Addison
CEO
Dog Trainer
Addison's passion is helping you and your pups build a better bond together by basing training on trust!
Addison's Story
Passion For Animals
Addison has always surrounded himself with as many animals as possible. He grew up in California where he was exposed to a life of being around animals including dogs, cats, pigs, horses and many more. He realized that he could enjoy every day of work if he was to find a way to work with animals as a career! This is when he started working in a local veterinary hospital in high school, where he was able to gain invaluable experience ranging from basic animal first aid, all the way up to a glimpse of handling and working with animals with difficult and sometimes dangerous behaviors.
Over the last decade, Addison has found a way to stay in touch with his love for animals in different ways, ranging from pet sitting, walking dogs, bathing dogs at a groomer, and of course TRAINING dogs! This has all led up to him starting his own business in 2024, where he now gets to provide personalized training and offer the best training possible at an ARRf-fordable cost!
Education
Addison moved to Colorado after high school to pursue a degree in Biology so that he could get a better and scientific understanding of animals! He graduated from Colorado State University in 2013, after which he decide to pursue a career in research focusing on behavior and neurobiology.
This has given Addison a unique experience involving animals and behavior, where he has not only learned how dogs think, but has also has a better understanding at a molecular level that only comes with experience and training that he has had. This is a vital when we are talking about complex behavioral issues, as understanding the whole picture is crucial for working through any of those behaviors.
Addison prides himself on continual education in everything he is a part of, which largely comes into his personalized training style that allows him to tailor everything to you and your pup! Read more about his philosophies below for more insight on this!
Dog Training Career
Addison began training dogs professionally in 2021 as a part time job fulfilling his passion. What led him up to this was largely fueled by one of his own difficult rescues, Tobias, who if you would like to know more about him, please go to his profile here! In addition to his own pups, experience with family and friend's pups are what led him to realize his passion for training. No matter where he was, he was always playing and working with the dog that was around. They say don't take your work home, but Addison loves that he gets to take his work home everyday!
Upon realizing his true passion for dog training, Addison set off to get properly trained by working with a balanced style, national dog training company in Chicago. He was able to complete a 6 month full-time apprenticeship while working with that company.
Addison decided to settle down in Columbus to be closer to family, where he lives with his two rescues: a puggle named Tobias and a hound mix named Charlie. He decided to open up a territory here, however, realized offering ARRf-fordable, truly personalized training was only possible on his own. This is why he has branched out to start ARRf K9, providing a personalized experience to training and helping you and your pup build the best bond possible!
His Philosophies
Addison's scientific background and education has brought out another passion of his, which is often called Mastery Based Learning. It is very humbling to realize that there is always more to learn about any subject matter, no matter how much experience one may have in a particular field. The motivation for continual improvement in oneself and everything they do is critical for being the best at anything we attempt to do. This is at the core of how Addison approaches dog training and his interactions with you, as he is always striving toward the one goal that matters most: helping you and your dog get to your goals!
Addison practices a balanced style of training, which means the focus of training initially is on positive reinforcement so your pup learns EVERYTHING we want them to know in a positive manner. Once we know your pup understands and can perform what we are asking of them, we can then start utilizing a balanced approach to give feedback in a MEANINGFUL way that they can understand and learn from. Addison's training style is meant to help your pup learn in the most positive way possible without the requirement of dangling a treat in from of them to get them to listen! If you have any questions about ARRf K9's training style or anything you have read, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Hobbies
As you may expect, Addison prefers doing most things with his dogs. This ranges from going to any of the parks in the greater Columbus area, camping, hiking, paddle boarding or visiting any dog-friendly business or event! Outside of activities with his dogs, Addison is a huge hockey fan (Go AVS, sorry CBJ fans!), enjoys learning how to code and tries to keep up with his interest in many scientific fields including genetics and of course animal behavior!