| Tell us about yourself: |
I spent my life growing up around animals during the summers where I would visit family on a remote island of 150 people. There were no cars, trains, electricity, or planes at this time the family the farmed, fished, and raised animals. During this time I grew a passion for observing different animal behaviors and always wanted to work with animals. Unfortunately, I did not pursue a career with working with animals and have been in the data technology industry for the last 27 years. The wife and I had dogs during this time of life and the dogs were always easy good out of the box dogs. About 5 years ago the last dog I had passed away and I decided not to have any more dogs for a little while and I would volunteer at the local shelter to fulfill my own need to be around dogs and contribute to the shelter for the dog’s better wellbeing. To my surprise it was not what I expected the dogs I was running into at the shelter were human or dog reactive/aggressive or both. After the first two months I got attached to the most dog reactive at the shelter and said I’ve got to do something to better this animal’s life and the others at the shelter. There was a balanced trainer that would come and try to teach how to work with all of these dogs. The trainer and I quickly connected for the love of the dogs and the safety of the volunteers. Eventually, we started a free weekend class and I started working for him privately. I continued the free classes, as well as private sessions and group classes for the trainer. While I was working with trainer I wound up taking in 5 of the worst dogs at the shelter dealing with human and dog reactivity. That first dog I mentioned was the first one to come to my home which they said you can never have another dog in the same house because it was used for dog fighting. As time passed I keep on going from to place to learn more and more and cannot wait to see and practice this mythology there are pieces that I noticed that I am missing in overall training that is why I am here and can’t wait to learn more. |
