About Us

The entire staff at IronHeart take great pride in the training and care of all the dogs in their care.  The staff also pride themselves in always providing the finest customer satisfaction. Although represented in 21 Countries with various working dogs, IronHeart continues to serve the Kansas City Metro Area and is located just south of Lawrence, Kansas.

IronHeart is a family owned business and works hard to minimize problems related to improper selections testing of dogs, health problems, and improper training and handler courses.  IronHeart works hard to work with the customer and their preferences to find them the perfect dog.  Through many years of doing business, IronHeart has developed various people around the world who find the finest working dogs available on a consistent basis.  IronHeart works hard to avoid the pitfalls associated with some vendors who employ the “herd of cattle” approach. The staff and facility have been accredited by some of the foremost associations in scent detection to include the North American Police Work Dog Association and the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association.

The Director of Training for the IronHeart Training Center, Matt Skogen, holds a distinguished record of success training police dogs for numerous law enforcement agencies as well as hundreds of dogs for the pest control industry.  There are numerous entities who have had their canine programs shaped and molded from beginning to end.  Matt utilizes his 30 years of law enforcement and canine training experience to provide insight and formation of many administrative topics such as procedures, report writing, training curriculums and courtroom testimony as well as selecting and training canines for various disciplines. His ability to understand canines coupled with his ability to teach new handlers how to properly work together as a team, are at the core of his success.   Now retired from mainstream law enforcement, Matt continues to put his many years of experience to good use while working as the Explosives Detector Dog Administrator for a federal agency.  He has been recognized as a Master Trainer by the North American Police Work Dog Association and served as the Trainer for the Overland Park Police Department where he had oversight and responsibility for Patrol Dogs, Drug Detector Dogs, and Explosives Detector Dogs.  In addition to working at the Federal Agency he serves as the Director of Training for the IronHeart Training Center where he continues to provide training for law enforcement, the pest control industry, and the private sector, all over the world.  He has received international acclaim for his work with the zoos and dogs to detect pregnancy in polar bears.  He also instructs regularly in Europe and South America.

He prides himself in obedience and considers obedience the foundation for which any other training is started.  Matthew has spent decades training advanced obedience classes to the private sector for Loyal Companion and the IronHeart Training Center.