Bay Area K9 Association Santa Clara, California

When I adopted my dog from shelter, they said she is border collie lab mix. But she actually is largely a pit mix, and pit personality is very different from the other two breeds. As a new dog owner I wasn't prepared for that, I looked up dog trainers, talked to a few people and met Marie at last and she completely understood what I want from my puppy and clearly explained how we can achieve results. Marie gave me a lot of homework some days and she would regularly check results as well. Steve is also great, we took group lessons from him and it was so good. My dog has completely changed from how she was when she came home. I've been recommending them to all my friends.

Very nice, clean place. Marie explained everything very clearly to my daughter; both our dog and my daughter are learning quickly here!

Great trainers, highly recommend. We have taken both of our dogs here. Everyone should take their dog to a trainer to figure out their quirks.Bay Area K9 is Friendly, knowledgeable, and awesome.

Some of the best of the best....

We had our puppy evaluated by Steve as soon as we got our dog, our dog was 8 weeks and 2 days old, a GSD from West German SV lines, and we wanted to start training him immediately. Steve suggested starting our training in two weeks to give the puppy time to adjust to his new home and his new family and to give us time to enjoy and adjust to having him. We started our regular training sessions two weeks later. Our puppy is now going to be 16 months old in a few days and we do not know how we would have done it without Steve. Steve is so patient with all of us, the humans, and our puppy. He will tell you outright what needs to be done and improved upon and how to do it. He will assign you homework and WILL check on your progress in the next session and address any concerns/difficulties you are having. So many things set Steve apart from other trainers as a trainer, but in talking to others about their dogs and their experiences with other trainers, no one has told me that they were sent home because their trainer thought their dog was not in the right condition to train at that moment. Steve did just that. We were in his office and our puppy was tired and just wanted to take a nap. After several minutes of all of us trying to get him interested and Steve observing us and our dog, Steve told us to bring him home because our puppy was too sleepy to engage at that moment. We could see it too. Steve also told us that he was NOT going to charge us for the session because he wasn't able to work with our dog. Mind you, it was OUR PUPPY that was sleepy, NOT Steve. He advised us to observe our dog in the next few days and note what time he takes his naps and what time he is the most active and playful as those times may have changed. He offered to reschedule all of our future training sessions to meet on those active and playful times. I have shared this story with so many people and I have yet to hear of anyone else sharing this kind of story about their trainers. Steve is an excellent trainer. He knows dogs. He knows how to train dogs. He knows how to train the humans who own the dogs. He is an honest person who genuinely cares about the dogs and their families. He will do what it takes to get the best results from both the dog and the owner in EVERY session, even if it means telling you to wait two weeks before starting training, and NOT charging you and sending you home because it's not the best time for your puppy. We have been training with him regularly for more than a year and Steve has never disappointed us or our puppy. THANK YOU, STEVE! YOU ARE THE BEST!

RIP Ichigo. So sad to hear about this terrible tragedy and no responsibility taken from the establishment owners. How can you be trusted to take care of beloved living creatures if they are to die under your watch. Please don't bring your precious animals here if you want them to come home alive.

