Mid-Michigan
K9 Academy
Our mission is to transform your life by training your dog to be a well-mannered K9 citizen!
Quality Dog Training, day camp, and boarding
With Jim Blau and his redemption crew
Mid-Michigan K9 Academy is a dog training academy dedicated to providing your furry family member with the best training possible.
In just one week, we will establish the foundations for a well-mannered canine citizen, and teach you how to maintain progress.
My name is Jim Blau, and our mission is Redemption, which is why I call my trainers and everyone who puts their dog through our training programs The Redemption Crew. I spent 30 years behind bars for shooting a very, very bad man–an act most said understandable and some said commendable, but which was nevertheless unfair, arbitrary, and against the law. I accepted my fate and did my time with Honor and Dignity. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Ohio University, taught myself guitar, helped others survive the system and prepare themselves for freedom, and worked in dog rescue programs for approximately ten years. I lived with trainers and dogs 24 hours a day for many years, learning from the best and working with dogs with severe mental and behavioral issues. It was a steep learning curve, but in helping these dogs find redemption, I found my own.
I created a system involving a combination of balanced and positive reinforcement-based learning techniques. This makes training exciting and fun for your dog and leads them into wanting to perform well for you. They learn faster this way, which is why we’ve been able to accomplish in a week what other training companies takes weeks or even months to teach. Leash manners, mouthing, jumping, recall (to come when called), pack structure, reactivity, aggression, and impulse control are a few of the subjects we cover, with a special focus on the behaviors which are important to you.
What’s more–and so crucial to our system’s success–we show you the techniques to make these new behaviors stick at home and prevent the negative behaviors from returning.
I changed my life and have transformed the lives of over 500 families since earning my freedom. Let’s work together to help your best friend maintain good behavior and adapt to your current lifestyle.
Join The Redemption Crew today!
World Class Facility and Premium Services
Meet the MMK9A Trainers
Emilio Duran Gutierrez owns an Australian and German Shepherd mix trained to the nines. Fetch, catching frisbees, scent work, protection work, advanced heeling, and tons of obedience commands are all part of Makaveli’s repertoire, every bit trained by Emilio himself. Now Emilio brings his skills to MMK9A, in addition to working our board and train dogs, to give personal one-on-one lessons on how you can have a well-mannered dog just like Makaveli. Let Emilio show you insider tricks on how to get the best out of your dog.
Brieauna Myers owns a well rounded pack of 7 dogs from a toy poodle mix to a Great Dane/English Mastiff mix. She has been working with dogs for the past 5 years and has successfully been training puppies for the last 2 years. Brieauna is learning our techniques and loves to see the transformations! She loves to spend her time outdoors, with a dog by her side. She is very passionate of what she does with the dogs and skills she brings to MMK9A to help transform your dog!
Allison Heath is a hard worker and an industrious student. She earned her bachelor’s in political science from Saginaw Valley State University and joined the workforce in the medical field. But something pulled at Allison, and she felt the need to earn her certificate as a dog training instructor from Penn Foster College. She then left the medical field and joined Mid-Michigan K9 Academy to pursue her passion and training dogs. She has been a wonderful and valuable asset to MMK9A, and every day she gives 100% to our board and train clients’ dogs, teaching them the best way to be pets. Don’t miss out on getting your dog trained by this amazing instructor.
Michelle Bryant loves working at MMK9A and exhibits a passion daily for the lives of these dogs and their owners. She enjoys getting new dogs each week and transforming them to help the dogs and their families! Michelle has worked at Saginaw Animal Control, where she gained much experience handling dogs of all temperaments, and then has expanded her skill set exponentially in the year + she has been training as MMK9A.. Working hard everyday Michelle fulfils her personal purpose in life to give dogs guidance and a happy new way of life.
Services
7-Day Doggy Bootcamp
For seven days and nights, your dog will undergo an immersive program designed to change the way he thinks. From following his own impulses to jump up, pull on the leash, ignore your come commands, and generally be obnoxious, he will learn to engage with you and seek your approval. I use balanced training methods with an emphasis on positive reinforcement and engagement. $1250 All Breeds and Sizes.
