K-9 Companions National Headquarters

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from our pack to yours!

10/30/2025

*Preventing unwanted litters is a goal we all share—but it's time to rethink the surgical approach. Hysterectomies and vasectomies, which preserve hormonal balance, can safely be performed as early as 8 weeks of age, making dogs sterile without disrupting their natural hormones.

New peer-reviewed study published in Nature:

How a dog’s lifetime exposure to his own hormones (before being neutered) affects how well he handles aging and frailty later in life.

Study Background

• Frailty = when older dogs (and people) become weaker, less resilient, and more prone to illness and death.
• Most research looks at how to prevent frailty — this study looked at what makes some dogs bounce back better after frailty sets in.
• The focus was on the HPG axis — the hormonal system that produces testosterone and controls reproduction.

Key Findings

• Dogs neutered very young (before 2 years old) had:

o A much higher risk of death once they became frail.
o About 16% higher mortality for every small increase in frailty.

• Dogs kept intact longer (more than ~10 years) showed:
o No increase in mortality linked to frailty.
o Their hormones seemed to “buffer” the negative effects of aging.

• Each extra year of natural hormone exposure reduced frailty-related death risk by ~1%.

What It Means

• Hormones from the te**es may protect against the worst effects of aging later in life.
• Removing them too early could make dogs less resilient to age-related decline.
• Frailty isn’t just about getting old — it’s also shaped by early-life events like the timing of neutering.
• This supports a “life course” view: what happens early in life affects health decades later.

Why It Matters

• The study suggests timing of neutering might influence how well dogs age.

10/25/2025

Ellie did it.

After two years of hard work, she’s officially a fully trained service dog. This journey took over $15,000, nine total weeks of board-and-train (three 3-week segments), hours of co-training at home, passing her CGC test, and four major outings with other service dogs.

She’s more than just a dog — she’s my partner in daily life.

A huge thank you to Ridley’s Red Retrievers for bringing her into the world, to the trainers at K-9 Companions Nashville for their dedication, and to the many generous supporters who made this possible. I couldn’t have done it without you.

This was a long road, but she’s worth every bit of it. 🐾

10/25/2025

10/05/2025

10/05/2025

10/05/2025

Happy puppy Ripkin enjoying this awesome Fall weather in Nashville, Tn!

10/04/2025

10/04/2025

Menos the cat serves as our Top FelineTrainer. Her passion is assisting with dog training throughout the day.

09/22/2025