The facility, located just east of Oak Ridge North at 10626 Fussel Road, Conroe, is owned and operated by Manuel Buchanan, a longtime security manager, trainer and veterinarian. His work at K9 PW is centered on a variety of training programs and overnight accommodations for local dogs, including both family pets and professional canines.
“We focus on communication,” said Manuel, who spoke through his wife and translator, Carla Buchanan. “We do it through the boarding, basic training, advanced training, behavioral problems and narcotics inspection—though that is not for families, of course.”
Buchanan’s courses include boarding and training programs lasting between one and four weeks. The business accepts any dogs that are not overly aggressive, and training begins following a free, family-involved evaluation to determine animals’ personalities and maturity levels along with families’ goals and the projected best outcomes for their pets. Dogs that are accepted then take up residence at K9 PW for several days of training and recreation.
“We teach the dogs the basics,” Manuel said. “We include social communications programs with people and with other dogs. During these times, we evaluate and we work with behavioral issues, and we introduce the basic commands that the family needs for [their] dogs.”
Days are broken into several learning sessions separated by entertainment time facilitated by the Buchanans. K9 PW’s 1-acre campus features hotel-style kennels with climate-controlled rooms linked to outdoor spaces. These are placed alongside a variety of amenities and toys for use in a shaded yard area with fellow dogs and their temporary guardians.
“The time that they are not training, we are playing with them. We are running; we are petting them; we take care of them; we feed them, [socialize] also,” Carla said. “We have two daughters; they are 10 and 12 years old, so they love to go to play and run and feed them and hug them. ... The idea is that they don’t [miss] their home, and they play and learn at the same time.”
Buchanan said K9 PW’s instructional programs have proven beneficial both for pets as well as the narcotics-sniffing dogs he also works with. In addition to his work with family dogs, he said the business both sells and trains animals with characteristics matching the requirements of professional police dogs—services he sees as beneficial for the community as a whole.
“The work of police dogs, our focus is to give a benefit to society through the detection of narcotics. And the work we do with the family dogs is focused to help society as well through easy and effective communication with the dogs,” he said.
While some aspects of their work have changed in recent months, the Buchanans said they believe the COVID-19 pandemic has increased interest in services such as the ones offered at K9 PW as pet owners are together with their companions more often.
“People now are in their houses, so they have had the opportunity to see or to spend a little more time with their dogs. And they realize that they need some help,” Buchanan said.
The owners said they plan to welcome new clients to the business with a “quality over quantity” approach to maintain personal relationships with the dogs attending training. They also said they hope to continue their frequent renovations at K9 PW to improve the facility and increase space for if more clients enroll under the care of the Buchanans.
“All of his life [Manuel] has been working for the dogs, and he will continue working for the dogs because he loves dogs, and all our family loves dogs,” Carla said. “He will be working with dogs for the rest of his life.”
K9 PW Training and Boarding
10626 Fussel Road, Conroe
832-992-3592
www.k9pwtrainingandboarding.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-7 p.m.,
Sat.-Sun. 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