Avoid having any dealings with Steve Kenzler. He is an extremely unscrupulous person who takes advantage of his employees and threatens people who simply ask that he follow the law and pay people under his employ. A friend of mine was hired to offer private lessons as well as do boarding and training on behalf of BAK9A, Steve stopped paying her; despite owing her thousands of dollars in back pay. He made promises to pay her in full, even after she gave him a full 3 months to pay the money due her, he has refused. She was given no choice but to seek legal recourse, and in response, he threatened to delay payment even further should she seek simply to recover the funds owed her. In addition, Steve has engaged in wage theft and other labor violations by classifying her as an independent contractor when any interpretation of the law clearly makes her an employee. In so doing, Steve has clearly violated labor laws, he will be investigated for these violations. Tax authorities will also be notified for failing to make the proper withholdings. When my friend and I approached him at his place of business the evening of Wednesday, October 9th, he asked us to leave when we asked that he pay what she was owed. Instead of handling the situation like a professional, he threatened to call the police. In addition, this man, who is solidly built and at least 6', tried to intimidate me by sticking his phone in my face with flash on, I am 5'4. There were many witnesses to his actions. Since it was clear that my presence would no longer be welcome, I asked for a refund for my remaining sessions I had. He stated that he did not have the ability to look up the information on the package I paid for. This indicates that he has failed to keep proper books and records, which is another violation. Even though he promised me that he would refund me the money, he clearly has no intention of issuing the refund. This is another incidence of fraud. Instead of behaving like a responsible business owner, he tried to involve his partner, Marie, asking that she be the one to refund the money. I made things easy for him by showing him my credit card statement indicating the amount I paid and sending him a Venmo request for the refund amount. He refused my request. Steve is the owner of BAK9A, it boggles the imagination that he is unable to process a refund. Is he expecting Marie to pay out of pocket for that? Or, if he lacks the funds for the refund (which is a mere $195), I question the financial viability of his business. I would hesitate to sign up for any packages in the event that his company declares bankruptcy. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Marie, I feel badly that she is associated with Steve. Even though he has no intention of abiding by his financial obligations, he is quick to collect any fees owed him. As if his failure as an ethical person wasn't bad enough, he is responsible for sending a dog to his death by sending one of his client dogs to an employee, Sherree Gray for boarding. The owner's story can be found in a Yelp review for the business. There are many reputable dog trainers in this area, please look to them and avoid this business if you want to avoid the myriad of issues that you may be exposed to.

My dog enjoys the free puppy social!

We have trained and boarded our dog hear countless times for years, and have NEVER had a problem. The trainers are all very friendly, down to earth and professional. Our dog loves being boarded with BAK9A so much so that he gets extremely excited to see the trainers when we arrive. Our dog also had aggression problems with other male dogs and they helped get that in check. I have nothing but good things to say about their whole staff. I feel like a lot of the negative posts are from people who have never even worked with their trainers or brought their dog here. After reading some of the reviews about the dog who died, of course my heart goes out to the owner, it’s never easy losing a pet. It sounds like something heartbreaking happened that can happen at ANY boarding place. I would trust my dog with them any day of the week. The love and care about all dogs.

OUR DOG DIED AT THIS PLACE. AVOID AT ALL COST. This place is every dog owner's nightmare come true - what could be more horrifying than losing your dog when you thought he was in "professional" care, but only to receive a text that he was DEAD. Our dog was attacked the first night of boarding when he was supposed to be under care of the "trainer" Sherree Gray. This alone is already unbelievable negligence, to make the matter even more unimaginable, Sherree Gray did not seek the necessary medical help to save our dog, but instead let our dog bleed to death the following day. Moreover, the staffs/owner at Bay Area K9 refused to own up to their mistakes. They came up with numerous lies that could not be corroborated and were not even internally consistent. There were no vet records of them even trying to save our dog, yet they are making lies about ER admission without any proof. We've called all the vets around the area, and nobody had any records of admission. Also, they are operating in various non-coded/zoned areas outside of their principal business location. When our dog was sent to boarding, we were under the assumption that it would be in Santa Clara, at their business location. However, they took our dog to a undisclosed location in Hollister, which is two hours away from Santa Clara. We asked for the business license and trainer's license but were rejected/ignored multiple times. No amount of tears can bring back our dog's life. We just hope that no more dogs will have to go through what our dog had to go through, and no owners should have to go through what we have gone through.

I have recommended Bay Area K9 to several friends and wouldn't hesitate to encourage ANYONE with a dog or new puppy that would like to develop their relationship and abilities with their dog, and if you have a working breed, Steve specializes in Malinois so you couldn't find a better spot. My mal Mack and I have worked with Steve quite a bit this year and the improvement had been incredible, he's developed everything from his bite & protection work, advanced off leash obedience, to scent tracking.

