Hey! My name is Elijah, and I have spent 15 years growing up around and training dogs at a high level. My family bred and trained German Shepherds and Tibetan Mastiffs for protection work, Schutzhund, and family companionship, so this has been my entire life.
Over the past 8 years as a professional trainer, I've worked with well over 10,000 owners and their dogs through group classes, in-home private lessons, and intensive board and train programs. When I was running 12 hours of group classes on the weekends, I took it personally when people didn't graduate. Not because I was frustrated with them, but because I knew that if someone was struggling, it usually meant I hadn't found the right way to explain it yet. Everyone learns differently, and I became obsessed with finding the explanation that actually clicks for each person. That dedication to adapting how I teach, not just what I teach, is what made me the trainer I am today.
I also specialize in aggression rehabilitation. Over the years, I've worked with kill shelters to take in German Shepherds and Malinois with serious bite histories, dogs that were about to be euthanized because everyone had given up on them. I rehabbed them in my home and rehomed them once they were ready.
My number one goal when you work with me is simple: I don't just want you to leave with a well-trained dog. I want you to leave with full confidence that you understand not only what to do, but how to do it, and why it works, so you can maintain that obedience long after we're finished. I even tell people that I hope everything I teach carries over into all of their future dogs, too, so they never need to come back for the basics. Too many trainers gatekeep information, or don't go past the surface level information because they assume most people won't be able to understand it. I'd rather give you everything I've got and make you so good that I never see you again than keep you coming back because you don't fully understand what you're doing.
