About

About ProActive K9

Our mission

ProActive K9 provides quality training, consultation, and audit services to the law enforcement K9 and working dog communities.

Our values

Learning
Helping handlers develop the knowledge and skills to build cohesive working relationships with their canine partners.

At ProActive K9 we believe that because your dog is constantly learns your relationship with the dog must constantly evolve. We approach learning as a team effort that builds bonds as it increases understanding. Because learning occurs best when self-initiated we teach handlers to how to make their dogs want to work rather than compel them to work.

 

Excellence
Excellence is achieved by adopting the mindset that all training and operational outcomes yield valuable information about how to improve

If K9 teams aims to be the best they can, then they must harness the power of objective analysis of performance. Consequently, ProActive K9 tailors training to the individual as the most effective path to meeting and exceeding organizational standards. Central to this is identifying best practices and applying them until they are second nature.

Respect
Humans and dogs all deserve to be treated with respect, so our training is principle-driven and designed to meet learners at both ends of the leash where they are in their journey.

Because one-size-fits-all training methodologies are built around the lowest common denominator our training is tailored to the individual. The basic training framework is consistent, but there are many paths to the top. We support every team and unit in their unique learning and development with systems predicated on the notion that clear feedback respectfully delivered is the back bone or progress and excellence.

About Steve

Although he was raised with dogs, Steve White’s love of working dogs began in 1974 when his obedience instructor introduced him to the world of K9 Search and Rescue. Steve was hooked and soon joined the US Army as a Military Police working dog handler, since then most of Steve law enforcement career has been devoted K9. He is the only person to have served as a handler, trainer, and supervisor for the only major city police K9 Unit have its methods upheld by the courts in a major class-action suit brought by the ACLU.

First accredited as a Master Trainer in 1993 by the Washington State Police Canine Association, Steve is also a past Executive Board Member of that body. He served as Vice President of the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers, (now called the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers) and has been an instructor for the K9 Academy for Law Enforcement. Steve has instructed at seminars in the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Mexico, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. He was a founding instructor at Karen Pryor’s ClickerExpo. He has taught obedience classes at parks, community centers, kennels, and the facility he and his wife Jennifer operate, Rivendale Learning Center in Woodinville, Washington.

His articles have appeared in police K-9 and dog training publications in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Japan, and New Zealand. He specializes in teaching behavior modification, urban tracking, and scentwork through the use of positive reinforcement based operant conditioning. He provides consultation, training, and audit services to K-9 units, and has been recognized as an expert witness by Washington and Federal courts in Police K-9 and dog behavior matters.