Smart Dogs Academy grew out of something I’ve seen throughout my career: people love their dogs, but loving a dog and knowing how to communicate with one are two very different things.

After personally training well over 20,000 dogs, I’ve had the opportunity to see just about every type of dog and behavioral challenge you can imagine. I’ve also seen the other side of the equation—owners who genuinely want to do the right thing but simply don’t know how to communicate with their dog, establish good habits, or deal with behavioral problems when they arise.

That became one of the driving forces behind Smart Dogs.

I didn’t want Smart Dogs to simply be a place where people brought their dogs, had someone train them, and then took them home.

I wanted to teach people, too.

Training the Dog Is Only Part of the Job

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that you can make tremendous progress with a dog, but if the owner doesn’t understand what you’ve done or how to maintain it, much of that progress can eventually disappear.

The dog goes home.

The trainer isn’t there anymore.

And the owner goes back to doing things the way they did before.

That’s why I’ve always believed that owner education is just as important as dog training.

Smart Dogs Academy was created to bridge that gap.

We want owners to understand how dogs think, how they learn, what motivates them, why they behave the way they do, and—most importantly—how their own behavior affects the dog.

Give Owners the Tools, Not Just the Answers

I wanted to create something that could give people access to the knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated over decades of working with dogs.

There are a lot of people who want to train their dogs but don’t necessarily need someone standing next to them every day.

Sometimes they simply need someone to explain:

“Here’s why your dog is doing this—and here’s what you can do about it.”

That’s what Smart Dogs Academy is designed to provide.

We break training and dog ownership down into practical, understandable lessons that owners can apply in their own homes and everyday lives.

From puppies learning the foundations of good behavior to understanding housebreaking, communication, leadership, obedience, behavior, and the development of good habits, the goal is to give owners a roadmap.

I Wanted to Get Ahead of Problems

Another motivation behind creating the Academy was prevention.

I’ve spent a large part of my career working with dogs after problems have already developed.

Aggression.

Reactivity.

Anxiety.

Destructive behavior.

Poor obedience.

Dogs that couldn’t be managed.

Owners who were frustrated and sometimes considering giving up their dog.

I’ve often thought:

What if we could teach owners some of this before the problems develop?

That’s particularly important with puppies.

The first months and first year of a dog’s life are incredibly important for establishing habits and expectations.

It’s much easier to build good habits than to spend years trying to undo bad ones.

Dogs Don’t Come With an Owner’s Manual

That’s really what Smart Dogs Training Academy is intended to be in many ways—the owner’s manual that dogs don’t come with.

I want people to understand that dogs aren’t little humans.

They communicate differently.

They learn differently.

They are motivated differently.

And every dog has its own personality, temperament, experiences, and needs.

What works for one dog may not work for another.

The more owners understand those differences, the better equipped they are to communicate with their individual dog.

Building Better Relationships

Ultimately, the Academy isn’t about creating robots or teaching people how to make their dogs perform a bunch of tricks.

It’s about communication.

I believe a trained dog is a happy dog because training gives a dog clarity.

The dog learns what is expected.

The owner learns how to communicate.

Good habits replace confusion.

And that creates a relationship where both sides understand each other better.

That’s what I want Smart Dogs Academy to accomplish.

Training Dogs. Empowering Owners. Creating Lasting Change.

My Goal for Smart Dogs Training Academy

My goal is to take the knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated over my career and make it accessible to more people—not just the people who happen to live close enough to train with me personally.

I want Smart Dogs Training Academy to become a resource that dog owners can return to throughout their dog’s life.

Because training doesn’t really end when a dog graduates from a course.

It’s an ongoing relationship.

Puppy training leads to obedience.

Obedience leads to better communication.

Better communication creates better habits.

And better habits allow dogs and their owners to enjoy more freedom and more of life together.

That’s ultimately why I created Smart Dogs Training Academy.

I’ve spent decades learning how to train dogs. Now I want to help owners learn how to understand them.

Because the better we understand our dogs, the better we can live with them—and the better we can live with them, the more rewarding the relationship becomes.