“I would like to thank Darah for giving my wife and I the knowledge to help our JoJo become a well-rounded family pet. Not only did Darah teach us training commands but she also gave us the knowledge to understand JoJo's behavior. Darah is fully dedicated to helping her students succeed, I have never met someone who really understands dogs like she does. Thanks again, Darah!”

Andy and Christy

“Rockne received ‘Most Improved Camper of the Month’ at doggie day care last month, thanks to Darrah & Underdog K-9 Academy! This is a huge achievement, as my 100-pound Rottweiler needed a little bit of obedience and guidance. As a two-year-old, he has a lot of energy and is spunky. His "cuteness" was wearing thin because anything on floors or countertops was fair game for him. After Darrah's training, we still have our sweet baby Rockne, but now he plays only with his toys. Walks and runs are much more enjoyable now that he does not pull on the leash and heels on command. He sits on command, which is very nice when guests come over. We thank Darah for getting our house back and still keeping our baby as sweet as ever!”

Cameron & John

“After a few years without a dog, we decided it was time for a new member of our family and chose a female yellow lab puppy. It turned out that Chloe had been taken away from the litter and her mother early and we had a real issue with her biting. Nothing we tried was working and the other dog training services we looked into wanted us to wait until she was six months old. We knew we couldn't wait that long and asked our vet if she had any suggestions and she recommended Underdog K9 Academy.

We contacted Darah the next day and started with the Puppy Development program in our home. Darah's knowledge and understanding of dogs was evident from the very beginning. She tests every dog and owner and adjusts the training to their needs. The biting problem was a real challenge, but with Darah's help we were able to correct that behavior.

From the Puppy Development program we continued with the Basic Obedience classes. The class size is small enough to allow for plenty of individual attention. Besides learning basic obedience, the classes also helped Chloe become used to being around other people and dogs.

‘Miss Chloe’ as Darah affectionately refers to her has become a well behaved six month old puppy that we can travel with to visit friends and family. We highly recommend Underdog K9 Academy to anyone considering training for their dog.”

Mike, Nancy, and Chloe Lane

“We have a very sweet 2 year old golden retriever named Penny who has a great amount of energy. After my husband and I had our first child, Darah came to our house for 5 weekly training sessions. During our first session, Darah told us that in 5 weeks, Penny would sit, lay, heel, stay, come and go into ‘place’ on our demand. Penny is a very smart dog, but she is very energetic and I thought that there was no way we would be so lucky! However, Darah was right. Penny will sit, lay, heel, stay and go into her "place" on demand. Although Penny is still learning, Darah gave us many helpful tips that we continue to use and Penny's behavior continues to improve. All thanks to Darah!

We would highly recommend Darah to anyone looking for dog training. We felt very comfortable with her coming into our home and she was excellent with Penny and our young daughter. Not only was it a great learning experience for our family (especially Penny!), we really enjoyed the training sessions. Thank you Darah for your great work!”

The Bendel Family

“Underdog K9 Academy's, Darah, is an outstanding dog training organization. My German Shepard/Lab Mix is a wild and crazy puppy. After partisipating in Basic 1 and Advanced Training, there is a remarkable difference in her daily demenor. She walks without pulling, sits when company comes in the house, is gentle with kids. I have recently taken our dog to a local pet friendly store and she walked in a heel without bothering anyone else around her the entire time. The techniques Darah uses in training dogs works! I always thought the only way to train a dog is by using treats, well that statement is wrong. The method of training your dog without treats is a far more rewarding way. I can't say enough for what Darah has done for our family and our puppy Bella. If you have a troubled dog, or just a puppy look no further than Underdog K9 and Darah! We can not thank her enough!”

The Smith Family

“Working with Darah was great, she made it fun, relaxed and provided a simple plan. After each lesson we, my family and dog, Charlie, were given homework. We worked with him everyday for at least 10 minutes on commands and walked him daily teaching him to heel.

