February 6, 2017

Meet Brandon Fouche of Brandon Fouche Dog Rehabilitation Center in South Los Angeles

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Fouche.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The birth of The Fouche Way actually took place many years ago, when I was very young. In a dangerous dare of adolescent boys, I was pushed into the yard of a trained K9 police dog. Because I was an intruder, and the dog had been taught to bite and protect, I was mauled. So deep and strong was the dog’s bite, it’s tooth broke off and became lodged in the bone of my leg. Little did I know, THAT physical connection would lead me to a far deeper connection than I ever could have imagined. Passed out from the pain, I was rushed to the hospital. The doctor told my mother I would most likely be afraid of dogs because of the attack, but when I was told the dog had been put down, I was devastated. I knew that dog was only protecting its territory and it affected me deeply. The burden of that dog’s life has stayed with me throughout mine.

As I grew up, I was continually drawn back to nature through animals: snakes, gerbils, birds, turtles, even a monkey named Suzy at a pet store I worked at, who would teach me how to discipline dogs in a way they would understand. There were horses and wolves that came into my life from whom I learned amazing lessons about their minds, their strength, and how to be with them. In fact, it was when the wolves showed up that things began to change. I began putting the wolves with the dogs and saw that they were no different. I never tried to “train” or change their aggression, I just let them be. I was able to see deep into who they were and made a connection with them. That’s when the “science” of The Fouche Way began – doing things the way Nature worked.

While working with dogs I came to understand that aggression is simply the highest form of communication. If we are afraid to look at it and pretend it doesn’t exist, we will never truly understand our dogs. My work, The Fouche Way, is about taking us back to Nature. As humans, we have the tendency to blame the dog when bad behaviors arise and take ourselves out of the equation, but we had a part in it.

I want people to learn and understand The Fouche Way so that when we adopt dogs out of shelters or from rescues or find them on the streets, or however they come into our lives, we can keep them in our lives. We have to have the right information to be successful in doing so because traditional training methods aren’t doing that. Dogs are being confused because of improper communication and are ending up paying the price for it. We need to look to Nature – Nature knew what it was doing when it created it’s creatures. We have gone away from that and I want to bring us back. Nature had it right, and that’s the foundation of The Fouche Way.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When I reflect back on my life, I understand that all of the challenges and obstacles I came across were an integral part of my becoming who I am and what I do. They were important building blocks in helping me to see deeply into the minds of the dogs and the people that I help. Even the different physical challenges I had at times – surgery on both shoulders, a broken leg from a horse falling on me, nerve issues on the other leg – helped me to learn to become balanced and separate myself from the injuries in order to be able to move forward and continue to work with the dogs while healing. Because of this, I am able to flow with the energy of the aggression that I work with in the dogs by being an observer and not get “caught up” in the aggression.

Brandon Fouche Dog Rehabilitation Center – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My business is the Brandon Fouche Dog Rehabilitation Center, and what I teach is The Fouche Way. I am not a dog trainer, I am a rehabilitator. What sets me apart from others is that I will never tell a dog to sit, to stay, to come, to down or to heel. What I teach is about understanding how dogs think, how they process information and how we can communicate with them from the concept of Nature so they understand us. My expertise is in aggression, which I have been doing for close to 30 years. My clients come to me from all walks of life, with dogs that are exhibiting behaviors such as aggression towards other dogs, people or both. I evaluate the dog, how the people are living with it, give them the information they need, and take them through the rehabilitation process. I also help rescue organizations when they get a dog that has issues beyond their ability to help, and then evaluate and help that dog and the organization to understand what that dog needs in order to find it’s home. I have my pack of dogs that help the dogs that come to my place in the rehabilitation process. I call my crew “the miscreants” because each and every one of them was a “dead dog walking” – dogs that were going to be destroyed because of aggressive behaviors. They are now paying it forward by helping the dogs that come through my facility. If I could thank my dogs a thousand times a day for everything they have taught me, it would not be enough.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
My definition of success is having an idea and bringing it to fruition. It’s not about money or longevity, it’s about being in the moment. That’s the greatest thing that my dogs have taught me.

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