Sean is the owner and founder of Guardian-K9, LLC, located at 3856 N Indianapolis Rd, Columbus, Indiana.
From a young age Sean found an interest in communicating with dogs through the use of different training techniques. What started out as an interest grew quickly into a hobby and in mid 2014 became the start of a career.
From 2008 – 2010, Sean was a dedicated Law Enforcement Officer with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (IN) and from 2010 - 2015 with the Edinburgh Police Department (IN). It was during this time, Sean became interested in training Police Service Dogs (PSD’s). Sean started training with the best trainers and handlers in Indiana from organizations such as the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA), American Working Dogs (AWD), Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and a multitude of other police agencies across central and southern Indiana.
Sean understood that the wisdom from those he surrounded himself with, as well as the information from attending training seminars and classes, could be used across all dog training platforms. Sean used these various techniques to train his first K9 partner Endo to detect narcotics, track down missing individuals, apprehend suspects and locate evidence. It’s those influences that have shaped Sean into the trainer he is today.
From this new found knowledge, drive and determination Sean started his training company Guardian-K9, LLC. What started out as a humble 1 person mobile obedience training company, has now grown to employ several people, with a 10,300 sq. ft. training, doggie daycare, and boarding facility in just 2 short years.
In addition to running Guardian-K9, Sean has instructed for several Search & Rescue teams from states such as Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and California, as well as trained hundreds of dog owners how to communicate better with their dog.
Madison Monroe-Soderstrom (Trainer)
From birth I have been surrounded by dogs, starting with our family’s Rottweilers and Australian Shepherds, to my grandfather’s Border Collies, to other family members’ and friends’ various other dogs. I recall making crude agility equipment out of things in the yard and around the house to run through with my dog as a child. When my family got a new puppy when I was 14, I wanted to be the one to take her to puppy and obedience classes. This was my first interaction with dog training on a professional level. I love the dynamic of the class and absorbed all the information I could.
When I got older, I started fostering dogs through Columbus’ local rescue, Community Animal Rescue Effort or CARE. In two years of active fostering before working at Guardian K9 I fostered 12 dogs ranging in size/breed and adopt ability. This is where my love of dogs transformed from just loving and caring about them to truly wanting to work with them on a training level. I have continued to foster at a more casual pace now. From the young adult dog that was scared of everything to the deaf and blind puppies, I have taken on foster dogs that are harder to adopt because of my passion for training.
When I saw Guardian K9 was hiring, I jumped at the opportunity. I had gone to the open house not even a year prior and recalled how wonderful the facility was. I also recall watching Sean work with his dogs at the CARE Doggie Olympics fundraiser and knew I wanted to learn from him. I was initially hired on as a daycare attendant and then transitioned into training. I had a slow transition starting with Train and Play and Lodge and Learns to Private Training and Group Obedience Classes. Now in addition to those things, I teach Agility, Tricks, Therapy Classes and assist Sean with police dogs from time to time..
I train and compete in Agility with my English Shepherd mix, Red, and my Australian Shepherd, Ember. I have also started Rally, an obedience sport, with Red and Ember.
Rebekah Boschen (Trainer)
My first memories as a small child include my best friend, my dog named Zero. Because of those memories at about the age of five years old, my love of dogs was born. From then on I binged watched Animal Planet constantly and read every animal related book my school library had. It was around the age of 11 when my family adopted a black lab that I started to experience the true responsibility of taking care of a dog. That responsibility made me love having a dog in my life even more. I have had a few different jobs across many different fields, but when I saw the opportunity to work at Guardian-K9 it immediately took me back to be being that little 5 year old girl with a dog as a best friend. So I jumped at the opportunity and in October 2018, I was hired as a Doggie Daycare Attendant. For my first 10 months at Guardian-K9, I really enjoyed being a Daycare Attendant and getting to learn about dog behavior and socialization through spending my days with so many different types and breeds of dogs. This led me to became very interested in training, so I was given the opportunity to start shadowing Sean and Madison. During my shadowing experience, I also took online courses in dog basic obedience through Leerburg Online University. After two months of job shadowing and studying, I became a member of the Guardian-K9 training team. Being able to work this closely with dogs and their owners has highlighted even more that I love doing this work and further cemented my love of dogs. Even though I have trained with many dogs and their owners, there is always something new and exciting to learn together. As I’ve gotten more comfortable and curious in the world of training, I’ve discovered a passion for the dog sport of lure coursing. I love seeing dogs do what they’re genetically and instinctually made to do. It’s so satisfying to see a dog enjoying themselves doing such a natural dog behavior and watching they’re owners have just as much fun with it. Teaching this course this past year has been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to offer it more and see more people participate.