Our history

In this year Nero vd Markenrichter was born. Nero was the first Rottweiler in Belgium, who both obtained the KKUSH Obedience Certificate and IPO3. With him we got the training microbe and the dog sport would change our lives, even dominate. A little later we started a career as a helper and instructor in a local dog sport club. As a result, we gained experience in the choice of materials and quality of the training material, which usually left much to be desired.

After long deliberation and due to lack of Rottweilers with good working qualities, we decided to set up a working dog kennel. 'Vom Schloss Hexental' became our kennel name and later it would produce several working champions. Here more info http://www.hexental.be/nl/over-ons

Together with our parents we started a garden center called 'Gardencenter Verschatse'. In this case all kinds of garden items, dog food and basic dog stuff were sold. Here literally and figuratively the roots of the later K9-K4® arose.

'K9-K4®' was established. 'K9' stood for 'Canine' (dog) and 'K4' stood for 'Klavertje 4' (four clover). This was a name that easily lingered and was fully applicable to what it stood: a shop of dog material and garden material. Soon 'K9-K4®' became a well known name in Belgian & foreign dog sport and our name was extended to 'K9-K4 Belgium'. Gradually we started selling products under our own brand 'K9-K4®'.

This year would be a special year for ourselves and for dog sport worldwide! The training of dogs had been turned upside down a few years earlier by the 'positive reinforcement' better known as 'clicker training'. There was, however, a major shortcoming for what was the reward: the play ball had to be kept visible in the hand and the positive system could not be fully utilized. After unsuccessful experiments with velcro we came up with the idea to place a magnet in a ball. The invention of the Magnet Ball was born! We only found the right concept after many attempts and understood that there was a possible commercial success here.

The brand 'MCRS®' (Magnetic Canine Reward System) was applied for together with a design patent for the 'Magnetic Ball with Mother Magnet'. A little later the Magnet Vest, Magnet Pants and Magnet Biteroll followed. The 'magnetic reward system for dogs' immediately became a success and in a very short time we exported our MCRS® products worldwide. We are proud to say that from the beginning national and international champions trained with our invention. Here more info https://www.mcrs-magnetball.be/c-927913/mcrs-pro-s...

After the success of the MCRS® products, we decided to launch a new and larger umbrella brand to be able to offer a wide range of dog sport equipment. The choice fell on 'K9-evolution®', created by the 'evolution' of 'K9-K4®'. Under this heading, dog harnesses, collars, leashes, etc. were first designed, followed by clothing and all kinds of reward objects. K9-evolution® was followed by various sub-brands such as K9-evo®, K9-wolf®, C9® and Fox-one®.

Our showroom / store has been drastically enlarged and is now the most beautiful & largest K9 concept store in the Benelux: 'K9 Dogsport World'. There is also increasing emphasis on wholesale and an extensive dealer network.

We are proud members of the independent organization www.IWDBA.org which is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the Work Dog.