Rocky Mountain Dog Training

My story began when two moments came together around the same time fifteen years ago. I was working as a recruiter and feeling burned out and in need of a change. My dog, Jasper, was about four years old, had been through two retail store training programs, a leash training program, and had done agility training to include clicker and treats. He’s an awesome rescue dog and hiking partner. While raking leaves one day, Jasper was happily chewing a stick until he spotted a coyote and bolted across Colfax Avenue in Denver, close to Sloan’s Lake! He didn’t get hit, but it scared the heck out of me and I knew it was time for a change. I found SMS, Dave Skoletsky and Fred Hassen and my life and career changed forever.

Over the years I’ve experienced many areas of dog training, and developed a keen aptitude for teaching clients and other trainers the tools of the trade. I’ve been a certified Franchise and Seminar instructor, an invited speaker and helped create the SMS Franchisee and Dog Training Manual and Code of Ethics and participate on our Franchise Working Group support team. Perhaps most proudly, our location has helped seven clients go on to become Franchise Owners! Paying it forward.

There are more success stories than I can recall now (buy me a beer, I’ll tell you more) but there’s one client story that really impacted me to loving what I do. A nine-year old boy named AJ came in with his dog, Tyco. His Aunt rescued the dog for AJ when he was eight, by the time he was nine he couldn’t walk or control Tyco, so she got him dog training. His first lesson, Mom and Aunt made it clear, I was training AJ, not the adults. It was amazing, he listened intently, asked questions and adjusted when directed. That first night, he was proudly walking Tyco next to him, dragging the leash behind, while my dog was chasing frisbees back and forth across the room! I will never forget the smile across his face or the joy and results we could deliver with our system. I’ll never stop driving to deliver that result for the families that open their minds and entrust me with their dogs and family.

With my beautiful, patient wife and two daughters, it’s a thrill to share in the lives of the dogs and clients we train and I love passing the family sense and community influence along to my kids. My girls have been heavily involved in training and now we even bought our own facility! That’s given us an even better platform to develop a fantastic team of trainers and staff, allowing them to grow, and allowing us to service our clients and dogs even more than before. Thank you for your time, I look forward to meeting one day.