About West Tennessee K9 – Nashville

 West Tennessee K9 – Nashville – Dog Training and Rehabilitation, was founded by Terry Harris, and is located in Memphis, and now also in Nashville Tennessee. Voted top trainers in Memphis, we are dedicated to helping both dogs, and their owners navigate the challenges of life.  We offer puppy foundation programs, basic obedience, advanced obedience, E Collar training, aggression rehabilitation, and behavior modification. 

 Dog training is more than teaching a dog to sit, stay, lay down, and come. Dog training is about leadership and relationship. Whether you need general through advanced obedience, or behavior modification, it is likely that West Tennessee K9 – Nashville has a program to fit your needs and budget. We keep everything super simple and easy to understand. Our primary goal is to help people and by doing this, we help dogs. 

If you would really like to get to know us, spend some time here on our website, as well as all of our social media pages. The links are on every page! We have tons of free and helpful “how to” content and videos that will help you right away! 

WHERE WE STARTED

 Founded in 2013, West Tennessee K9 – Nashville has quickly grown into the Mid-South’s, top-rated dog training facility. After starting as a home-based business, the demand for our services allowed us to transition into our 4,000 square foot facility. Don’t think that a large facility means more dogs. In fact, the dog to trainer ratio has decreased over time. Focusing on quality, and not quantity means, as we have grown, we have improved.

 WHY WE DO THIS

 The true formula to our success really has little to do with our facilities though. In 2015 it was clear that we could not touch every dog of every person that contacted us. So, what did we do? We made the decision to put everything that we do out there for free. We utilized platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to help more people through free content. This may seem counterintuitive and go against every marketing concept out there, but we didn’t care. There were people who needed help, and now they could get it.

 FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

 Focusing on teaching and equipping people is what we do. It is great to have a trained dog, but without training the owners, the training doesn’t do much good. Through our online content, go home training instructions, and videos, our success rate soars above the rest. Take some time and check us out on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Read the comments and reviews. See what everyone is saying, and see if we are a good fit for you!

Meet the Owner

Terry Harris

Hello, I’m Terry Harris, founder of West Tennessee K9 – Nashville. As a child, my love for training animals rose up above everything else. Training animals has always been a natural gift. Working with dogs, birds, rodent, horses, and about any other critter I could find was, in my mind, a 30 year hobby. I understood animal behavior, and how to change it.

In 2014, with the encouragement from my then best friend Olivia, I put the word out that I was going to be training dogs for others. By the next weekend, and to my surprise, I had 8 dogs at my house for training. I was completely taken back at the need people had. These dogs were causing so much stress in their homes. Stress that the owners didn’t have to live in every day. I saw a need, a need that I didn’t even know existed.

After all of these dogs went home, I had to take a little time to rethink everything. I knew how to train, but I didn’t know how to communicate what I was doing, to the owners. I spent a year seeking out the best and brightest in the dog and animal training world. I traveled and spent time with them, learning and growing. The welcome I got from everyone I contacted was overwhelming. To this day, I become overwhelmed with emotion just thinking about it. 

In 2015, I officially started West Tennessee K9 – Nashville. From day one there has always been dogs to train, and people to help. I quickly realized that dog training was less about the dogs, the easy part to me. It was more about the relationship and trust built with the dog’s owners. From day one, I adopted a no judgement policy. Regardless of the dog’s problem, the owners are never blamed or shamed. I committed to meeting the dog and the owner exactly where they are, building from there.

From 2015 to present the growth has been amazing. What I thought was going to be a session by session career has grown into something I never could have planned. The outpouring of love and support by clients and other training professionals, has been a blessing to say the least. Because of this support we have been able to help thousands of dogs and owners. In about 4 years we have grown from a house to house private session company to a 4,000 square feet, fully staffed training facility. Our abundance of free on line content is helping people all over the world. We have received testimonials for India, the UK, Australia, and many other places. Technology has been such a blessing to us, our followers, and clients. The people’s love for their dogs is amazing.

Training dogs has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people. It has also allowed me to work every day with my, now wife Olivia, daughters Chelsey and Emily. Spending all of this time with my family as we help others, is a dream come true. Helping people is what we, as a family love to do.

Meet the Owner

Olivia Harris

Olivia is a critical part of West Tennessee K9 – Nashville’s programs. In addition to hands-on dogs training, Olivia is the behind-the-scenes organizer. Olivia oversees all free social media content, quality, and distribution. There isn’t a part of WTNK9 Nashville that she doesn’t have a part in.

Olivia has a solid background in leadership. Managing several companies, and departments over the past 25 years make her insight and wisdom incredibly valuable to the business and programs. Olivia and Terry together bring a balanced approach to every aspect of West Tennessee K9 – Nashville. Olivia may be in the background here, but in life, she is at the forefront. Oliva is an extremely talented musician and singer. She performs on a regular basis here in Memphis. Her love for music and her creativity allows her to have a unique and positive perspective on life and the problems associated with it.

Over the years Olivia has worked with and mentored young people. She has molded so many young musicians, giving them the guidance and confidence to grow into talented, performing adults. Olivia’s love for children and young people has translated into our training program. Children are always welcomed at the training center. Because of her vision and calling for youth, children and young adults learn how to handle the family pet as well as mom and dad.

MEET OUR HR DIRECTOR AND OWNER OF WEST TENNESSEE K9 NASHVILLE

Chelsey Harris

Chelsey is a trainer, admin coordinator, and organizational guru. Chelsey does private sessions, works with board and trains, and assist Terry in many areas of West Tennessee K9 – Nashville. She handles all of the staff scheduling, and operations protocols and guidelines.

Chelsey graduated from Central Michigan University with two degrees. An Associates in Liberal Arts and a Bachelors in Psychology. After college, Chelsey worked at Youth Villages as a counselor and events coordinator, and with us on her off days. She quickly saw how dealing with human behavior and animal behavior were very similar. She made the decision to transition full time with us, and what an asset she has been. She hasn’t given up on her work with humans though. She also works with troubled individuals using horses, reptiles, and other animals to assist in their rehabilitation.

Chelsey’s understanding of behavior, love for animals, and most importantly love for humans makes her an amazing trainer and leader.