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About K9 Optima

OPTIMA

plural noun

The most favorable conditions for growth and success.

★Voted #1 in California and #7 in the nation by Sniffspot. Winner, Oakland Magazine Readers' Choice 2024.

K9 Optima takes the cases other trainers send away. Severe aggression. Deep anxiety. Reactivity that has not moved anywhere else.

In four years we have worked with more than 6,000 dogs, and we have done it with zero leash corrections. We find the driver under the behavior, fear, frustration, arousal, and we work that, not the symptom. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just a calm, steady dog that holds up in the real world.

K9 Optima
6,000+
Dogs, four years
0
Leash corrections

Hi, I'm Josh Beckler

I started out doing it the wrong way. Then I learned to read the dog.

Early on I used compulsion. Punishment and correction to force a dog to comply. The more I learned, the less I trusted it. Those methods hurt dogs, and the fear they created usually made the behavior worse.

So I went looking for something that actually worked. I studied how dogs communicate, how arousal and emotion drive behavior, and how to read body language well enough to build trust with the most stressed dog in the room.

My work pulls from neurobiology, physiology, ethology, animal social learning, and the fight-or-flight response, with an eye toward child psychology. I am finishing my certification as a Canine Behaviorist.

The shift made me a better trainer. Dogs respond to being understood, not overpowered. That is the whole approach.

My story

Dogs were the
way out.

Growing up was hard. I lived in a neglectful and abusive home, with few places to feel safe. Dogs were my escape.

One of my best memories from back then is roaming the Tennessee hills with my cocker spaniel, Lela May.

She was my constant companion, and her loyalty was solace in a dark time. Eventually the state stepped in and removed me from that home. My aunt took me in, became my guardian, and gave me the support I had been missing.

I never forgot what dogs did for me. I became a trainer to give that back.

Josh and Natalie
The reason any of this happened

Behind the work

None of this happens
without her.

The third turning point in my life came when I met Natalie. Leaving a six-figure salary and a seventeen-year career to start over sounded reckless to everyone who knew me. She saw it differently. She encouraged me to go back to dogs.

She did not just change my life. She changed me. She brought the best parts of me front and center, and she guided me back to my true calling. She is the reason the work exists, and the reason the book does too.

Meet the helpers

The dogs who do
the real work.

Reactive dogs do not recover in a vacuum. They recover around other dogs who know the job. These are ours. Each one is trained for a specific role in a session.

Hover a card to see exactly what they do. On a phone, it is already open.

Boo
Neutral presence
5,000+ cases
Boo
First dog in the room

Boo has worked more than 5,000 reactivity cases. She is usually the first dog we bring in. Calm and social, she lets us read how your dog responds to a neutral dog. When your dog settles and gets curious, Boo is there to invite play.

Gigi
Soft eye contact
Gigi
The gentle giant

Gigi stays still and simply wags her tail. She holds soft eye contact and makes no sudden moves, which raises the bar on size and on being looked at. Once your dog is comfortable, she is happy to meet them.

Waffles
Barks on cue
Waffles
The trigger dog

Waffles is a skilled trigger dog, trained to bark on command. He is especially effective with dogs who tend to pick fights with larger dogs, on our terms and at a distance the dog can handle.

Juju
Predatory trigger
Juju
Controlled conflict

Juju is trained to bark on command and create controlled conflict. She most often works with dogs who have predatory issues, in a setting where we stay in control the whole time.

If you are looking for your last trainer,
you are in the right place.

Schedule a call and we will tell you which training fits your dog.

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