Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Chan, KPA CTP.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I originally thought I was going to change the world with my music! My teenage dream was to be a rock star.
Though I still love playing the guitar and singing, I realized my purpose was to change the world for animals and the people who love them.
I was incredibly apprehensive about working in my first animal shelter in 1999. Even without having ever worked in the field of animal welfare, I knew that not every animal who entered our shelter in Central Virginia would make it out alive. And so it was an internal battle, whether to apply or not, whether to interview or not, whether to accept the job offer or not.
But we helped the ones we could; and as time has passed, our field has continued to get stronger and better. Our culture in the US continues to demonstrably absorb the education we continually provide, and has become more knowledgeable and proactive–and I think with greater knowledge and understanding always comes greater compassion. The greater the bowl size of knowledge, the greater the ability to fill it with more compassion.
And so with that, I like to think that I play my own unique part in moving us forward in the world, especially here in the United States where I’ve contributed my entire career.
Fast-forward to current day, and I oversee all facets of Los Lukes, my own dog and cat training & behavior business that I created in 2023. I’m a Certified Dog Trainer via Karen Pryor Academy, and offer training sessions and behavior consulting for dogs and cats in the Central California Coast, as well as online behavior consulting, with special incentive for Los Angeles County residents. I’ll discuss that further in a few!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nike had a mindset-shifting campaign I loved this year called ‘Have a Hard Year’. And it was a campaign inspired by Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, and the Mamba Mentality he brought to everything he did. More and more so, in fact, over the course of his career. The campaign was essentially saying: if what we’re working on isn’t difficult, then we aren’t pushing ourselves hard enough. And without that, we are stagnant, and cannot grow.
As Kobe once said in his 2016 farewell game: “Those times when you don’t feel like working, you’re too tired, you don’t want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream.”
Not everything should be easy, in life, in career, in love. I have constantly had to determine how to level myself up in my animal welfare career, to grow my impact and inspire more people around me. It’s taken me from Virginia, to South Carolina, to California. From volunteering, to shelter managing, to organization directing, to specializing in training, to creating and running my own business and brand. It takes time to excel at what we are passionate about, and it should.
If we’ve been pushing ourselves and it gets harder as we go, good. It should–because we’re getting better.
Keep tearing the muscle fibers and getting stronger.
As you know, we’re big fans of Los Lukes, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
First, I’d love to explain the name of Los Lukes.
Our name comes from my own Rough Collie and best friend, Luke. It’s very much like a team name, like the Lakers, the Dodgers, the Rams, the Kings–more on the team aspect in a moment. And I named it after Luke, because of all of his amazing qualities that I always felt that any of us, including myself, could aspire to, should aspire to.
Luke is so kind, accepting, and welcoming to everyone he comes across. Dog, animal, insect, human. It doesn’t matter what they look like, who they are, what they’re wearing, what their heritage is, who’s hand they’re holding, what they believe in. He constantly assumes the best instead of the worst. He’s ready to admire everyone for what makes them different and what makes them who they are, and love them for it.
So as I was creating our business name, I thought—who wouldn’t aspire to be a Luke. Free of the weight that must constantly be carried around, of intensely disliking, of hating anything or anyone; that must be so miserable.
And so I said:
We can all be one of Los Lukes. That’s something to aspire to become.
Luke got his own name from the hero of the Star Wars universe, Luke Skywalker. Combining that with my lifelong love for my favorite place in the world, Los Angeles, and Los Lukes was born.
We specialize in both dog and cat training & behavior consulting. That includes aggression cases, and any other type of behavior case. Those tend to be my favorite types of cases to work on–the more severe behavior types, because those are the most at-risk for family separations.
We help people look at themselves not so much as owner and pet, but as a team. A dog-human team. We are their guardian, and they’re our dependent. (Slight aside: dependent, because we have put ourselves in the position for canines to be dependent upon us by having domesticated a significant portion of their species.) So, in turn, we have to treat like that the incredible gift and responsibility it is–instead of someone to constantly be aggravated by.
And together, we form that team. The things that need to be worked on are the things that we want to accomplish together, as one. When we look at it like that rather than us versus them, it completely shifts the self-created paradigm in our own way of thinking, acting, and living together with our dog.
Think of yourselves as teammates. Give yourselves a slogan and have fun with it! Give yourselves a team name! Mine is Los Lukes, and I invite everyone to share in this team with me.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I believe that having put in the intensive work and time it took to become a Certified Dog Trainer is one of the critical keys to my success as a high-quality provider in this field.
When you train and learn from Los Lukes and Matt Chan, you and your companion animals are in the highly-professional care of a Certified Dog Trainer. Too many people offering dog training are making it up as they go; have learned from someone who made it up as they went; and have no governing institution they must adhere their principles to. The result can potentially lead to inhumane and even disastrous consequences.
Not only have I begun my 19th year in the field of animal welfare and animal behavior & training this year 2025, but I have done the work to become certified through one of the most preeminent, science-based dog training schools we have in the world, Karen Pryor Academy. The Certified Training Partner program is an intensive, intellectually-escalating professional program, focusing on modern-day best practices. It includes working with a mentor who is highly-experienced and knowledgeable, and a rigorous testing process that examines your skills as a trainer, as a teacher, and of your knowledge.
And so, I have a credentialing institution to whom I required to adhere my own standards and principles to, and who I am given the onus to spread my expertise in humane training methods. This is of paramount importance for anyone looking to either become a dog trainer, or searching for a dog trainer to help them with their own dog. Karen Pryor Academy educates their trainers to train with only the utmost humane methods, and with the highest degree of professionalism.
So when looking for a dog trainer, look for a KPA CTP (Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner). KPA has been certifying professional trainers since 2007, and in a field of pop-up certifying institutions, is a standard-bearer for the most-learned trainers.
You can use the Karen Pryor Academy Find a Trainer page on their website to locate a KPA CTP near you, if they’re enrolled in this Search feature. Or simply as you search in your area, look for KPA CTP, as well as the CPDT or the CDBC credentialing (respectively via the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants).
I’d also love to mention that we are now offering online behavior consultations, with a special offer to residents of Los Angeles County. To give back to one of my most special homes, previously living in Hollywood, we’re offering a set of fee-waived online behavior consultations to 3 LA residents per month through 2025. The set will include an initial consult and a follow-up consult, and of course, students can continue on afterwards as necessary.
I’m excited to give back any way I can to a place I called home during one of the most important and special time periods in my life.
‘Once an Angeleno, always an Angeleno.’
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.loslukes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loslukes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loslukesca
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@loslukes
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@loslukes
Image Credits
Photos by:
Kaylee Davis
Matt Chan
