When people hear the name Jeff Todd today, they may know me as a dog trainer or as the person behind Smart Dogs Academy.

But the story started long before any business existed.

It started with a kid and his first dog.

It started with Pepe.

And while I couldn’t have known it at the time, that early relationship was the beginning of a fascination with dogs that would eventually take me from walking neighborhood dogs to volunteering in shelters and veterinary clinics, learning from professional trainers, working with K-9 teams, training in Europe, competing internationally, and eventually building a career around helping dogs and their owners.

I often think about how different the journey might have been if I had never had that first dog.

Pepe was my first.

And in many ways, he was where my life with dogs began.

I was crushed! From what I can remember it was my 1st experience with any kind of death. That is what sparked my interest in training. I never wanted to have a dog wander off and knew that training was the answer. 

So from there I started my journey to learning about dog training