Why I Became a Dog Trainer

I am frequently asked why I became a dog trainer. The answer is simple really – I love dogs and like to help troubled dogs. As you may imagine, the reasons go deeper than that so let me explain.

A few years ago my wife and I adopted a rescue dog and we named her Karma. She’s a German Shepherd / Bernese Mountain Dog mix that came with some behaviour issues. She was aggressive towards other dogs and would lunge and bark on leash. She is a strong dog and managed to damage my wife’s back to the point that it ended her time as a runner. She ran marathons and wanted a dog to run with and unfortunately the dog we got ended up putting an end to her running instead of becoming a running companion.

I had tried several trainers that categorized themselves as positive only trainers and unfortunately a year of that style of training didn’t help her. I then tried the other end of the spectrum with a trainer that used only corrections and affection was the sole reward. That helped in suppressing the behaviours temporarily but didn’t modify her behaviour. I had all but given up and was reserved to trying to manage her as best as we could until one day she attacked a small dog and drew blood in the process. I gave it one more try and contacted what I would later learn to be a balanced trainer. That trainer was from Unleashed Potential. Within a few weeks we saw great results and Karma was learning to be social and change her ways by applying a balance of reward and corrections. She seemed to finally understand the training process. She is now a wonderful dog and as a result of our success we put our other dogs through the same program.

We came to believe so deeply in the Unleashed Potential program that my wife and I started our own rescue and set out to train the dogs that came through rescue before adopting them out. After putting several dogs through the program it became apparent that Duke Ferguson’s system worked for all dogs and it led me to want to help as many dogs as possible. Through the rescue we helped many dogs and began to offer training services to the public.

When the opportunity came to join Unleashed Potential, I jumped at the chance to take intensive training and become part of the team. I went from a customer and a great supporter to a professional dog trainer at Unleashed Potential. With the power of the brand and a great family of trainers I can now reach many more dogs in need and help people overcome using a proven balanced approach.

That is why I became a professional dog trainer – to help as many dogs as possible and to educate the public on the merits of a proven balanced training approach.

If you adopted a rescue that needs work, a puppy that needs a solid foundation, or you have a dog that didn’t get off to a proper start and now needs some guidance, I can help you. I’ve been there and done that several times over.

Contact me at 902-403-0102 or guyl@upk9.ca for a free assessment today!