Founded by Jonathan in 2022, K9BU Dog Training is a Dedicated Team of Pet Loving Caretakers and Trainers, Based in Escondido, CA
CEO – Jonathan Lopez
Jonathan is certified by an internationally recognized organization as a behavior consultant and dog trainer. During his early experiences, he volunteered at the San Francisco SPCA. There he would walk shelter dogs and eventually became the go-to counselor for matchmaking new owners with the right dog for their household. Jonathan strived to set up the prospective dog and new dog owners for success. Speaking to new owners about lifestyle, owner’s work schedule, owners’ personality type, and the home environment, owner experience with dogs, and dog breeds.
During his time at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals, he learned valuable insight into dog behavior, the causes of dog insecurity, a variety of dog temperaments, the importance and value of trust, and a gentle approach and what reinforcement really is. After four years as a volunteer, he was asked to join Janis Bradley and Jean Donaldson’s school of dog education at the Academy for dog trainers in San Francisco.
If you are seeking harmony or help with your critter, Jonathan can help you gain new insight with his trusting approach, science-based, positive, fear- and pain-free methods. Jonathan’s more than a decade experience and education will take you and your dog’s education to the next level and beyond. Jonathan’s specialty is in fear aggression towards dogs and humans and resource guarding against dogs and humans.
– Jonathan Lopez
Our Team
Esther is a graduate of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, along with Minors in Sociology and History. After spending 10 years in biotechnology as a Research Scientist, she transitioned into law, earning a Paralegal Certificate and specializing in Intellectual Property, Contract, and Corporate law. Esther has worked with various technology companies, including Qualcomm, where her skills in process improvement, attention to detail, and communication helped establish legal departments for several startups.
Her passion for animals and understanding of their behavior deepened when she got her dog, Mazi, and began training him as a service animal. Working alongside certified animal behaviorist and trainer, Jonathan, Esther discovered a calling in dog training. She is now thrilled to combine her love for animals with her professional expertise as part of the K9bu team. Esther is proud to be involved in the operations of the company and looks forward to helping dogs and their owners build strong, positive relationships.
Esther – Operations Manager
We Know your pet,let us help you understand them better.
Crate Games
Teach your dog to love their crate and to use it as their sanctuary.
Leash Training
Hone your leash skills and learn how to not micromanage the leash but rather use as a communication and guidance too.
Clicker Training
It’s easy to use the clicker the wrong way. Most people use it as a distraction or a noise to
make so your critter looks to you.
The clicker is a marker for teaching your critter what they did was the correct behavior. So
timing is key here. Studies have shown that animals learn quicker with a clicker.
Basic Obedience
Sit,stay,down,recall,loose leash walking,settle and no jumping.
Bridging the Gap: Understanding and Strengthening the Bond Between You and Your Dog
We are dedicated professionals that seek to help you and your critters better understand each other through learning how to integrate dog life into our life while maintaining training and a healthy lifestyle for both us and our critters… Here is a little story of who I am and where I came from and hopefully give insight into our dogs mind and imagery into our dogs feelings.
Navigating Change: How Life's Challenges Impact Our Furry Friends
Growing up as a kid with 4 other siblings. As our life passes, the life of our critters also pass and along with that, we went through many changes that affect our furry friends in the house. People going through a divorce, struggle with strong mood swings, which affected our critters, and elevated negative emotions, Such as what we went through with our parents.
Happy Faces - Testimonials
My husband and I turned to Jonathan for Training when our rescue pup started showing some signs of protectiveness. Over the course of multiple lessons we worked on everything from leash walking to door manners all designed to build confidence in both our dog and us as owners. ....
Kelly M.
Carlsbad, CA
It's no secret that small dogs are notorious for being naughty. I needed a trainer for my Pomeranian puppy and I needed one STAT. I researched many trainers and was most impressed with Jonathan. Our trainer, Jonathon, provided a solid foundation for my girl....
Riley R.
San Diego, CA
Our 9 month old Boston Terrier was quite difficult to handle. We had her for 3 months and she still had trouble following when called and was not fully potty trained. Thankfully Jonathan helped us thru more than 9 sessions. He has a great sense of a dogs strengths and weaknesses.....
Michael S.
Poway, CA
We are so grateful we found Jonathon! We adopted our first dog and realized quickly WE needed to be trained to understand and further train our dog who developed some not so fun behavior after a few months of adopting him. Yes, Jonathon was amazing with Ranger but he it's how he works with us that blew me away.....
Matthew K.
Carlsbad, CA
Our Blog
Aug 22, 2025
How to build trust with your dog: A balanced approachAug 22, 2025
