Picking a dog trainer is very important
Who should you choose?
There are so many to choose from and they all say they are the best. There are many training styles and everyone thinks that their style is right and the best, how do you decide? You should talk to a few and pick who you feel is the best fit for you and your dog. Make sure that their style is something that you will follow through with to maintain your dog’s training.
Meet the Trainers
Here at Top Dog Dog Training we take a balanced approach to training. Not positive only and not correction only. We provide a fun positive atmosphere where we create proper boundaries that are fair, humane and consistent. If you are looking for a positive only trainer that is not us. We use lots of positive motivation with fair, humane communication and correction.
Bart Merrell
Bart Merrell grew up on a pig farm in south western New Mexico surrounded by animals from his birth. He has worked with dogs, horses and even a few pigs from a very young age. He doesn’t remember not having a dog or a horse when he was a kid.
He considered himself a cowboy and all cowboys had a good Australian Shepherd. His family raised Australian Shepherds. He saw a cowboy in a movie with a black and tan Australian Shepherd, that caught his attention. Maybe because the cowboy was tough or maybe the dog was cool but it stuck in his head. Later in his teenage years he saw the Dobermans on Magnum PI, he was even more intrigued and then he met a Rottweiler and it was all over, he fell in love with the breed. He bought his first Rottweiler as a puppy when he just finishing up college, since then he has adopted Rotties from shelters and rescues. He is now on rescue # 6th T-Rex. T-Rex was a monster when he first got him. He couldn’t even leave T-Rex alone with his wife because she could not handle him. But now he’s turned into great dog that has really taken to the Top Dog training program and soon will become a TOP DOG!
Bart and his wife the weird dog people in the family. They love dogs of all shapes, ages and sizes – they are good with them and understand them. His sister always says that when she dies, if there is reincarnation, she wants to come back as one of his dogs.
Bart understands first hand that living with a well-trained dog is much better than living with a dog that is not. He also believes that most dog owners under estimate just what their dog can learn and do. Bart’s goal is to help dog owners enjoy their dogs more and their dogs enjoy more freedom because that is what happens when you have a Top Dog.
Bart has received his formal training from Innovative K9 Academy one of the top training companies in Utah. He believes that balanced based training is the best way to train a dog for the best long lasting success. Bart also believes that knowing and understanding that all dogs are not the same and being able to adjust the training to fit the personality of different dogs is vital when training a dog. That is why he is good at what he does.
Previous dogs: Yakuza, Tank, Kati, Pebbles, Diesel
Jeff Belnap
Jeff has been around animals since he was a kid and a whole lot of them were Dogs. This continued into his adult life. He really admires the working breads and has work with several German Shepherds in the service area. He had Lucy a white German Shepherd that was a Therapy dog at Primary Children’s Hospital. Then Kalua that worked in search and rescue. And now Anabel, she has been trained for searching in rubble for the US First Responders crew but in order to be certified she has to learn to bark alert when she locates someone in the rubble and she just won’t bark.
Jeff never really got into high end training until Anabel started showing signs of dog to dog aggression. That is when he really went to work searching for answers to help Anabel. He read books, watched videos and attended seminars on dog body language, aggression and training. He even attended an eight week hands on intensive Dog Trainer school where was able to work with dogs of many different breeds, sizes and personalities.
Jeff really likes to make a difference. He plans on using the knowledge that he has gained though helping Anabel to help other owners who have dogs with aggression issues so that dogs have a chance at a great life. Jeff volunteers with the National Ski Patrole, Neighbors Helping Neighbors and teaches CPR training. When he retires from his plumbing job Belnap Plumbing, he want to help rescue and shelter dogs with issues get over those issues and become more adoptable.
