We rescued our Doberman from Texas when he was seven months old. He and his littermates had been…read morefound abandoned on a property, dirty and starving. When we brought him home he could barely focus on us. On walks, he reacted to every plane overhead and every bird, and it seemed like he barely noticed we were there. He had no leash training at all, and was destructive at times, ripping up and eating his dog beds and even chewing drywall. He was a sweet boy, but so anxious and unsettled.
That's when we found Steve. Someone I know personally recommended him, as he helped her transform her anxious and very reactive dog when she had almost lost hope.
When you first meet him you'll see the big beard, the tattoos, hear the loud music playing at his facility. Beyond the tough exterior, at his core, he is incredibly passionate, very sensitive, and cares immensely for dogs. He is devoted to showing owners how to truly connect with their dogs. Not through bribing their dog for attention with treats, but through building real connection, communication, focus, and trust. He wants you to have a dog who is devoted to you because of your relationship, not because you're waving a treat at them.
Watching him work with dogs is incredible. He communicates so naturally through his energy, this centered embodied focus that your dog will respond to immediately. His verbal commands, hand gestures, position, and focus are all aligned and incredibly precise, and this makes it crystal clear to your dog what he wants them to do. It's inspiring to see and makes you want to work hard to achieve that yourself one day.
He's also good at working with humans. At one of our first sessions, before showing me a leash handling technique, he quickly paused and asked first if it was okay to touch my hands to demonstrate. I was surprised he even thought to ask. It would have been so easy to miss this as a man, and it showed a lot about who he is.
In addition to teaching you the technical skills, he also coaches you. The farther along you get in training, the harder certain skills can get to execute, and he's right there telling you to stop being a perfectionist, that you're doing better than you think, and to keep going. And when something finally clicks, he is genuinely excited for you and your dog.
I also appreciate his passion and expertise on the proper nutrition dogs need to be truly healthy, physically and mentally. If you aren't already feeding your dog high quality raw or fresh food, he will encourage you to and educate you on how important it is. He'll explain that nutrition is actually a critical component of your dogs' mental state and ability to achieve focus. He also recommended several supplements that helped transform our pup's gut and skin health, and turned his coat from itchy and flaky to shiny and healthy - he now looks like a seal and legitimately gets compliments everywhere on his coat.
Our dog is now a year old, still very much a puppy for the Doberman breed. We've had him for just 5 months and he is able to go with me to stores and sit outdoors at restaurants and settle in quietly. We no longer worry about him being destructive in the house. He does well with other dogs of all sizes and even those who aren't well-behaved. At dog parks when something chaotic is happening, our dog is now able to disengage and stay focused on me instead of joining in like he would have before. People genuinely can't believe how young he is or that we haven't had him very long and constantly comment on how calm he is. He's also able to be gentle and snuggle with our 17 year old cat.
What Steve gave us went so far beyond training. He really helped our dog who had a hard start in life learn to communicate with his humans and finally feel okay in the world. We're so grateful.
