Best Life K9 Academy

10/28/2026

Pretzel for the win.
The start of the play. Maybe we can find something more fun than letting every dog in town know you've claimed every bush rock pole and corner.

Lucky is available for adoption with WARF - Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation - Northern Nevada.

10/25/2026

When your goal in life is to sniff/piss on everything that sticks up out of the ground. This is what trying to get play going looks like. Lucky has priorities. 😂

10/23/2026

Rupert got picked up as a stray has no idea what's going on who we are and where he is. Rupert came in terrified and doesn't know what to do. This isn't aggression it's 100% fear and it's not his fault. Lucky for Rupert he is gets a real chance by the shelter staff to show who he really is.
I don't get mad frustrated yell or demand things from him in this state. He is doing nothing but protecting himself from what he feels is a threat. If I fight back or start yelling, I become that threat he thought I was. I want to show him I'm not what he thinks I am.

Once we get him going and outside, I set him up with a fun playful dog named Loba. Now we can see who Rupert really is and give him a real chance. After he played with Loba for a while I took him back to his kennel. I was able to handle the leash at his head and neck with no bite or reaction from him. This was a quick turnaround from a scared dog. If I had started off confrontational, I would not have had the same outcome.

10/22/2026

Going to be working with Lucky for a while. He's been at WARF - Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation - Northern Nevada for a little over 3yrs. In and out of fosters and adopters. Has a few issues that keep getting him returned. Goal is to address those issues and find him a home.

10/21/2026

Play for the win when it comes to behavioral issues. Food can never compete.
Phantom was taken from a neglect case. Which explains some of his issues. His current state of mind was preventing him from having a good interaction with other dogs. I was able to spend some one-on-one time with him. We started with some tug and fetch. Learning some rules to establish cooperation. Then it was time to meet a dog. The shelter all-star Gingerbread did amazing.

If you're interested in meeting either Phantom or Gingerbread contact Lyon County Animal Services

10/20/2026

Carmen went back to her foster home today. She is a fun playful happy dog waiting to be adopted. Before she went home, she got to meet W***y for some fun.

Carmen is currently in foster. If you're interested in adopting Carmen please contact WARF - Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation - Northern Nevada or fill out an application https://www.tahoewarf.org/adopt.php

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10/16/2026

One day makes a world of difference. Getting play established. Means we can work on whatever needs to be worked on.

Carmen is available for adoption through WARF - Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation - Northern Nevada

10/15/2026

Carmen came to stay with me for 5 days. She is in foster through WARF - Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation - Northern Nevada. She is dog and cat friendly. She can be a little skittish/jumpy nervous energy and can be unsure about men (she hasn't had any issues with me). I was told she has had some issues on leash with other dogs. While we were out, we ran into these guys. Might as well see what's going on right? It's obviously all excitement. We'll see what we can get done during her short stay.

10/07/2026

What happens when you strip away over complicated unfair behavior assessments, that try to label and nitpick every movement the dog makes? You find dogs are just dogs. They can be fearful, easy going they can also be jerks. They almost never show you who they really are when they first arrive to the shelter. The Rottie mix is Holmes. I tried him with Gingerbread last week. He didn't do very well. I felt it was due to other dogs in surrounding yards that put too much stress on him. It would have been unfair to then label him as dog aggressive lock him away avoiding other dogs never giving him a real chance. We change the setup give him a little more time and every opportunity to do better. His real assessment began today, making his first friend, Gingerbread.

Holmes and Gingerbread are available for adoption at Lyon County Animal Services

10/02/2026

I was updating a client today about their dog. The text I got back said "Thank you for your never-ending optimism". Even though this should be the industry standard and I know it's not. I didn't really think about it until now. There are so many "experts" in the dog training industry that give up on dogs saying they tried everything or have no clue what they are doing. Helping a dog overcome a bad behavior isn't about high value treats obedience agility courses place beds or a specific tool used. It's about giving the dog something worth living for. Often times reactive dogs are hidden away because it's a chore to take them out. Even if they do get out its limited because they seem out of control. How can a dog ever get better when their life is confined and restricted. How can we expect them to choose the right thing when their life sucks.

I started this video project with something in mind, but it didn't happen. Looking over videos and pictures my thoughts strayed from the intended topic. It morphed into a collection of pics that fit into every behavioral case. Dogs need to play and have fun. We have to matter to the dog before we can tell the dog to stop doing the bad behavior.

I also added a dog named Casserole at the end of the video. He is an example of how these "experts" fail dogs. Casserole was transferred to a very well-known rescue organization. One that has lots of "experts". Let's just call them SPCA for short. Casserole left with no behavioral issues and was one of my trusted helper dogs. Meaning he was very dog friendly and worked with me. Casserole never made it out of this place we're calling the SPCA.. The "experts" thought it was better to kill him rather than return him to a shelter who had no "experts". Of course, they know what's best for a dog. When the high value treats and drugs don't work the dog is clearly suffering and would be better off dead. They tried everything. They tried everything but what he actually needed.

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