09/04/2026
💔 A Difficult Goodbye
After a lot of thought, difficult conversations, and more emotion than I can put into words, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to close the doors of Dog Training Elite Des Moines next Friday September 11.
This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
When I started this business, it was never just about training dogs. It was about helping families. It was about giving dogs a second chance, helping children build confidence, supporting families with service and therapy dogs, working with shelter dogs, and watching those little moments when everything finally clicked for a dog and their person.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting so many incredible people and dogs. You trusted me with your family members, your struggles, your celebrations, and sometimes your biggest challenges. I will never take that trust for granted.
Closing the doors does not mean I stopped caring. In fact, that is part of what makes this decision so incredibly painful.
I have fought very hard to keep this business going. I have tried to find solutions, explored every option I could, and held on because I didn’t want to let anyone down. But sometimes, no matter how much you love something or how hard you work, you have to recognize when continuing is no longer possible.
To every client who trusted me, every dog who taught me something, every family who allowed me to be part of their journey, every employee who stood beside me, and every person who supported this business in any way:
Thank you. Truly.
You helped make Dog Training Elite Des Moines something that meant so much more to me than a business.
I am incredibly sorry to anyone who is affected by this closure, especially those who still had training remaining. I know this may be disappointing and frustrating, and I wish with everything in me that I had a different answer. I am doing my best to communicate with everyone individually and handle everything as responsibly and fairly as I can.
This isn’t the ending I wanted.
But I am trying to remind myself that closing a business doesn’t erase everything we accomplished.
The dogs we helped.
The families we supported.
The lives we changed.
The memories we made.
Those things are still real.
Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of your lives. Thank you for believing in me and in what I was trying to build.
With a very heavy heart,
Kimberly ❤️🐾
Dog Training Elite Des Moines
