About Us
Building Excellence in K9 Program's
The last decade has seen an exponential increase in the demand for explosive detection canines in the civilian sector. This is attributed to the privatization of the TSA Cargo Screening and a decreased availability of law enforcement agency K9s to support community events. The reduction of law enforcement manpower and budgets has presented challenges for maintenance and advanced training, significantly impacting a K9 team's proficiency. The unprecedented rise in public safety policies mandating the use of explosive detection canines has driven the demand in the security sector for companies to acquire contracted K9 support. This can be extremely challenging to security directors unequipped with the "know how" to ensure they are in fact mitigating risk and employing proficient K9 teams. We take an unbiased approach at K9 Guild and look for ways to protect the consumer of canine team services, advance LE teams on limited budgets, and aim to grow institutional knowledge in the public and private sectors. We place performance and proficiency above profit and strive to empower those in the industry with the "know how" to build strong foundational programs, and the next generation of canine subject matter experts.
Our Story
The K9 Guild is the vision of Kristy Dober and John Pearce. They Co-Founded K9 Guild in 2022 after several years working in the commercial K9 security sector providing Vapor Wake® canine team training and Vapor Wake® operations for large events. Both John and Kristy have extensive program management experience with military and federal government K9 programs. Their individual achievements developing military and federal government K9 programs were noteworthy and a direct reflection of their individual high standards. As Kristie gained several years of experience developing critical K9 programs for the US military; John led the Canine Detection Training Center for Auburn University (AU). John led a staff that bred, raised and trained Vapor Wake® canines and instructed handlers. John’s team along with scientist from AU developed the Vapor Wake® canine technology that was patented by AU. The above is a brief summary of our experience. John and Kristie have both been fortunate to have built and worked with some great teams. Should you want to learn more about our individual previous experience, we are glad to provide resumes. However, going forward we want to convey to you what K9 Guild is about.
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The K9 Guild is about providing the K9 consumer an advocate in achieving the best K9 solutions in K9s for explosives and/or firearms detection and handler training. We will work closely with you to select your canine(s) from top breeders within the industry that breed specifically for Vapor Wake® canines. Our team will train your canine according to Vapor Wake® training protocols or the ANSI/ASB Standard for Explosives Detection Canines. We will manage your canine(s) through training keeping you aware of your canine(s) progress with complete transparency and documentation from the first exposures. We can provide you a comprehensive handler training course in your operational area resulting in a team certification upon course completion. We are happy to design our training to better meet your operational requirements, just give us a call and let’s discuss your needs.
As your advocate, the K9 Guild is available to provide you a full independent program audit to ensure you are getting the most effectiveness and achieving your expectations. We can work closely with your executive staff to ensure your goals are being achieved in canine detection of explosives and/or firearms within the cargo or large special event environments. We are also licensed to perform Vapor Wake® certifications and standard explosives and/or firearms detection certifications IAW the ANSI/ASB Standard for Explosives Detection Canines.
The K9 Guild has a strong partnership and network within the K9 community. Members of the K9 Guild have focus on customer expectations and goals. We are small but results oriented. Our members are SMEs within the K9 community and we are able to attract the best through compensating them appropriately through lowering overhead costs and profit. We also share profit with our members as they achieve your expectations. We feel this attracts a more dedicated and superior K9 SME to assist the K9 Guild provide you the best solution with your canine detection needs.
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