Ryan Gwilliam

In 2007, my roommate said he was going to get a puppy and asked if I wanted to go. I had nothing better to do that day, so I went with him. Somehow we both came home with a puppy. It was an impulse buy that turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

He was so damn cute I could barely contain my joy, and then…

…he peed and pooped on the floor of my condo, and in the elevator, and on the walkways. My neighbors were NOT happy.

I quickly realized I was in way over my head. This was going to be a lot of work! The hardest part? I didn’t know what to work on.

My roommate had lots of dog training advice to give me, which I was grateful for at the time, but it turned out to mostly be bad advice. Now I’m really glad I had that experience because I was forced to find the best sources of information on raising and training puppies.

So what did I do?

I read every dog training book I could find, I bought every dog training DVD I could find as well. I was able to train my own dog to be well behaved on and off leash! Friends and even strangers started asking me how I did it! 

The Moment Everything Clicked

I decided it was time to start helping others train their dogs. I landed my very first paid dog training customer from an ad on Craigslist (remember that website?). The first family I helped had a hyper English Mastiff named Aiden. He was terrorizing the entire house with all 200 lbs of enthusiasm he could muster. I remember leaving that session with my fingers crossed, hoping they would see a big improvement in his behavior.

The next day they called, thanking me for how much I helped them. They were so pleased to finally have some relief from their out-of-control dog. That’s when I knew I had found my calling. I had helped someone else inspire change in their dog in only 2 hours.

That was a great day and the beginning of a wonderful journey. I’ve now had the privilege of helping thousands of dogs reach their full potential over the last 18 years.