I was born in Nightingale Grove, Jamaica in 1977. My father and my grandfather were farmers. I spent my early years around dogs, cats, cows, goats, and other common farm animals. I was taught to have respect for all living things, but I always had a special relationship with dogs.
When we came to America we were not able to own a dog. I spent a lot of time in my neighbors’ yards playing with their dogs. As a child, stray dogs regularly followed me home, until my mother put an end to that. (It was the eighties; it was pretty common to see stray dogs in my neighborhood.)
As I grew older and was still unable to get a dog other things, like music, captured my attention. In 1996 I attended Berklee College of Music, where I studied jazz composition and performance. During that time I started private study of the Tao, or the way things are. (The Chinese philosophy of Taoism.) These studies along with the great environment that I was lucky enough to grow up in tremendously influenced the way I see the world, and the way that I see and understand dogs.
In 2008 my wife Nil and I formally started Argos Pet Care Specialists. At that point Nil and I started our life with dogs. We had dogs around us from early in the morning to nighttime almost every day. We enjoyed it, and we learned from our experiences. I started to watch dogs closely, to study them. I started to learn about different training methods. I read everything about dogs that I could. I read about dog body language and behavior, and I would see the body language and behavior of the dogs around me. I started to naturally teach the dogs not to pull on the leash when I walked them, not to jump up on me, I taught them tricks. My love and understanding of dogs continues to grow.
Shortly after I was lucky enough to be able to attend National K-9 School for Dog Trainers in Columbus, Ohio where I was able to learn from Bob Jervis (30 yrs. of dog training, and a lot of years training trainers, at the time) and Chris Altier (10 yrs. of dog training, and 10 years of training trainers, at the time.) I took the “Master Trainer” course and learned a lot. My focus was and is on obedience, puppy development, and behavior modification. The course went far beyond that. At the end of the course I was designated a Certified Professional Trainer with the following endorsements: Basic Obedience, Advanced Obedience, Behavior Modification, Utility, Breed Identification, Puppy Development, Tracking, Scent Detection, Retrieval, Personal Protection, Police K9. I also became a member of two worldwide Trainer Associations: National K9 Dog Trainers Association and International Association of Canine Professionals.
When I returned home from Ohio, I started taking training contracts, and I have been training dogs ever since.
