Meet Daniel Juan of K9 Coach Dan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Juan

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been around dogs. Growing up I had a mutt named “Snowball” that unfortunately ran away and then I had a shepherd mix named “Speedy” that we had to give away because we couldn’t keep her. I remember being a kid (10ish) and getting bit because she was a resource guarder. As a trainer I now know why I was bit lol. Although I was bit by Speedy I didn’t really have a fear of dogs, it just made me want to learn more about them.

Middle school comes along and my mom’s boss told me he would pay me to take his dogs Murie & Petey out for a walk. I already enjoyed being with them so it was an easy decision. I may have been a bit young but they seemed to follow me pretty well, looking back it might have been a liability if they were reactive but luckily nothing happened lol.

Later on in high school I volunteered at a non-profit called Adopt and Shop located in Culver City that gave me more experience with the dogs and some cats! When I graduated high school I went to UC Merced in Central California and received a Bahelor’s of Science in Management & Business Economics.

Before going to the UC I knew I wanted a business but didn’t necessarily know what type of business or industry to pursue. During the second half of my third year(2020) I went and fostered a dog. Roxy a crazy yet awesome Border Collie/McNab mix which ended up staying with me throughout the COVID-19 shutdown. This was the first time I could be with my own dog so I did everything I could with her. Since Yosemite wasn’t too far from Merced we would be there very often especially since the park was empty! I got her to ride along while I was on the bike, played fetch with the frisbee & the ball and my favorite of all was I got her to pull me on the skateboard! At the time I just taught her all of these fun tricks because I wanted to do as much as I could with her. It was definitely worth it.

When I graduated I had dog training in mind but I decided to go into finance where I received an opportunity to join an investment management firm located in Newport Beach. Although I enjoyed the experience there was something in me that told me I had to look elsewhere. I started looking for another position and found an opportunity at UCLA within Academic Personnel. At this point in time I knew that I wanted to really begin my dog training journey so a month after getting hired at UCLA, I drove up to a dog training facility and asked the owner if they did any type of apprenticeship or if they were in need of help even as a volunteer. I mentioned that I was only looking for experience and was open to anything, my exact words were: “I’ll even clean up poop if you need me to”. Seeing the fire in my eyes, he agreed.

I was working at UCLA and simultaneously doing the apprenticeship for about 6 months. Within those 6 months I also had a part-time during the weekends at Petco as a Guest Experience Specialist so I could take advantage of their discounts, interact with more pet parents and use any treats or equipment for my own gain. I started diving deeper into the rabbit hole of the pet industry and was actually enjoying it. Unfortunately, UCLA noticed that I had more attention with my apprenticeship than my actual job and they decided to let me go, oops lol. I saw it as a blessing in disguise and thought it was the perfect time to spearhead on my training journey. I asked the owner if I could have a shot at an actual full-time opportunity and I got it. I was with him a total of 1 year and 6 months, by the end of my time at the facility I was the Board & Train Manager who also ran the social media along with other tasks which gave me the full view of what it takes to run an entire facility.

After leaving the facility I worked at Petco for a bit so I could gain my own experience but due to their own training method and other liability issues I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do so I left after 6 months. Now I am a year in of doing my own training and I couldn’t be happier. I’m still doing other projects related to dogs behind the scenes which, if you follow along the journey, you will see soon enough!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, but nothing great is. Some struggles along the way have been developing my own clientele, getting a solid training process developed and good ol’ self-doubt when things get rough but that’s life, am I right?

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about K9 Coach Dan?
I want everyone to know that what I do is for humans and the dogs. We have grown up with a certain way of treating dogs for our own benefit without taking into consideration how it could affect the dogs in the long-term. I am on a mission to change how dogs and humans connect. Creating true leadership & understanding, clear communication and real connection.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Audibe and Soundcloud for sure. If i’m not jamming out to music I am listening to an audio book.

Always learning and always growing!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k9coachdan/

Image Credits
@mastermindfoto