Top Tier K9 released its groundbreaking Virtual Reality Dog Training Program, an experience enabling shelters, dog trainers, and owners to practice training pets and working dogs in a virtual environment.

Top Tier K9 is recognized as one of the top dog trainer schools in the world. They train both people and dogs. Their programs teach people to become professional dog trainers and successful business owners. Their Academy for Dog Trainers provides professional dog training lessons and support courses in business, project management, sales, and marketing. Through their trademarked Foundation Dog® Program, Top Tier K9 trains working dogs for careers in the military, security, police, sports, service, and more. They provide comprehensive obedience, tracking, nosework, and protection training.

Through their programs, Top Tier K9 realized the biggest challenge with dog training isn't training dogs – it's training owners. When owners or handlers use the wrong training methods, they can enforce destructive behaviors or incorrect responses from the dog.

Currently, competitor programs execute training and handling methods in direct contact with actual dogs. As a result, a dog's behavioral patterns may become permanently affected. Using instructional videos for these programs are ineffective at engaging dog trainers/owners without the hands-on experience.

Top Tier K9 turned to Saritasa, a leading custom software development and technology company, to provide their training solutions to the pet industry and build a better communication system between humans and dogs. Saritasa utilized VR to achieve this objective, building the platform in Unity for Meta Quest 2. Top Tier K9 is the world's first platform granting worldwide access to dog trainers, handlers, and owners seeking high-quality training programs for dogs using cutting-edge technology.

Top Tier K9's VR dog training platform starts in a 3D-rendered Top Tier K9 training center. The program guides users through putting a collar and leash on a dog. The experience then trains users on the top 5 commands: Sit, Climb, Down, Come, and Heel. It uses markers – Yes and No – prior to rewarding or correcting the dog. The user must give commands in 1.3-second intervals to exploit the attention span/memory of a dog.

The training platform is available to license through Top Tier K9 franchisees, Top Tier K9 certified dog trainers, and participating animal shelters.

4.2 million dogs are killed in shelters every year, while over 2.6 million new puppies are sold (Source: Top Tier K9). The number one reason dogs end up in shelters is terrible behavior caused by a lack of training. If you train and manage a dog properly, you almost eliminate its chances of ending up in a shelter and limit the number of euthanized dogs in these facilities. The Top Tier K9 Virtual Reality Dog training Center solves this problem.

"My vision is for dog owners to adopt this tool to practice training a virtual dog before they work with their own dog," said Jeff Minder, CEO & Founder of Top Tier K9. Jeff is a Master Dog Trainer specializing in advanced puppy imprinting, including obedience, tracking, scent detection, and protection (Foundation Dog® Program).

Aaron Franko, VP of Immersive Technology in Saritasa, said that this new application of VR could potentially open doors for the technology's use in other avenues.

Top Tier K9 tirelessly works to bridge the gap between humans and dogs using cutting-edge technology beyond anything that other training schools provide. The company aspires to train dogs and teach humans the techniques to maintain training and communication systems in this unregulated industry. Through the VR training experience, owners/handlers/trainers can first interact with a virtual dog to understand training basics without negatively impacting an actual canine.