Dave has over 23 years of dog training experience. He started training his own hunting dogs in the ‘90s. It was not uncommon for the other hunters to request to use Dave’s dogs. He expanded his training knowledge when he had the pleasure of being a Police K-9 Handler for 2 different K-9s. He went on to K-9 school, and he would frequently be found after hours working his dog on his own because he didn’t agree with some of the heavy-handed corrections that were taught during his training. He found that giving a dog praise would give him a stronger bond and more effective training with his dog. Dave went onto complete 40 hours of LAPD training for E-Collars, to gain more knowledge on properly using different tools in dog training.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Dave has trained police K-9s for police departments including Gladstone, MI (twice) and Alger County. He has taken an inexperienced K-9 handler and his dog, without a police K-9 pedigree, and trained them both. He then had them certified through NAPCH (National Association of Professional Canine Handlers) on their first attempt.
- Dave assisted the Michigan State Police and Delta Animal Shelter during the Rock Michigan Puppy Mill seizure where over 200 dogs were rescued. He personally cared for over 20 of these dogs at his own home as he had the appropriate facility to do so. Due to the horrendous conditions these dogs were kept in they had different types of behavioral issues. Dave was able to develop a successful training program to improve these dogs’ quality of life and give them the confidence that they needed. In 2020 he was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year for his work with the Delta Animal Shelter.
- Dave volunteers his time with the Dawgz Adapt Program at the Alger Correctional Facility for dogs that are considered at high risk of being returned to the shelter due to behavioral challenges.
Dave has found over his career that he enjoys training owners as much as he enjoys training their dogs. Dave has now trained well over 1,000 dogs (along with their owners) throughout his career, but he will never call himself an expert. An expert suggests that you’ve learned all there is to know. He believes there is always something to learn to become a better dog trainer.

Carlton has 8+ years of K-9 training experience with 10 years of active-duty US Air Force service. He's handled and certified 3 different Military Working Dogs all trained on bite work and trained to detect either explosives or narcotics. He has been fortunate to work and train with hundreds of different handlers and trainers from numerous agencies including the US Secret Service, all branches of the Department of Defense, FBI, Customs and Border Patrol, ATF, and many different local law enforcement agencies all around the US.

Carlton’s career led him to be deployed 3 different times totaling 1.5 years to different locations in the Middle East as either a K9 Trainer, Handler, or K9 Overwatch. As he developed as a trainer, he started to train other people’s pets in his free time to challenge himself and gain different training perspectives in the dog training world.

In addition, Carlton volunteers time with the Dawgz Adapt Program at the Alger Correctional Facility for dogs (dogs that are considered at high risk of being returned to the shelter due to behavioral challenges). He's a lifelong learner and enjoys teaching others how to train their dogs through clear communication. He enjoys breaking down dog training methods for all levels of dog owners. Over his years of experience, he's figured out that it is essential to learn something new every day and that we all can learn from each other.

Cassie is the newest addition to the K9CX team, getting extensive hands-on training from Dave & Carlton for over a year now. She currently lives in Escanaba, however the long term plan is to expand K9CX to Black Creek, WI where she will be moving in the future.

Drew has had many dogs throughout her life but never trained them very well. Admittedly, her childhood dogs were some of the worst behaved dogs. She tried so hard to train these dogs but many failed attempts, just began to assume that sometimes dogs are misbehaved—and you have to deal with it. And then she met Dave. Their first dog together (Deke) was a crazy experience for her. He was one of the most well-behaved dogs she’d ever owned, and she knew that was only possible because of Dave.

Dave taught Drew so much about how to train dogs and made it so much fun along the way. Fun fact: early in their relationship, their favorite thing to do was to go out into the fields across the street and train their hunting dog. Those are, and always will be, some of her favorite memories. Now she assists Dave in running Canine Connection Training. Whether it be running errands, managing social media, answering phones, taking pictures or being a distraction for the dogs he’s training, she’s assisting wherever she can. NOTE: In her “spare time” she has a full-time job as an ICU Nurse which she loves.