Professional Pet and Service Dog Training in Jeffersonville, IN

Matthew Duffy, Owner

Matthew Duffy lives in the same small county of Southern Indiana where he was born in 1957. His natural rapport with animals became apparent at the young age of thirteen when he worked as a mounted trail guide for a local riding stable. Matthew Duffy’s caring rapport with animals was evident. While Matthew loved his work with horses, his heart lay with dogs. After years of working with horses, Matthew turned his full attention to dogs. He completed a comprehensive, professional dog trainer’s course in 1980 and soon became the head instructor at a prominent kennel in Louisville, KY.

In 1983, Matthew entered into a partnership with an active canine training facility in Indiana. Several years later, he established his own company, Advanced Training Kennels Inc., which evolved into his present-day company, Duffy’s Dog Training Center LLC.

Working as a dog trainer for the past 30 years, Matthew Duffy has honed the art of communication with our family friend — the canine. Through his then-revolutionary idea of first teaching his four-legged students five basic manners, he discovered that our family friend was a happier, more fulfilled, and more reliable partner.

Since 2008, Matthew has been conducting quarterly Pet-Safety Seminars for the Norton Hospital systems in Louisville, KY. In 2017, Norton’s contracted Matthew to select and train special canine candidates to become permanent Therapy Dogs for several of their facilities. It is a first-of-its-kind program for the Midwestern medical community.

From 2009 to 2015, Matthew instructed at the Annual K-9 Street Survival Seminar in the Smokies, which is one of the largest and longest-running police K-9 seminars in the United States. Also, during that time period, Matthew worked with dog teams within the Naval Special Warfare program, helping them to prepare for combat deployments.

Regardless of a canine’s training destiny, whether police and military, sport and competition, handicap assistance, or family companion, Matthew insists on teaching the five manners, thereby encouraging his philosophy of genuine control without rigidity. Now, because of the countless hours and thousands of canines Matthew has tutored, he has mastered his techniques and is now able to share them with dog lovers everywhere.

Matthew has authored three books on the canine subject: “Ten Natural Steps to Training the Family Dog,” “Dog Training and Eight Faces of Aggressive Behavior,” and “Franklin” (The Man behind the United States Commando Dogs).

Cyber dog training is a brand new world for me! It’s an awkward place for a dog trainer who feels most comfortable in the company of dogs. As I finish writing my second book on canine aggression, I must imagine I have a dog in hand and visualize the face of his owner, or the words won’t come to me, just like I had to do with the first book.

I was hoping the words might flow a little easier this time, but it’s still very satisfying being able to recount actual training experiences and relay pertinent (hopefully interesting) information to so many people I would otherwise not be able to meet.

Talk about a challenge; attempting to create a quality training DVD has proven to be more challenging than wrestling with a cantankerous 125 lb. St. Bernard! The most disagreeable part of filming, by the way, is having to view the edited clips and watch myself on screen over and over and over again! With all that said, I think we have ended up with very informative and enjoyable training videos.

The quality and success of any product I’m able to bring to you are due in total, not in part, to all the intelligent, hard-working, passionate, and genuinely good people I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by. I mean that with all sincerity.

If it had not been for the creativity and diligence of Tony Fleming and Jeff Emerson, this website would not have existed. Because of the professional attention to detail and countless hours of editing by my friends at Cool World Productions, the videos we have produced are well worth watching instead of yet another homemade version of Dog Training 101, which is nearly impossible to sit through.

My associates David Benson, Kathy Bosley, and Josh Decker all contribute so much of their energy and time to the Training Center project that I couldn’t begin to measure their worth or my appreciation for their contribution. It would have to be sufficient to say that I couldn’t pursue my passion without them.

The impetus for several larger-than-life projects that surround me now, I owe to one person, my best friend Cathy Ann. My absolute toughest critic and my champion all rolled into one beautiful human being. She gave me the desire and confidence to take on the filming projects, the website, and the second book. Our dog behavior discussions often run on late into the night as we prepare for the next DVD seminar or chapter. I never seem to tire of talking with Cathy, especially when it’s about our mutual lifelong passion: DOGS!