Steve is really awesome with dogs. He is helping us go through obedience training for our borador.

A waste of money. The owner was too scared to Come anywhere near my German Shepard let Alone train him. Money is not refundable. I would recommend Cali K9.

This training has been great for our dog! There is a mix of one-on-one training where YOU are really taught how to train your dog and group training where your dog really learns self control even with distractions. The training is 98% positive, but we went with some other positive only training before this and all we did is train our dog to decide (a) to do what we requested and get a treat, or (b) to do what he wanted if that seemed more appealing than the treat. There were no consequences- that worked fine for our last dog who was not strong willed and ALWAYS wanted the treat. But all we did is teach this pup that if he decided to listen, he got a treat - and that's not obedience. Anyway, everything is clicking for him and the trainers are super patient and read each dog to tell which dog is insecure and needs more positive training and which one is a butthead and needs some mild consequences (like ours). I think this training is great for anyone who wants to be able to bring their dog everywhere (work, friends' houses, dog parks, shopping) with them and not worry the dog will misbehave or be asked not to return.

Went to petco for training and all my dog was learning were tricks, Which is great but I needed more for him. I found this company and when I called Steve he was more than willing to help me out and taking my boy there made a huge difference. the private classes and the group classes were great too, My dog used to be aggressive towards people and other dogs but now it's like he is a completely different dog, I can take him places without having to worry. We've been going for 3 years and it's a great way to keep your dog busy and creating an amazing bond between you and your dog and the others that go as well as the trainers. Highly recommend coming here for training, awesome people!

Trusting hundreds of positive reviews, we chose this place to train our little 8 month old puppy, that we had just rescued. She had typical puppy issue:- a) Leash pulling b) Wanting to play with another dog and hence barking c) Very little concentration and hence tough to retain attention d) Refused to sleep in the crate Although these were the problems, she truly is a friendly puppy and extremely food motivated. Wanting to help her remain calm, we signed up for the board and train program for an expensive price tag of $2000. This was a three week program with Sherri, who agreed to take the dog to her home along with 2 other dogs for training. We were promised and assured that upon completion we would see a dog that is well behaved, knows the basic commands and is confident with other dogs. Once the board & train did start, we were told to expect an update twice a week but received an update only once a week, that said she was doing very well and is being very calm. Hearing this we were really happy to think we will bring home a much more confident and happy puppy. Due to some health issues, we did have to schedule a vet appointment in the middle of the board and train, where we saw our puppy have a PRONG COLLAR on her. We had explicitly mentioned our discomfort with the use of that. Nonetheless, we trusted her theory that it is a must and it does not hurt the dog (this was 2 weeks into the training) and that it would be off for the last week of training. 3 weeks done, we pick up our dog who was still pulling on the leash, barked at other dogs, knew few command (with treat in hand):- Sit - 50%, Down - 30%, Focus - 10%. While signing up although we were promised an hour long session with another dog to witness the reduced leash reactivity, none of that was delivered. We are really disappointed with this Board and Train program offered and sincerely don't recommend it. We have a voice and we should speak up for our pooch against the use of hurtful training methods. Since the use of prong collar, our dog has been coughing every time she drinks water. Please DON'T sign up for the BOARD AND TRAIN program here and save your money. We can't do much else than write a review that hopefully saves others from making the same mistakes we did. NOTE: We have had multiple conversation regarding these with Bay Area K9 where we were said that we cannot expect a dog with Ph.d. We were also threatened to remove our review from Yelp if we wanted to pursue follow up 1:1 session with Steve.

Marie is wonderful; highly recommended! She has helped train us to become better owners to meet the needs of our pup through private classes. We have also done group classes with Josh. He is engaging and encouraging, making class fun and helpful!

Amazing trainer! Really done wonders with my doberman!