ABOUT POCKET DOG TRAINER
Atlanta Dog Behavior Specialist with 17+ Years Experience
Our Training Philosophy:
Calm First. Communication Clarity. Results That Last.
Calm First. Communication Clarity. Results That Last.
Our method is built for exactly those dogs.
We focus on teaching dogs how to relax before we ever teach them how to perform. A dog who can settle their nervous system becomes capable of learning, listening, and thriving. And when your dog relaxes, your whole home relaxes.
Our approach blends balanced training, canine communication patterns seen across the animal kingdom, and insights learned from years working hands-on with intense behavior cases. It's not ideological — it’s practical, clear, and proven through real-world experience.
A Communication-Based Dog Training Method Serving Atlanta & North Georgia
Core Beliefs in Our Method:
• Calm is the foundation.
Every transformation starts with helping your dog find stability in their mind and body, even if they struggle with reactivity, anxiety, or aggression.
• Communication should feel natural.
We lean into the language dogs already understand: structure, timing, clarity, and leadership that feels safe — not harsh.
• Behavior has a root cause.
Aggression, reactivity, anxiety, pulling, barking, and chaos aren’t random. They’re signals. We identify what’s driving your dog’s behavior and solve that, not just the surface symptoms.
• Owners deserve peace, not pressure.
A well-trained dog shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. Our Atlanta-based dog training programs are built to simplify your life and give you confidence, not overwhelm.
It was forged over nearly two decades of hands-on work with dogs from every corner of the behavioral spectrum.
About Josh
The trainer behind the method.
Josh’s story in dog training started long before he ever stepped into a client’s home.
With 17+ years working in behavior, anxiety, fear, and complex cases, his background is an unusual blend of livestock work, big-city training, working-dog sport exposure, and years spent managing dog daycares where he observed canine communication at scale.
About Josh — Atlanta Dog Trainer & Behavior Specialist
It started with livestock — and Animal Planet.
Josh first learned the rhythm of animal behavior while training goats and other livestock. His work helped lead a show featuring goat & sheep training that was featured through Animal Planet!
That early experience taught him something priceless:
Animals understand the world through energy, structure, and clarity long before they understand words.
Exposure to working-dog sport (Schutzhund/Protection Dog).
Josh also trained in environments influenced by Schutzhund (German for "Protection Dog") — sports rooted in police dog training.
Here he learned about precision, drive, impulse control, confidence-building, and how to harness a dog’s instincts instead of suppressing them.
Working in dog daycare: a crash course in canine communication.
Managing and training inside dog daycares gave Josh something most trainers never get —
a literal hundreds-of-dogs laboratory for watching how dogs communicate, resolve conflict, test boundaries, and form social structures.
Those years functioned like a master’s degree in real-world canine behavior
Then came New York City — where behavior problems were the norm.
In NYC, Josh worked hands-on with dogs in one of the most stimulating, overwhelming environments on the planet.
City life doesn’t hide behavior issues — it magnifies them.
That experience now informs how Josh helps Atlanta families navigate real-world behavior challenges.
And finally – years specializing in anxious, reactive, and aggressive dogs.
Over time, Josh became the trainer people called when their dog's behavior had gone beyond the basics. He found his stride helping overwhelmed dogs find calm — and helping overwhelmed owners get their lives back.
His influence and unique methods have spread throughout the dog training industry leading to some wonderful opportunities hosting seminars for rescue organizations, veterinarians, and fellow dog trainers alike. Many of these people have come from across the United State as well as across the world.
Topics of his seminars have included, but not limited to:
- Working with aggression & anxiety cases
- Handling difficult dogs in tight spaces
- How to succeed as a foster dog parent and keep rescue dogs in their new homes
- How to build a business for Dog Trainers
- How to gain more clients for Dog Trainers
- How to grow and work with more difficult dogs for Dog Trainers
Why All This Matters
Every chapter of Josh’s journey points to the same truth:
When dogs feel safe and understood, they relax. And when they relax, everything changes.
That belief sits at the center of every program we teach.
It’s the thread tying together livestock instincts, city-dog chaos, daycare communication, working-dog discipline, and years of in-home behavior work.
Your dog doesn’t need perfection.
They need clarity.
They need calm.
They need someone who understands how dogs think across every environment and every level of pressure.
That’s what this method delivers.
Today, Josh helps families across Atlanta, Decatur, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and all of North Georgia build calmer, more confident dogs using clear communication and real-world training.