K9-1 History

K9-1 was officially founded in 1998 by Mike D'Abruzzo.  Currently all training is based out of Peekskill, New York . Primarily self taught, Mike began his career by training difficult "unadoptable" dogs at local shelters in 1993.  He continued this practice while receiving his degree in Veterinary science and attending the Tom Rose School of Dog Training, the most respected school for trainers in the country and possibly the world.  Mike also studied canine behavioral problems at Cornell University and specialized working dog techniques at Global K9 in Sumerset, TX.   Mike's first professional work was as a sub-contractor for other highly regarded trainers, taking on their "problem cases" as personal challenges. In late 1998, he decided that he should start a business of his own, where he would have the ability to implement his own brand of value based training. He took the skills that he had learned through hands on work with different trainers as well as his schooling and own ideas to come up with a method that he felt would be the cornerstone to the most successful dog training business in the world.  Mike has trained dogs for the department of defense, film, competition, police, security agencies, celebrities, and was chosen as the training coordinator for the explosive detection canines used by FEMA during the post 9-11 recovery efforts. Mike's favorite area of expertise is taking on the over-aggressive, fearful, and very difficult dogs that fail out or are refused service by other trainers. The methods standardized through the company are quickly becoming popular with other professional dog trainers that are searching for a humane style which also delivers reliable results. K9-1's philosophy is that with knowledge, respect, and patience no dog is untrainable.

Our techniques demand the highest degree of control from the most difficult dogs without "breaking the dog's spirit".  A well trained, confident dog is only accomplished with knowledge, respect, and patience. Featured on the front page of Connecticut's The Advocate Feb 11, 1999 - Mike Demonstrates training of advanced AKC competition exercises on "Goose".   Mike was the training director for the explosive detection dogs used by FEMA during the post 9-11 recovery efforts.  Here he is with Heri, who is trained to locate 17 different scents associated with explosives. K9-1 enjoys helping other trainers who are in need of help with especially difficult cases.  Mike has been broadcasted in the US, South America, and Europe.  Above is a sample of Mike's translated work published in a popular dog training magazine printed in Estonia.   Mike is one of the few trainers in the area who can train a protection dog from scratch and not rely on importing pretrained dogs.  Here, "Isaac" demonstrates advanced fighting techniques on trainer Nathaniel Bonilla.  Isaac went on to work for Bergan County PD.   K9-1 was shut down for 16 months while Mike served as a combat medic in Iraq Just couldn't stay away from the dogs... Mike helped strays on his base whenever possible. Mike curently lives in Cold Spring, NY with his wife Twilight and sons James and Patrick.