14-Day Doggy Bootcamp
For those wanting to polish their dog’ behavior a little more, they can extend their pup’s training for another seven days. The first seven days are great for eliminating some unwanted behaviors, such as leash pulling, and putting the dog on the path to engagement. The second week can really lock in the newly learned positive behaviors and reinforce hard-to-master commands such as recall. $2250 All Breeds and Sizes.
21- Day Doggy Bootcamp
Finish the training with our most complete course! In addition to all the benefits of the 7 & 14 Day Bootcamps, your pup will refine its good behavior with multiple store/public park runs; off leash training; increased off leash control; “place” in public areas; the end of crate rushing, mouthing, and jumping; and additional commands. $3000 All Breeds and Sizes.
14-Day Aggression Clinic
Is your dog aggressive to other dogs or people? This program is an intensive deconstruction of the dog’s unwanted aggressive behavior, using remote collars and advanced heeling and recall work.
All programs include video progress reports, tools—like leashes, training collars, treats, food—and an end of session coaching session where I show you how to keep these good behaviors flowing and the unwanted behaviors in the past. $2250 All Breeds and Sizes.
One On One Personal Training
One-on-one personal instruction for you and your dog from a skilled trainer. Lessons designed to meet your specific needs, and cover topics such as recall, manners, impulse control, reactivity, and basic obedience. Five weekly one hour sessions for $500.
Boarding
Comfortable, safe, and professional dog boarding right down to the bedtime snacks! Every dog enjoys a comforable private suite, a temperature controlled environment, 24-hour care, 2x daily health checks, 3 play periods per day, peanut butter Kongs each night, and personalized feeding/med schedules if needed. Must be at least 16 weeks old and up to date with vaccinations. $50 per night. $40 per additional dog if they share the suite.
Premium Dog Spa Services
Get your Doodle dappered and your Spitz spruced with our highly skilled groomers. I scoured Michigan looking for the best groomers, so that our clients would all received first class baths and cuts. Check out our services!
Home Visits
In the Saginaw area we will come to you for at home training sessions. These at home lessons cover your household specific needs as well as gives you the owner the opportunity to see first-hand the results in the comfort of your own space. $200 for first session, $150 every lesson after
Day Camps
Dogs are social by nature. No matter how much time we spend with them, they still need to play with their four-legged friends. Doggy Day Camp is a supervised playground where our furry friends can burn off their excess energy while playing off leash. The perfect place for busy dog owners to allow their dogs to play, exercise, and socialize.
CONSULTATIONS REQUIRED. We will need to pre-qualify your dog for our Doggy Day Camp. We want to ensure that all dogs will be safe and non-aggressive toward each other or staff. If your dog does have some issues, our board and train programs are a great way to get them ready and qualified for day camp. All Day Camps must be booked in advance.
RATES: $30 full day. $15 half day up to four hours. $280 for 10 day pkg. $405 for fifteen days. $500 for twenty full days. Contact us for multiple dog and half day rates.
Training Roscoe
When Roscoe first came to me, he would run around and nip and bite out of fear or frustration. But after our one-week training session, he became more confident, learned how to channel his energy, and impressed his owners with lots of new tricks.
Training Weylen
Weylen was one of my favorite rescue dogs and was a delight to work with. When we first started training, he was highly willful, constantly pulled at his leash, and was distracted by just about everything! But by the end of our training, he learned to respect boundaries and heel-ed like a champ. He was eventually adopted by a great family who loves to spoil him.
what They’re Saying
Client Testimonials
“Jim did a board/train for our puppy Jack while we were on vacation. He was a good puppy before we left but we came back to a different animal; in a wonderful way! The positive improvement in Jack’s behavior and consistency was amazing!
While we were on our vacation, we got regular written written and video updates which were comforting to us and fun to show the kids that Jack was also having a great time.
Jim clearly loves dogs and has a calm, collected presence that commands their respect enabling him to make quick and substantial improvements in obedience.
We highly recommend Jim and MidMichigan K9 Academy!”