7 years of experience.
a lifetime of love for dogs.
meet taylor george
When I think back on the major milestones or pivotal moments in my life, I am reminded that there has always been a dog that was there to inspire, comfort, and encourage me. The silent devotion of a dog has been one of my greatest motivators and I continually learn from and am inspired by their loyalty and unconditional love.
To those of you who will come to know me, you will understand what I mean when I say that training dogs is more than a paycheck for me. It is my lifestyle.
Many people ask me what brought me to training dogs, and I could seriously write a book about it. There are so many moments in my life that have worked together to bring me here, and I have full faith & confidence that it is God who has been the author of this story.
To answer the question, I have put together an extremely condensed timeline of events that lead me to opening AK9TA. Keep exploring this page and you will come to know who I am not just as a trainer, but as someone who is extremely passionate about dogs and the remarkable effect they can have on our lives.
Childhood
I grew up with two American Staffordshire Terriers. This breed is most commonly known as a “Pit Bull” breed. My father ran a small breeding program. We had one breeding pair and though we only had a few litters, the majority of my childhood core memories are filled with these dogs. Most of those memories are filled with our stud dog, C.J. He was a strong and intimidating male to those who didn’t know him. The reputation of the breed surely fueled this. But, to those of you who have a more personal understanding of the breed, you know that they are also known as the “nanny breed”. That is exactly what C.J. was for me..my baby sitter. My most vivid memories of C.J. consist of dressing him from head to toe in my princess costumes. I put dresses, hats, shoes, and sunglasses on him to lead him down the hallway by his collar to get a laugh out of mom & dad. Another game I remember playing with C.J. was seeing how long I could ride on his back while he chased after the ball that my dad would toss for him. This dog became my childhood best friend and he was always so gentle with me and my little sisters.
2017
This year I adopted my very own dog purchased from a backyard breeder to raise & train. He was a completely unhandled, feral, blue-eyed husky puppy that is now known by the name of “Malachi”. Blinded by my lack of knowledge and excitement of adopting my dream dog, I willingly brought home what would become the most challenging dog I had ever lived with up to this point. Where most owners were spending time potty training & snuggling their new puppy, I was spending time gaining the trust of a completely feral puppy who was terrified of human contact. Thanks to my stubborn and persistent personality & my willingness to share table food, I managed to bond with Malachi. But, I still faced the inevitable challenges that are involved with training this breed. If you know anything about a husky, I’m sure you can guess what this was…off leash reliability. Malachi had a solid understanding of the 4 basic commands and was extremely food motivated, but once he was off leash and out of arms length my treat no longer mattered and I no longer existed. This training struggle lead me to learning about the ethical use of an ecollar for training off leash reliability.
2018
My time spent training Malachi turned into an outlet that I looked forward to at the end of the work day. At the time, I was working a 9-5 office job and during most of my downtime there I was reading or watching videos about dog training. It quickly turned into something that I enjoyed learning about and felt naturally good at. Before I knew it, I was hired by a franchise named Off Leash K9 Training in North Little Rock. It was more than a coincidence that this facility practiced the ethical use of ecollars to achieve 100% off leash reliability with the dogs..the thing I had been spending so much time researching and learning with my own dog!
OLK9 put me through their training school and this would be the door that would open my first four years of training dogs as a professional. I got hands on experience with hundreds of dogs working on hundreds of different training issues. I worked with dogs of all ages from young puppies to senior dogs. I trained big dogs, small dogs, aggressive dogs, and anxious dogs. I trained therapy dogs and service dogs.
Throughout the years here, I adopted multiple dogs who each opened a different door for me during my learning process as they each challenged me to dig deeper and learn more. During these years, I continued to invest my own time and money into outside education, most of which was specifically applied to the behavioral modification (aggression & reactivity) cases that I was being contracted through the franchise.
2020
I started learning about personal protection dogs and participating in training lessons at an outside facility with one of my personal dogs. This particular subject opened huge doors for me as I gained an even deeper understanding of canine psychology. This knowledge took my skills to the next level as I started to adjust my training techniques. I started to see happier dogs, stronger obedience, and owners who had a better understanding of their pet. Because of these results, I started to challenge everything I had previously been doing as a part of my training process.
2022
I founded AK9TA in efforts to develop my own training programs. This opened a huge door for me and my clients as I now had the freedom to modify my training techniques and equipment as needed for each individual client & dog.
meet the pack
Click the button below to learn more about the dogs we currently own and the dogs that came before them. Each of these dogs have taught me something different and have played a huge role in making me the trainer that I am today.