Charlie is about as cute as they get which is part of the problem. Darah called him a ‘snake charmer’. The first time she met us, she explained her approach and plan. She then put a leash on Charlie with the thought that he would easily follow, even though I had warned her of his stubborn streak. He immediately dropped to the ground and lay on his side. Darah was surprised he was so resistant. She tried various approaches, but he was having none of it. Finally, she placed a towel under his belly and picked him up and had him walk with her on the leash. That was the first step toward having a balanced pet. It takes consistency and commitment on the owners part. Darah gave us the tools, now it's up to us to follow through and provide our dog the leadership he needs. It doesn't happen over night, but Darah shows you that it can happen.

Charlie, the Snake Charmer, is not perfect. We still have work to do. We walk him daily. Most days we walk him before and after work. I know this helps tremendously with managing his energy level and also the commands he does on the leash he begins to do off leash. We enjoy our dog so much more! Thank you, Darah!”

The Brookbanks

“Hi Darah,

Just wanted to let you know Charlie is doing well. He still has his moments but they are fewer. I take him on the greenway for a walk everyday. He has to deal with joggers,walkers, people with strollers and on bikes. He does well with all usually, sometimes a person on a bike scares him if they seek up on him. He does well with all the dogs he encounters except this one lab. I don't know what that is about. This morning we had a service tech here and Tom kept Charlie on the leash and followed the guy around and Charlie did very well. and then I took him to the drive thru at the bank and he didn't bark or growl once.

I just wanted you to know how he was doing and to thank you again. He may not be perfect but he is better and that is because of the skills we learned from you.”

Donna and Tom Berger

“Bailey is a young spunky dog that is full of zest and energy. Not long after having him did I realize that he will be needing some training. I did research for dog trainers on line and came across Underdog K-9 Academy. What caught my eye was that they didn't use treats to have the dog listen. They used praise. Darah, the dog trainer, came to our home and did a customer evaluation. It was very thorough and her feedback was invaluable and put Bailey and I on the right road to succeed in a new and improved relationship. Darah was able to see what Bailey and I needed as far as structure, boundaries, and guidelines. She taught the human as much, if not more, as the dog. Bailey is able to here and respond to me calling him over a rabbit hopping by. And that is huge for Bailey. I would recommend Darah with Underdog K-9 Academy to anyone who is looking for a no nonsense trainer who knows what they are doing and that are able to communicate with the human as well as the dog in a positive, effective way. Thank you again Underdog K-9 Academy!!!!”

Donna Belcher

“Our family got a puppy for Christmas, our third dog, but first with children. Within a few months we knew he needed training outside of the family. When I called Darah she responded in less than 12 hours. That quick contact was a huge relief. Within a short time she was at our house seeing the dog interact with our children and us. This was most helpful because she starts where the dog is and works from there. Darah trained both myself and my husband on what to do. This private one on one gave us confidence going into the group setting. One other great part of Underdog K-9 Academy is the lack of treats. Darah's approach is most beneficial to being in the real world because it is voice command and loose leash verses pockets full of treats. Another great thing about Darah's training is that by the time you join the class setting you know all the basics going in to class. Just this week, months after our last session with Darah, a friend mentioned they have the same breed, same age and he is no where near as calm or obedient as our dog. We owe all this to Darah. It is not an exaggeration to say Darah helped our whole family. She taught our children and us how to integrate this new little dog into our lives. There aren't many trainers who can claim the experience Darah has - volunteering to help at shelters, taking in re-homing dogs, literally transforming the worst of the worst cases into her own pets and demonstration dogs at class. She comes at things with a background of psychology - for the dogs as well as the adults. Our family has trained two other dogs. We've tried other trainings and Darah is without a doubt worth every minute.”

The Strasser Family

“Darah has been a God send. We were at our whits end with a dog that was aggressive towards other select dogs (even sending other dogs for stitches ). We had almost tried everything to the point of talking to no kill rescues to find a place for her, but I felt we were not being responsible pet owners without trying everything...until we came across Darah and her training style while doing online research. I thought, this is meant to be, seeing that she was in the same vicinity as us. I only wish we had found Darah sooner. She has made such a difference in us as pet parents by being patient, understanding and an awesome teacher! I can now actually walk a big strong dog and have no problems, and I am so proud to show my dog off. We have Ellie Mae not, not an aggressive dog! If it weren't for Darah I wouldn't be able to say that. We are looking forward to learning even more and tking training to the next level. So Darah, to say thank you just isn't enough to express our gratitude.”

