaning dog kennels and caring for the dogs, followed by learning the obedience training (i.e training the obedience dogs), classroom lectures, more dog care, appointments with clients and lunch. The afternoon was a mix, the most fun was going out with handler courses or police dog trainers to work detection or trailing. I never knew sitting in the woods waiting for a dog to find you would be so fun. Many evenings were spent handling the bite dogs and being able to get into the suit and learn to decoy.

From my first day at TK9 I was handling the dogs, I remember being so surprised by the power and strength of a black German shepherd as his line was put into my hands and I was told how to help him learn to trail.

As I learned more I got more responsibility. By the time I left TK9 I was dealing with obedience clients on my own, training my own dogs, returning phone calls, assisting with the handler courses and handling my own drug detection dog and my own SAR dog. Although it was hard at the time, I’m so glad that I got to experience every facet of having a dog training business. I got to deal with the nice and the not so nice clients, train the easy and the hard dogs. I wanted to get my hands on as many dogs as possible and this internship encouraged me to do just that.

Possibly even bigger and more important then learning to train dogs were the people I met. I am so blessed to have been able to work under some AMAZING trainers and meet so many wonderful people. As an intern I not only trained the dogs but also trained many of the students coming through and had the opportunity to assist and attend seminars put on for police departments and even NASA. Tell me that doesn’t look great on a resume!

The relationships forged through this experience not only have built some lifelong friendships but have also lead to jobs, resources and an irreplaceable source of knowledge and wisdom to draw from whenever I need it. Even now as I venture out “on my own” I am never really on my own, I still have the support of Jerry and all the other amazing trainers I have met because of my internship. I will always have mentors and people able to teach more about dogs, people and running my own business and life.

The days were long and exhausting, there wasn’t time for anything but the internship, My husband was in Iraq for part of the internship and very understanding and supportive the rest of the time. 12-14 hour days 6-7 days a week can be hard on a relationship and I can’t fathom trying to do it with children. You must be ready to put everything you have into the internship, to eat, sleep and breathe dog training and everything that goes with it.

Annie Schottmuller

I had the opportunity to attend Tarheel Canine’s school for dog trainers in June of 2001. There were many other choices of dog training schools out there, but I was most impressed with Jerry Bradshaw’s background and his dog training philosophy. I have found his eclectic approach to be both effective and easy to apply with my customers…resulting in their satisfaction and mine!

The training program experience itself was excellent! The wide variety of breeds, behavioral issues, and clients that come to Jerry’s facility to be trained allow for a more comprehensive learning experience. In addition, the small class size offered the greatest opportunity to receive more hands on instruction and guidance, while still having a group atmosphere where we could learn from each other.

Our daily interaction and instruction with Jerry was excellent…he not only taught us about dog behavior and training, but also the art of working to teach owners how to work with their dogs once they have been trained. Part of the learning experience involved being included in the day-to-day operations of having a training/kennel business. Jerry graciously shared his knowledge and experience from the business standpoint giving you that extra leg up when you went home to start your own business.

Following completion of the program and attaining my certification as a Master Dog Trainer, Jerry was always right there to answer any questions that may have come up along the way. It was good to know that you had someone to call upon in the event you needed some guidance.

In addition, I am also the proud owner of a Belgian Malinois named Rex that Jerry imported in 2001 at the age of 1 1/2. Rex is now 12 years old, and has not only been a great training companion, but is now a wonderful companion to my 2-year-old daughter. I will definitely be turning to Jerry again when I am looking for my next Malinois.

Candice Dutko
Master Trainer

Attending Tarheel Canine’s Dog Trainer School gave me more than a career.  It gave me a life changing experience of new friends, a job that I look forward to everyday and the tools to become more successful than I ever imagined.  The only thing that I showed up to Tarheel Canine with was a passion for dogs; I had zero knowledge or experience of their training or behavior and zero knowledge of starting a business.  I left with all of the tools and confidence necessary to successfully start my own business and career.   Since attending I have trained thousands of dogs for families, law enforcement and SAR groups from all over the country.  I have also trained my own dog, Zuko (that I purchased from Jerry), for competition and have titled him to the highest level in PSA, won 2 PSA National Championships and won several High Obedience and High Protection awards.  Zuko is also trained in narcotics detection and has been on several national television shows as well as local news channels. This is all thanks to Jerry and Tarheel Canine Training!!

For anyone looking to become a professional dog trainer, Tarheel Canine Training is the only option in my opinion. There is no other school in the country that can prepare you like Jerry and his staff!

Janet Dooley
Stateline Canine, PA

It is almost impossible for me to quantify or describe how essential tarheel canines instructors course was to my future as a professional dog trainer. Through this course I was able to study detection & protection training from some of the most talented trainers I have ever met, had the opportunity to be hands on with every dog being worked, and studied alongside people that shared the same passion for dogs that I have. I gained extensive practical experience with obedience training, which then prompted me to start my own dog training business upon graduating the program. Ultimately, Tarheel provided me with the tools I needed to pursue a lifelong career in dog training, which I will be forever grateful for!

Alexia Peck, Darwin K9