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About Us

How Did Liberty K9 Start?

Jenny is an Air Force Veteran and former Police Officer. She has had a love for dogs her entire life. She decided to pursue her dream of working with dogs and attended Starmark Animal Behavior center where she graduated at the top of her class with a Canine Training and Behavior Specialist Certification. From there she completed an internship at Top Dog in Joshua, TX.

Jenny then returned to her home state of Minnesota and opened Liberty K9 LLC. Liberty K9 was very successful for the 15 months it was running. Jenny specialized in off-leash obedience, remote collar, confidence building, advanced socialization and behavior modification. She loved her clients but was having a hard time with the harsh winters. Around that same time, she was recruited by Starmark Academy to return to Texas as an Instructor.

During her time as an instructor Jenny successfully helped approximately 65 students realize their dreams of becoming dog trainers. She taught classes in: socialization, business, grooming, dog to dog interactions, service work, therapy work, agility, scent work, clicker tricks, etc. Jenny also ran the Rescue Dog program for the Academy. Jenny successfully helped approximately 100 rescue dogs receive free obedience training and many of them find their forever homes.

After 1 year of being in TX, Jenny felt like she was being called back to MN. She packed up her house and her dogs and got back to MN in September of 2018, and hit the ground running.

Meet the Owner's Family & Dogs

Jenny, Joe & Zoey Sandstrom

Jenny, Joe & Zoey Sandstrom

Who the heck owns/operates this place?!

Jenny & Joe are the owners of Liberty K9. Zoey and Joe came into Jenny's life in 2021. Jenny & Joe soon got married and started working as a team. Joe works full time but does maintenance and grounds-keeping on the side. Zoey sometimes helps as a distraction to our training dogs and often goes on walks with the dogs. Jenny & Joe are both Christians and pray daily that they can be the best businesses owners and employers they can be.

We believe in a safe, healthy, fair & fun environment for our employees. Without them, we couldn't be the business that we have grown to be.

We also wholeheartedly believe in integrity and very open communication with our clients. We love our clients dearly and strive to provide the best daycare, training, boarding and grooming around!

We pride ourselves on excellence. We run a tight ship to ensure the level of safety and care that we would expect for our own dogs.

Jenny, Joe & Zoey also ride horses. They recently were able to move their horses to the LK9 property! Reba, Koda, Paco, Moses, Liberty & Justice sure are fun to have. They provide a great distraction to help training dogs "proof" their recalls. You might see them riding around on the property; hopefully it brings a smile to your face! We hope to eventually be able to use the horses for equine therapy (J&J Liberty Ranch). There are also some other business ventures involving the horses in the planning phase.

Jenny, Joe & Zoey are avid outdoors people. If they can be outside, they will be! They like to take their dogs with them everywhere they are allowed - which is really easy because they are so well behaved!

We hope to have Joe working here full-time by January of 2023, so you will see a lot more of him.

Mango, Spanky, Dunkin & Sapper

Mango, Spanky, Dunkin & Sapper

"THE WELCOMING COMMITTEE"

If you've been to LK9, you've seen these 4 in Jenny's office, very happy to greet people and get some pets.

Mango is the family's newest pup! She was adopted through PJ's Rescue after being found in a box on the side of the road in TX at 4 weeks old. Mango is such an awesome pup! She is super smart & very food motivated - so she's very easy to train. Mango is a "Therapy Dog in Training" and will make a wonderful therapy dog when she's old enough. She loves to snuggle with her brothers and her humans. She's got the cutest face with a little underbite. She has an awesome balance between spunk & chill.

Spanky was adopted through one of the rescue organizations that partners with Starmark Academy. He is a crazy little guy with no fear. He likes to swim, learn new tricks, play, snuggle with his brothers & run with the 4-wheeler! Spanky is the silliest little Chug you'll ever meet & makes for a GREAT distraction for our training dogs. You can't help but smile when you see him with his goofy under bite, big smile, & spunky personality. Spanky is a Chihuahua/Pug mix and approximately 5 years old.

Dunkin is a registered Therapy Dog & LOVES going to work. Dunkin is AKC & Do More With Your Dog Trick Titled. He also has his CGC Title and is trained in Advanced Off-Leash Obedience. Jenny rescued Dunkin from a very abusive owner when she was a Police Officer. Dunkin came from a terrible situation. Now Jenny helps him live his best life. Dunkin brings so much joy to everyone and is approximately 12 years old.

Sapper is a goofy boy. He was rescued through the rescue dog program at Starmark Academy. Sapper is AKC and Do More With Your Dog trick titled. He also has his CGC title and is trained in Advanced Off Leash Obedience. Sapper will do most anything for food, which makes training him very easy. His best trick is 'The Woo Woo's' where he 'talks' to you for several seconds. Sapper enjoys food, playing with his brothers, learning tricks and running with the 4-wheeler. Sapper is a Boxer/Rottweiler Mix and approximately 8 years old.

A FAMILY AFFAIR - IT REALLY IS!

A FAMILY AFFAIR - IT REALLY IS!

THE FACES BEHIND THE BUSINESS

Along with Jenny & Joe, Jenny's family is a part of the business too!

Three generations of family currently live on the LK9 property.

Jenny's mom, Lori, is the head groomer.

Jenny's dad, Mike, is an accountant and does the books for Jenny & Lori. He also helps out with IT issues, some HR stuff, maintenance and advice.

Jenny's grandpa, Leon, is an advice giver, helps with maintenance, loves to chat with our clients and employees, and is an all-around part of the business. In fact, it was his idea to put the kennel facility up, and for Lori to be a groomer! So, you could say that we wouldn't be here today without him. Fun fact - Grandpa Leon is the one who married Jenny & Joe, right here on our property!

We couldn't do what we do without the rest of the family!