Tom and Clara Hulse

“Judah is a 3 year old White German Shepherd Dog[WGSD]. He began training when he was about 10 weeks old. He is very smart. He quickly learned commands but he has a stubborn streak in him that kept his obedience inconsistent. And although he learned scent detection, and alerted me for the first time when he was 4 months old, his stubbornness did not go away. I was hoping he could continue training and ultimately be my full time diabetic alert dog.

I soon discovered that the type of training he was in was not addressing the inconsistent responses I got from Judah. Although he loved loved loved the treats, it was no guarantee that he would obey obey obey.

I began searching for another trainer who could help me handle Judah. I found Darah Williams of Underdog K-9 Academy. She evaluated Judah and had a plan mapped out for him. She recognized his weaknesses and the weakness in my handling and came up with a plan to help both Judah and I to succeed in working together. Judah had to understand that he was not the boss of the household, nor me and that he needed to obey quickly and consistently. Judah has graduated from all of K-9 Academy Obedience Training classes as well as agility and Advanced Obedience.

Darah taught me the correct way to use a prong collar as well as the E Collar. These have been two (2) tools which have really helped redirect Judah. Judah walks calmly next to whoever takes him for a walk and there is no pulling. The E Collar helped tighten up his recall when the handler called him and not when he ‘got around to it’.

I believe Darah's depth of understanding dogs, has made her a very efficient and well rounded dog trainer. She speaks their language and is able to communicate how her clients can do the same.

I give 100% endorsement to Darah for how her skills have helped train Judah and me!”

Anne O'Hara

“We've had our pure bread German Shepherd Mo since he was a tiny pup. He has become our best friend and protector, and and is growing into a mature pack leader at almost two years old. Growing up Mo was very unstable and unpredictable around children and other animals. He was prone to growl and sometimes even attempt to bite friends and guests that entered our home. We were at a crossroad with Mo and were afraid to even leave the house with him for fear of what might happen if he was approached by another dog or someone walking by.

At seven months we started taking him to basic training with positive reinforcement using treats. Mo was in class with both small and large breed dogs. He took part inmonths,up,he the training and learned basic sit, stay and come commands. We found this worked for a bit but Mo returned to his old ways and became so bad that it was impossible to control him during walks on the leash and there was no keeping his attention unless food was around.

We decided that it was time to start a family of our own and wondered if it was safe to have Mo around our infant child, After many tears and long discussions, we decided that Mo was a part of our family and it was our duty to find a way to make him the best German Shepherd possible. So we made a few calls and came upon Darah and Underdog K-9 Academy.

Darah came to our home for an evaluation and I couldn't believe my eyes, Within 30 minutes, I was talking and observing his behaviors Darah put Mo on a leash and began to walk him around and give him commands. The way she handled him and controlled his every movement was amazing and Mo not only took to her commands but almost seemed to want more. Here we are today, Mo has been through three levels of training and is now even doing agility training!

Life today with Mo is amazing, Under Darah's hands-on training and continuous mentoring, we can take Mo anywhere and no longer are we the ones that people are pointing at and making comments about having an out-of-control dog. Mo greets and plays with other dogs without aggression; he greets guests and family members at the door with a waging tail and playful attitude. Mo has mastered the heel command and we walk him around the neighborhood, dog park and even Petsmart without worry. We get comments everyday about how well behaved and how beautiful of a Shepherd he is.

Darah has given us the life and relationship with Mo that we never thought possible; he seems happier than ever before and our bond grows stronger and stronger daily. Darah has taught us to be better dog owners and with our baby due on July 4th, we have no fear of having our Shepherd patrolling around our home.”

The Styles Family