New Sandwich business aims to train dogs, teach people

To Beau and Traci Bartulis, teaching people is just as important as training dogs.

“We can train dogs all day and we love to train dogs all day, but the biggest aspect is people need to learn and understand how to communicate with their dog efficiently, as well, so that they grow a bond in training together,” Traci Bartulis said. “We enjoy being that teacher for people and to see their excitement grow as their relationship with their dog grows.”

The couple owns BTK9 dog training facility, which recently moved to Sandwich after being located in Aurora since 2019. The business is at 703 Eva Lane, near the Sandwich Fairgrounds.

They also now live in Sandwich and are happy about the move for several reasons.

“This location provides a lot of opportunities for us to be able to expand our business,” she said.

That includes a pond in the backyard that will allow for swimming and dock diving opportunities.

“We also really like the Sandwich area,” Beau Bartulis said. “We like the small-town feel of it. It seems like people really support each other. We liked being able to move out here to provide the service to Sandwich.”

“People need to learn and understand how to communicate with their dog efficiently as well, so that they grow a bond in training together."

—  BTK9 trainer, owner/operator Traci Bartulis

Along with the couple finding a new home for BTK9, they welcomed their first child into the world. Rhett is 4 months old.

“We had moved and gotten everything finalized in March and then shortly after, he decided to join us early,” Traci Bartulis said.

She has been involved in obedience training for the past several years, has a background in teaching and had recently been teaching woodworking at West Aurora High School.

“With my background in teaching, I enjoy obviously learning new things but then also sharing that knowledge with other people,” she said. “And I’ve always had a love for animals since I was young. Originally, I wanted to go into a career with animals. I wanted to become a vet. When I leaned that I can combine the love of animals and teaching, it was kind of a perfect match.”

Beau Bartulis was a military dog handler in the U.S. Air Force during his 10 years of service. Along with owning and operating BTK9 with his wife, he is a Shorewood police officer.

“It was cool just being able to learn how to connect with them and build a bond with those dogs,” he said. “They weren’t your typical house dogs, so being able to break through and learn with them and grow with them and do the job with them was a cool experience.”

BTK9′s services include offering two-week board and training sessions, where dogs will stay with the couple for two weeks while they train them. The facility has been offering the program since it opened in 2019.

“It provides us with the opportunity to really help dogs, especially the ones who have those behavioral modification needs,” Traci Bartulis said. “We really enjoy working with the aggressive dogs or the super fearful dogs, just because you see a very large change come out of them and it’s a really big challenge for us to work with them.”

The couple has seen a lot of positive results from the program.

“That’s been kind of like our drive,” she said. “A lot of people are interested in that one.”

BTK9 also offers dog day care, as well as private lessons. Right now, day care services are offered only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“We hope to add more days as demand grows,” she said.

BTK9 provides agility equipment for all its services.

“It really helps work them mentally and physically,” she said. “And it helps build confidence in the dog. Really having them do those type of enrichment activities, where they’re really pushing themselves and trying something different, it not only helps get them physically tired, it also makes them work mentally and then also shows them that they can complete tasks that previously may have seemed scary.”

It is not hard for the couple to see what works and what doesn’t work as they themselves own three dogs. Their customers come from all over the area and even from out of state.

“We’ve had people from Chicago and from Crystal Lake and McHenry along with people closer to Indiana,” she said. “We have a client who lives in Georgia half of the year.”

More information about BTK9 is available at its website, bt-k9.com.