Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Ernst.
Crystal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My family had hunting dogs when I was growing up, but I didn’t get into training dogs until I rescued a puppy named Indy. Because of his breed, the rescue group said I needed to get Indy into obedience classes. We started puppy classes and within a few months, we were attending training three or four times a week.
I had a friend, George who trained and sold police dogs through his company, K9 Defense. George invited me to train with him and help out around the kennel.
One evening I was watching deputies deploy their K9s into an impound lot to find and bite the “bad guy”. We were in the fatalities section of the lot where some of the vehicles were unrecognizable. The handler would give the search and bite command and the dog would take off like a rocket. Then his nose would go up in the air and, like a radar direct him straight towards the “bad guy”.
As I watched this scenario for the first time on that warm desert evening, I began to pray for the families of the lost among the crumpled metal cars. I thought about those moments that change our lives forever, good and bad.
A dog would deploy, his nose would go up and he ran and bit the decoy hiding among hundreds of cars. I thought about how many real bad guys each dog would get off the street, and how many victims would be saved because of each dog.
Then I had a profound experience. I mean, it was life-changing. I felt at peace for the first time after a night when I was the victim. I watched another dog deploy and knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life training dogs to help people.
I spent a few years cleaning kennels and picking up poop in exchange for experience with working dogs. I learned the theory and science behind training. And I learned to train dogs to detect contraband. I became a handler for Desert Drug Dog finding narcotics in the private sector.
I love working with dogs and watching dogs learn and grow. And I especially love working with high-drive puppies.
In May of 2021, I moved back to my homeland of southern Ohio and started my own company, American K9s.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I lost Indy in October of 2020. I was devastated, but losing him gave me
the strength to go back home and begin again. He gave me back my Independence.
The first year back in Ohio has been one of the most challenging years of my life, but it has also been rewarding.
At one point, I had 17 dogs and puppies to care for.
I lost 2 puppies of a litter because of complications with the delivery. The emergency vets were overwhelmed and took 8 hours to get us in. Covid added additional challenges.
I had one pup get parvo and lost her within 24 hours. And all of this was in the first two months of being back!
Somehow, I managed to prevent the other 16 dogs from contracting the disease. There were days on end of sleepless nights and countless hours of help from my family. If it weren’t for my faith, I’m not sure I would have made it through.
I showed up and put in the work every day and began moving forward little by little.
We’ve been impressed with American K9s, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Nearly 85% of our working dogs are imported from Europe. My goal with American K9s is to breed, train and sell top-quality working dogs in America for Americans. We love the saying “Made in America”, but continue to import our highest achieving working dogs. After we import them, we put them to work rather than breed them, which keeps us dependent on importing them. I’m taking the long slow road to reach my breeding goal by starting with puppies of proven working lines. I’ll select the best puppies for the breeding program once they are mature and have full health certificates. Then I will keep my best and repeat the process.
My training goals are to stay on the cutting edge of the science of training dogs. It has been said that we are in a Renaissance when it comes to learning the capabilities of K9s. Not only do dogs find bombs, drugs, bad guys, and missing people, but they can also detect Covid and find invasive plant species. There are amazing scientists that are studying how odors move, how the environment affects odor, how to improve training time by giving cognitive tests to the dog, and it goes on. I want to use the best training methods and continue to learn even better ones.
I am also working on training detection dogs not only to locate contraband in a static environment but to locate it on people carrying it as well. In addition to vehicles, drug dogs search drug treatment centers, correctional facilities, halfway houses, and schools to name a few. Many times, the contraband is carried on the person and not left in the search area. I have trained dogs to discreetly alert their handlers to persons who are carrying contraband on their person. I have a number of dogs available that I would like to place with School Resource Officers with a grant program to help reduce drugs in our schools.
In addition to breeding and training working dogs, I train people and their pet dogs. Mother Theresa once said if you want world peace, start at home. Helping owners and their pets is my little way of helping bring peace into people’s homes. So many good dogs have unwanted behaviors like jumping, barking, and pulling that can cause chaos in the home. Owners often reinforce these behaviors without knowing or realizing it. The science behind teaching and learning is the same for pet dogs as it is for working dogs, the goals are the only differences. I don’t mind if my drug dog jumps on the counter to sniff a cabinet for drugs, but I certainly wouldn’t want my pet dog to counter surf.
American K9s has a proven Board and Train program that addresses unwanted behaviors or teaches beginning or advanced obedience. I use Classical and Operant Conditioning. This means I train new behaviors with rewards and I get rid of unwanted behaviors with corrections. The rewards I use might be kibble, a high-value treat, or a favorite toy. The corrections I use are either withholding a reward or using a training collar. I use the least invasive method that produces the desired results. Not all dogs are the same, so I have learned to keep a lot of tools in my toolbox to find what works best for each dog.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is having fun with the dogs. I want to make learning a game for them. And I want to continue learning how to be better at my craft. I don’t want to be a good trainer; I want to be the best trainer I can possibly be.
It is so rewarding when my dog or a dog I have trained makes a difference. I was called to an emergency drug search where they lost a client to a Fentanyl overdose and wanted to make sure there was no more on the property. K9 Meli gave an indication at a toilet, and staff found Fentanyl wrapped and hidden at the bottom of the toilet tank. We will never know, but she may have saved a life that day. To Meli, it was another game of hiding and seek.
Contact Info:
- Website: Americank9s.com
- Instagram: @americank9s
- Facebook: @americank9sllc
- Other: TikTok @americank9s
