My name is Joe West! I am the owner of BYODog Training. I was raised with a pack of very athletic, high energy dogs. My dad got a German Shepherd named Shadow in 1994 when I was about 4 years old, and developed an interest in obedience and dog sports. From then on, our family spent our weekends at Disc Dog competitions and our evenings in obedience and agility classes! I would tag along and had the opportunity to do obedience, agility, and frisbee with some of our dogs! I was overjoyed and felt so grown up when I got to take our Miniature Schnauzer, Allie, to obedience class when I was 5 or 6 years old. I also grew up riding and training horses throughout middle school and high school, and competed on the Trinity University Equestrian Team in college. I’ve been fascinated by animal behavior and interspecies communication from a young age, and I see every interaction as an opportunity to learn.

I got my Bachelors degree in Biology from Trinity University, where I conducted Animal Behavior research in the lab with Betta fish, and participated in field work with birds and bats in Canada and Mexico, respectively. I went on to get a Masters in Evolutionary Biology at University of Houston, where I discovered my love of teaching. As an introvert, I thought teaching would be my least favorite part of grad school, but instead I discovered the joy of sharing my passion for learning with others. My dog training background came in handy more than I anticipated. It turns out that keeping students engaged in learning subjects that may or may not interest them outside the classroom essentially requires the same skills needed for dog training: passion, patience, and persistence!

I truly love teaching humans, but I needed more dogs in my life. Dog training is the perfect combination of my love for dogs and animal behavior and my passion for teaching. I love working with dogs and helping humans learn how to communicate better with their canine companions. I use reward-based training, wherein desired behaviors are reinforced with rewards (treats, toys, affection, praise, play, etc.), and undesirable behaviors are NOT rewarded. That second part may seem obvious, but we often reward dogs unintentionally for doing things we don’t want them to do. When a dog jumps on you, you might not think of it as a reward when you yell “Hey! OFF!” and move them away from you with your hands, but from the dog’s perspective you’re rewarding them with your full attention! 

I spent several years teaching humans and doing dog training on the side, then instead of going back to teaching after the pandemic, I started working at Petsmart, first in the PetsHotel and then as the Pet Trainer. Over the past couple of years, I earned my certification as a professional dog trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), as well as my certification with the American Kennel Club (AKC) as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. I look forward to working with you and your pets!