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​Upcoming Events

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Save the dates!
First Responders Sporting Clay Tournament
September 10

Woofstock
September 16

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Mission Statement
Empower an individual with a disability
to train a dog as their service dog
transforming both their lives
Faithfully K9 trains individuals
with PTSD, mobility and hearing issues

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Help us to give hope where there was no hope by donating today! Every dollar donated goes directly to train an individual with a disability to train their dog as a service dog.

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Thank you
Petco Love for the
$5000 grant for 2023!

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ABOUT US

Mission Statement: To empower individuals with disabilities to train a dog as their service dog, transforming both of their lives.

Cathy

Cathy has been training dogs for many years, most recently training service dogs for Freedom Service Dogs of America for almost 6 years. She has trained dogs of different breeds and temperaments for individuals with disabilities including mobility issues, and PTSD for veterans and civilians. 

 

Cathy and Sarah created a program at Freedom Service Dogs of America through a grant from the State of Colorado to work with veterans helping them train the dog they received. This program was a 3 month twice a week commitment involving the client learning how to use their dog as they trained the dog to help them continue on their path in life.  

 

She trained her own dog Cash to be a therapy dog and visited several locations bringing a smile to many faces.

 

She is devoted to making training fun using the clicker method and positive reinforcement with treats. Having graduated over 50 service and therapy dogs, she has acquired many skills dealing with dogs and clients and enjoys sharing her talents.

 

She was recently on a segment of the Dog Bowl on Animal Planet showing her training a dog and highlighting a dog she trained, Rommy, the first Decker's Dog.

Jamie

Jamie recently moved to Colorado in the fall of 2022 with her lovely fiancé for an exciting career opportunity.

 

Jamie ran a professional small dog care and training business in San Francisco for 7 years providing safe, off leash fun around the Presidio and Crissy Field's beach for a small group of dogs together at one time. If you enjoy seeing happy dogs living their best life check out @SFadventurepet on Instagram. 

 

Jamie has a Bachelor’s degree and attended the Dog Training Internship Academy in SF. Recently she attended  LLA: Living and Learning with Animals: How Behavior Works with Susan Friedman. Lastly, she will soon be wrapping up the Accredited Dog Trainer certification with International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

 

In a previous life, she worked with students who had special needs, and has a family member that is special needs. She feels incredibly grateful to have landed here with Faithfully K9, and she is happy to support both our canine companions and the humans who need them.

Sarah

Sarah first started her love of training dogs through 4-H with her Border Collie, teaching him obedience, tricks and agility. 

 

She graduated from the University of Washington, studying animal behavior and human psychology.  

 

For five years she managed a doggie daycare and transformed it into a "Canine Activity Program", where the dogs rotated through various activities during the day as a more structured and healthier form of daycare.  During this time she also taught obedience and pre-agility classes in the evenings.  

 

For the past nearly ten years Sarah trained service and therapy dogs at Freedom Service Dogs of America.  She had the role of Dog Training Director and graduated over 50 teams. 

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Anne

After teaching in public schools and coaching athletics for many years, Anne switched to work in the dog world in 2004. She worked in the Animal Behavior Department at Dumb Friends League for 4 years, learning positive reinforcement training, helping dog and cats become more adoptable, teaching new adopters how to work with their dogs, passing on her knowledge to volunteers, and counseling people through the behavior helpline to help with common cat and dog problems to help the animals stay in their home and not be relinquished to shelters. Then she ran the two downtown Denver City Bark Dog Daycare and Boarding Facilities for 7 years, bringing her behavior and dog body language expertise to make the boarding and day care experience more enjoyable and less stressful for both dogs, employees, and pet parents. After that she was hired by Freedom Service Dogs where she worked with both Cathy and Sarah before they left to found Faithfully K9. From 2017-2021, she placed over 20 dog teams with veterans living with PTSD, children living with autism, people living with mobility issues, and professional therapy dog teams performing animal assisted therapy in private practice and at schools.

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Erick

Erick served in the ARMY from 2015 to 2018 as an airborne infantryman assigned to the 4-25 Brigade Fort Richardson, Alaska, and served with the 3-509th battalion.

Being a paratrooper taught him that he could push himself physically and mentally to new limits, with his biggest lesson - that of selfless service. In Afghanistan, two brothers were lost during deployment. After the completion of deployment, he departed with an honorable discharge.

 

Returning to Colorado, he served his community as a police officer for the City of Lakewood. December 27, 2021, was tough as he was involved in an officer-involved shooting in the Belmar area of Lakewood. In this incident, he and his partner attempted to stop a triple homicide suspect who opened fire on them. The event ended with an officer and the suspect exchanging fire. The suspect was deceased, and his partner, his good friend Ashley Ferris, thankfully recovered.

Unfortunately, his service-connected disabilities were constantly being exacerbated, and he no longer felt healthy. He decided to pursue a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling which will enable him to still be able to fulfill his passion for helping others by serving veterans and first responders.

 

Erick trained his dog, Chispa, through Faithfully K9 and decided to help other Veterans and 1st Responders by becoming a trainer with FK9.

OUR TEAM

Cathy - Faithfully K9 Executive Director and trainer
Cathy Kowalski

Founder,Executive Director and Trainer

Sara - Trainer of faithfully k9
Sarah Galassini

Trainer

Anne Burgess
Trainer
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Eric Perez
Trainer
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Jamie Pattison
Trainer
About Us
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Service Dog Training

 

Custom training to train you to train your dog to become your service dog with public access.

Therapy Dog Training

 

Individualized training to train your dog to provide therapy at various locations. 

Therapy dogs work with human/health providers with the intent to use their dog in their practice. They can also visit with their handler to provide comfort, affection, and relief to others at schools, hospitals, hospice, and locations dedicated to older adults.

Project Hope

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Skilled Companion Dogs for First Responders to help mitigate anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts.

Pet Dog Training

 

Personally tailored

dog training in your home.

Our Services

OUR SERVICES

Our Team

60

Years of Combined

Experience

242

Dog/Handler Teams

Worked with

Success Stories

Committed & Knowledgeable

I worked alongside Cathy for five years as a volunteer handler with Freedom Service Dogs. Cathy is an amazing dog trainer, whether it be training a service dog, a therapy dog or a well-behaved pet. I learned so much working with Cathy and would not be a volunteer handler were it not for her. With all I learned from Cathy and with her assistance, my timid dog, Luca, is now a certified therapy dog. Cathy is not only a great dog trainer, she is very, very committed to her clients and to the dogs. She has good dog-training knowledge, skills and techniques as well as energy, enthusiasm and ethics.

Lori and Luca

 

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Contact Us

CONTACT US

Our Mailing Address
This is not a storefront

25587 Conifer RD Unit 105 # 129

Conifer, CO

80433 USA

Our E-mail

720-934-7378

Don't hesitate to ask any questions.

Please reach out for more information at faithfullyk9@yahoo.com

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