"When I first got her, she was using the bathroom everywhere, jumping on furniture, jumping on (teammates C.J. Miles and Paul Millsap) when they came over," he says. "They would say, 'Man, your dog is so bad!'"

Brewer says he even brought Jade over to Williams' house, hoping the socialization with the other dogs would help calm her down, but it didn't work. During the visit, an excited Jade ran around constantly, while Williams' dogs were relaxed and well-behaved.

After just over two weeks of dog ownership, Brewer decided to send Jade to California to train with Kilmer, who says Jade was a "heathen" with no discipline when she arrived.

She went through two months of intensive training, and she now is the model pet. She obeys commands, and she is much more relaxed.

Brewer says now that his dog is well-trained, he is going to ensure she stays that way — by maintaining a disciplined, healthy lifestyle, the importance of which he knows firsthand as a professional athlete.

"You can relate being on a routine schedule. I know when to eat, when to rest, when to train — and that's going to help with her," he says. "For me, it's a good situation that I got her trained early and working with Tyson."

Kilmer says that in training the dogs, he's a creating a situation where they understand how to behave on- and off-leash, in and around the house, around children and in every situation.

"What I'm doing with these guys is building an entire life for them," he says.

The end result is freedom for the entire family, with the dogs being included in more of the family's activities, he says.

Kilmer assists clients like Williams and Brewer for about a year, making trips back and forth every few weeks. Each time, the owners are given commands and behaviors to work on with the animals to enable the dogs and their owners to build upon what they have previously learned, Kilmer says.

Kilmer had Williams and his family place dog beds throughout their home, and the dogs are taught to go to their beds in various rooms. That way, the dogs can always be around, but not be in the way, Kilmer says.

During an in-home session at the Williams' house, Kilmer took the entire family through a training regimen. Williams, his wife, Amy, their daughters, Denae and Daija, all learned to interact with the dogs so the animals could know and understand their place within the family inside the house. The dogs could have posed potential risks to the children and house, so training them was important, Williams says.

"Teaching these guys the hard lessons and how to survive right now is imperative (so) when they are going to be 95 or 100 pounds, they're not going to be getting in trouble," Kilmer says. "This training is about curbing their first impulses, wanting to protect and be aggressive, and teaching them tolerance."

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E-mail: jlee@desnews.com