It's about what is best for your dog

Our Mission

At Balanced Approach K9 we strive to empower dog owners by teaching them a straightforward, no-nonsense balanced training system that provides the basic structure and maintenance required to allow your dog the freedom to be a dog.  We believe with the proper structure and routine any pet owner can live a happy well-balanced life with their dog regardless of breed, previous training, temperament or behavioural issues.  At Balanced Approach K9 we believe in personalizing your balanced training experience and establishing a set of realistic goals and expectations that are clearly communicated in the fairest way to your pet to cause the least amount of stress to them.  

About Us

Best In Industry

With over 10 years working in the training industry we have worked with thousands of dogs over the years and helped hundreds of families.  At Balanced Approach K9 we have the unique experience of having specialized in Aggressive Dog Rehabilitation from the start.  We learned to train dogs through hands-on experience and have trained countless dogs, educated hundreds of owners, and even taught a great number of our competitors how to make their start in the trade.  We will not sell you cool stories, pipe dreams or fluff.  We will help you establish realistic expectations that work for you and you will see immediate results.  Our interest is in what is best for your dog and our approach to balanced training is taken with that in mind.

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Close up hairy dog's nose. Free public domain CC0 photo.

About Us

Sal got his start in dog training working with his brother Haz at Shield K9 and managing training first at the head office in Puslinch, then moving on to manage the Toronto Shield K9 facility.  Sal has a natural talent for working with Aggressive dogs and over the years has helped thousands of dogs to learn to be calm and neutral around other dogs, strangers and other perceived threats.  Sal tells it like it is and will not dance around the issues.  He will clearly communicate with you problems he sees and how you can work to correct them.

Adri has apprenticed both under Sal for the past few years helping at home with his board and trains and more recently at the Shield K9 Puslinch and Toronto facilities as well.  She has a natural ability to connect with and establish a relationship with the dogs that brings forth an eagerness to work and she has a willingness to work with any dog regardless of their behavioural issues.  She also makes a variety of leashes and toys, many of which you can find on our Shop!

At Balanced Approach K9 you will  get a 'No BS', 'No Non-sense', clear and consistent balanced training experience.  You will learn to set and maintain realistic expectations, learn to connect with your dog so that you are the most interesting thing in the room for them, and you will learn to clearly and effectively communicate with them in a fair and consistent way that they can understand.  Over the years we have seen it all.  Our interest is in what is best for your dog and our approach to balanced training is taken with that in mind.    

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What We Do

Puppy Foundations
Have you recently added a new addition to your family?  If you have a puppy under 6 months old we can teach you how to properly socialize your puppy, establish reasonable expectations and communicate clearly with your puppy in a way they can understand.
Basic Obedience
Our balanced training system covers the basics of loose leash walking, place, sit, down, establishing boundaries within the home, and maintaining a calm state of mind for a care-free pup.  This is designed for dogs who are over 6 months of age and have no reactivity.
Intermediate Obedience
Got the basics down but dreaming of a fool-proof reliable recall and loving the freedom of an off-leash pup?  For dogs who have completed our basic obedience balanced training we progress to provide a 100% reliable recall, off-leash heel and teach you to build engagement with your pup.
Advanced Obedience
For graduates of our Intermediate balanced training program these sessions take it to the next level.  You will learn to fine tune off-leash behaviours to provide focus, power, speed, fast transitions between play and obedience and we really kick up the level of distraction and relationship building!   
Aggression Rehabilitation
These sessions are best suited to dogs who are reactive on the leash with other dogs, prey animals, or approaching strangers.  We cover teaching your dog to achieve a calm neutral mind state around other dogs and people free from expectation and anxiety.  You will be amazed how fast you see results!  
Structured Play and Relationship Building
Is your dog well-behaved but interested in anything but you?  Would your pup rather play with their toy than with you? You would be surprised how many owners have trouble engaging and connecting with their companion in a meaningful way.  We can help with that!    

Success Stories

A couple years ago an elderly client came to Sal with her dog Norman.  Norman lived at home with her husband, herself and their French Bulldog.  Unfortunately due to a lack of structure and inadequate management of the social hierarchy between the two dogs they were constantly at odds with one another and eventually the French Bulldog was harmed in the process of Norman defending himself against what he perceived as a threat.  During the process of his rehabilitation Norman's owner decided that it would be too difficult to incorporate a new routine into her life and to provide the structure that would be needed to ensure the two dogs who had previously had such success being at odds with one another to succeed.  In light of her decision to euthanize instead, Sal and Adri decided to adopt Norman themselves.  He now helps teach other dogs struggling with aggression how to be calm and neutral around one another.  Due to his couch-potato nature they now call him Hodor.

- Meet Hodor

Why Choose Us

10+ Years of Experience
We may be new as a company, but we are anything but new to training.  We got our experience hands-on working with thousands of dogs over the years.  After training thousands of dogs and helping hundreds of families we decided it was time to branch out on our own.   
Team Of Experts
You will not find anyone better in Canada when it comes to Aggressive dog rehabilitation.  We have even taught many of our competitors how to train dogs and how to work with dogs of any temperament or breed.
Personalized Solutions
We can help you work with a variety of issues for all stages of  your pet's life.  If a more individualized approach is what you are looking for we offer custom private sessions to establish reasonable expectations and meet your training goals. 

Testimonials

She is doing amazing I can't believe it ðŸ’žâœ¨   Listens real good I haven't had to correct her too much.  She's been a brand new dog!!!  I'm so happy too thank you so much!😭
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Shelby and Honey Board and Train program
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Robert Chase Accountant
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English. 
testimonial3
Jenna Simson Photographer