About

Dean began his journey of learning about dogs as he grew up around the family dog training business in the early 1980s. By the age of 10, he was learning and training with California-based International Master Trainer Bud Brownhill. Continuing his hobby of working and training dogs, Dean also began assisting in the teaching process of the family business.
Dean graduated from Mr. Brownhill's Institute of K9 Behavior Therapy in the early 90s. After leaving a 10+year career as a criminal investigator in the private sector in which he developed a specialized canine unit, Dean started his own training business in the Los Angeles area then continued that business in New York.

Dogs California LLC opened in Houston, Texas in 2000. In 2001, Dogs California was operating out of its original location in Spring and also began to run a training and behavior program out of Urban Tails doggy daycare in Midtown Houston.  Dean developed a unique program  here for doggy day care incorrigibles and failures called Pack Socials. Recognizing the need for dogs to be socially interactive with one another, this program called for owners to enroll in a training system with their dogs in which the rules and structure were consistent in the Pack Social setting as well, allowing these once hard-to-handle and/or failed dogs to participate in social interaction successfully.
In 2004, Dean began to take the family’s training program and brand The Thinking Dog training system. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, this system was instrumental in Mr. Browhill’s success of saving hundreds of aggressive dogs from euthanasia and proving its reliability with all breeds with his and his students’ accomplishments in the obedience competition ring throughout North America.

Using his personal breed of dogs of 20 years, Dean jumped back into the obedience competition ring with his American Pit Bull Terrier to once again prove the value and success of The Thinking Dog System. His accomplishments found him with the highest ranking APBT (Krom) in obedience both in 2004 and 2005, including ranking top 25 all breed through out the nation in both years. Krom was also the only male APBT to score 199.5 out of 200 and they were ranked #6 in the nation against all breeds at their UKC Invitational All Star Obedience Competition in Kalamazoo, MI in 2005.

Dean and his students continued to prove the value of this system with multiple breeds at all levels of obedience competition in the years following, winning numerous AKC and UKC High in Trials and Front and Finish Platinum and Gold awards. In 2007, Krom was pulled out of retirement (due to orthopedic issues) to attend the American Pit Bull Terrier National show and compete in obedience. This competition was open to all breeds. With a partially torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) Krom took first place and HIT (Highest scoring dog in trial) on both days. Dean is currently the co-owner of Club Canine, a Houston-based training and learning day care facility and the director of behavior and obedience for Fido Fit.

Dean’s extensive experience makes him a premier instructor for:

• Private and classroom instruction on canine behavior and psychology

• Obedience skills, from introduction to competition levels

• Instruction to educators, law enforcement, medical/healthcare professionals

• Service and therapy work

• Scent discrimination, search and seizure, and protection applications

• Specialist in behavioral rehabilitation of aggression

• Legal consultant on dog bite and aggression prevention.
  

With a track record of thought leadership and delivery of successful dog training methods, Dean has worked with a number of local organizations, businesses and schools in the area of:

• Behavior and training consultant. Evaluator, seminar speaker, program development and educator for professional corporations, elementary schools, South Western Univ. George Town and multiple rescue groups and shelters throughout the U.S.

• Past director of Behavior and Obedience for Loving Spots Dalmatian Rescue.

• Consultant and preferred trainer for Lone Star Boxer Rescue of Houston.

• Consultant and recommended trainer for Sharpei Rescue of Houston, German Shep. Resc. Bull Terr. Resc. And many all breed rescue organizations in the Houston and Austin areas.

• Former advisory board member for Element of Mercy Canine Education, Rescue and Placement, for Behavior and Special Ed. Programs.

• Past South West Regional Director of Training for Heart Therapy Service Dogs International-2000.