About
Learn more about our company, Black Hills K9, and Tim Eick, Owner and Master Dog Trainer.
About Black Hills K9
Black Hills K9 LLC is a diverse dog training business serving Rapid City, SD and the surrounding area. We are located in the southwest corner of the Black Hills in rural South Dakota, near the border of Wyoming and Nebraska.
Our temporary open floor plan indoor facility not only gives us the ability to control the training environment, but it also rapidly allows us to reconfigure the space for your needs. This location and area also provides us with ample access to U.S. Forest Service land, as well as local properties and businesses for additional indoor and outdoor training space.
The foundational knowledge and relevant hands-on experience of our staff offer means we provide premier dog training solutions for military/law enforcement working K9s, search and rescue dogs, and pet dog owners.
We are proud to be a Veteran owned business, and with that, we understand the challenges that active duty military face. Our hope is that we can provide dog training services to those at Ellsworth Air Force Base and nearby areas to lift some of the burden of the busy life a military career entails. The company’s roots were founded during an active duty military career and drive our passion to assist both active duty and Veterans in any way possible.
Black Hills K9 LLC also recognized that there was a void in Rapid City within the pet dog training industry. Having an educational background that specializes in behavior analysis and behavior modification training allows us to work with dogs that many may not be willing to work with because they have been deemed aggressive or “too problematic.”
We strongly believe that your dog should provide mental, emotional, and physical enrichment in your life through a healthy relationship of engagement. Our goal is to help replicate as many positive experiences to provide a strong learning history for both dogs and owners alike.
We are dedicated to sharing our passion for dogs to our clients, in addition to partnering with local veterinarians, animal shelters, law enforcement, search and rescue organizations, and the Veterans Affairs administration to provide education and services to further the community as a whole.
About Tim Eick
(Owner & Master Dog Trainer)
Tim Eick founded Black Hills K9 LLC as a multi-faceted dog training business with the goal of one day being an industry leader.
He has over 15 years of dog training experience and strives to further the growing and complex world of dog training through the use of data and standards. He hopes that his company will exceed his client’s expectations in every aspect of professionalism, communication, and education.
Tim’s passion for dogs started at an early age. Growing up in rural Minnesota, he was always surrounded by family and friends with hunting dogs or sporting breeds. Back then, a hypoallergenic dog was not a common thing, but having a sibling that was sensitive to all things animal-related left his family with limited options. Tim always wanted a dog growing up, so the family dogs became dachshunds. Tim later started training dogs as a hobby in college which continued to grow into the career it is today.
A passion for service has also always been a part of Tim’s life and is something that stuck with him through high school and college. Upon graduating college in Seattle with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, he joined the Navy attending Officer Candidate School. In the Navy, he was exposed to Military Working Dogs (MWDs) in many different operational environments, which sparked even more of an interest in training dogs. While on a break from deployments, Tim was able to get his first dog, a black Lab from a local rescue in San Diego, CA. His passion ran wild as he began to shape and build his own dog from the ground up.
These training opportunities gave him more interaction with current MWD handlers, trainers and other dog owners that were Veterans in his local community. His enthusiasm for dog training continued throughout his active duty career, and led him to assisting many different people with their dog training needs. This is where he first saw the enrichment a dog can provide in people’s lives.
After completing over 11 years of service, Tim knew he wanted to take his hobby to the next level and pursue it as a career. Alongside his wife, a practicing Veterinarian in rural South Dakota, they have made animals their life. Tim left the Navy and started Black Hills K9 LLC in August 2021.
Learning from his military service, he wanted to start with a strong foundation based on education to earn a qualification as a professional dog trainer. Tim applied for one of the nation’s top dog training programs and was accepted – in 2022, he attended the six month Master Dog Trainer program in North Carolina at Highland Canine Training, LLC’s International School for Dog Trainers. As an industry leader in canine education and behavior modification training, their intensive program exposed him to all aspects of dog training, allowing him to gain valuable hands-on experience. Tim graduated with Honors in the top of his class.
Today, with his foundational knowledge backed by real world experience, Tim is looking to make Black Hills K9 LLC an industry leader. His passion for engagement with dogs and instruction with their human counterparts are driving him and his company to provide premier dog training. He hopes to bring his background of operational military experience and leadership to bear, as well as the mindset that just because something is “the way we have always done it,” doesn’t mean it is the best or right way. Tim’s goal is to produce some of the best detection dogs in the country and establish himself as a subject matter expert in the community.
Tim is also a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).
Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
To provide premier professional dog training services to Rapid City and the surrounding Black Hills area in order to create consistent and reliable behavioral training in canines. We believe in the power of education providing our clients with the tools and knowledge to continue to replicate positive results through engagement long after receiving our services. Our level of professionalism, communication, and education set us apart as a leader in the industry. We are dedicated to supporting and bettering the well-being of the Veteran community through dogs.
Vision
To be a recognized professional spanning multiple facets of dog training. To provide pet dog clients with premier services. To be a subject matter expert within the working dog industry, who trains some of the nation’s best detection canines using current methods backed by data, science and standards. Eventually, expanding Black Hills K9 LLC into training service dogs focused towards the Veteran community.
Values
Black Hills K9 LLC’s core values were born in small town America and solidified by years of service in a military career. Professionalism, communication, and education are the foundational values that we believe establish strong lasting relationships with our clients and help us excel as a business.
Professionalism: Accountability, integrity, confidence
Communication: Transparent, effective, inclusive
Education: Up-to-date, research and data-driven methods, innovation