Episode 855: Say Less Train More with Sharod Johnson

On this episode, Dennis sits down with Founder of Hellak9's,
Sharod Johnson.


About Hellak9's:


Sharod Johnson and Tara Khatchi founded HellaK9s as a young
couple offering group classes in public parks and dog sitting in
their home in Chula Vista, California. While Tara took care of
the dogs, Sharod worked as an apprenticing Schutzhund helper, and
dog trainer, in addition to being active duty. They
simultaneously ran a Belgian Malinois rescue where they
integrated group classes with volunteers who stepped up to handle
the dogs. It wasn't long before they grew notoriety and needed to
move to a larger property in Alpine, California; this is where
HellaK9s San Diego continues to operate today. The ranch-like
property provides 200-acres of privacy to exercise and train dogs
with their growing staff.


After a successful 2 years in Alpine, Tara and Sharod decided it
was time to head back east. Sharod and Tara started their second
location, HellaK9s Stafford, in Stafford, VA. This is HellaK9s
first storefront and new Headquarters. With the help of a few
aspiring trainers, two additional East Coast locations have
opened; Virginia Beach, where Sharod finished his Naval career,
and New Jersey.


Most recently, Sharod began hosting seminars in Anchorage, Alaska
for the PSA club, Rheaper K9. This started a great partnership
with the owners of 907 Hell Hounds, Kaylynn and Jesse Deans,
resulting in the merger and creation of HellaK9s’ 5th location,
HellaK9s Alaska.


HellaK9s’ growth has been on the demand of an emergent pet
industry needing trainers with a logical approach to conditioning
and the insatiable hunger of new handlers stepping into the
working dog world. HellaK9s has rapidly grown from 15 to 32
employees in 2022.


What makes HellaK9s unique is we don't solely train pet dogs. We
also train rescue dogs, military working dogs, Police K9s, and
sport dogs. In 2020, HellaK9s started performing workshops, and
seminars, as well as participating in joint training exercises
with agencies like the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Manassas
PD, Langley and Keesler AFB K9 units, and Joint Expeditionary
Base Little Creek K9. HellaK9s’ goal is to better the dog
community by providing dog owners access to training that goes
deeper than the behavior level but dives into the emotional state
of the dog.


Today, Dennis and Sharod discuss the story of how Sharod started
Hellak9's, his military career in the NAVY and how he
transitioned into the K9 training business, the type of dogs they
train and the specialty training that Hellak9's provides.


Find more info on HellaK9's here: https://www.hellak9s.com/


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