Connect
To Top

Meet John Anthony Shahor of Redemption Road K9 – A Working Dog Company

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Anthony Shahor.

Hi John Anthony, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Redemption Road K9 is a top-rated certified, licensed and insured cynology center and working dog company based in Southern California specializing in breeding and training working bloodline canines for Medical Service Work, Police K9, Search & Rescue, Agility, Personal Protection, Obedience and Competition. Utilizing cutting edge science along with decades of training experience, their training programs work endlessly to offer both people and dogs another chance at a happy and fulfilling life. The idea for Redemption Road K9 initially came after an in-depth conversation with a gentleman from my neighborhood in Seattle, WA named Edward “Preacha” Whittington who is currently serving his sentence out at a prison in Washington State. At the time of the conversation, he was working with a non-profit organization located on the grounds of the prison training rescue and purpose-bred dogs as service, therapy and companion animals. When I read about the program and saw how it was taking dogs out of shelters, saving their lives and giving them purpose, I wondered what a program like that might look like on the streets. I had recently gone thru an owner/handler program where you partner with a professional trainer for 18 months in an effort to train your own medical service dog. This was my only option at the time as I, like many other people, could not afford to buy a ready-trained medical service dog. I didn’t grow up with dogs and knew I had a lot to learn so I was working and volunteering at four different dog shelters seven days a week. I saw how this program was teaching incarcerated people responsibility, empathy, leadership, verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Despite his situation, Preacha has always been a good man at his core.

Even still, I could see a difference in him immediately. His growth and perspective blew me away. The program was so successful at incentivizing inmates, I began exploring ways to create a similar type of program here in LA. In a later conversation with Preacha, he said “Everybody deserves a second chance. Everybody deserves a chance at redemption.” That conversation impacted me so much I decided to leave the music industry. Literally at that exact moment. I still love music as much as I did and still believe that, at its best, music has the ability to connect people of all backgrounds all over the world. However, I saw that the music I loved and cherished was going in another direction. A direction I didn’t want to necessarily participate in. Knowing that I wanted the idea of personal growth, development, and salvation ingrained into the foundational fabric of the company, I came up with the name Redemption Road K9 and began developing our flagship “Jobs For Juveniles” program. Our “Jobs For Juveniles” program is a 17-week immersion program that aims to arm youth who are being adjudicated for low-level offenses and those assessed as low risk to re-offend with skills that prepare them for a meaningful life outside of the criminal justice system. We have partnered with local communities, vocational schools and some of the top dog-training professionals in the world to curate career-oriented programs through a number of dog-related courses. All of our courses follow an apprenticeship model which includes learning to assist, teach and facilitate the courses. Students are assigned a dog for the duration of the training program.

Additionally, all students participate in kennel maintenance and management. Upon successful graduation from the program, our students receive a professional dog training certification, credit hours towards accreditation with nationally recognized professional dog training organizations, along with additional certifications in Pet First Aid, Dog CPR and Advanced Pet Safety, Dog Walking, Dog Emotion & Cognition, Animal Welfare & Behavior, and Animal Psychology. We recognized early on that one of the challenges in many communities, especially in urban and agricultural areas, has been in providing community-based options, particularly for at-risk youth. The lack of access to proven programs; including job training and education, has been cited by the U.S. government as a contributing factor in youth criminal activity and commitment of low-risk youth to state facilities. Redemption Road K9 seeks to combat these formidable challenges through partnerships with local technical schools to bring online training and introductory hands-on classes, particularly for at-risk youth and those recently released from the justice system. Our program focuses on teaching skills that will help our students find and maintain gainful employment and provide them with opportunities to dissuade them from re-offending. At the time, I didn’t have the money to afford paying teachers, trainers and experts so I decided to go get certified to teach myself. 39 certifications later, we’ve consulted on and had a #1 rated TV show on A&E, been featured in a number of broadcasts and publications around the world, and have managed to work with inspiring youth all over the world.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Our road has definitely not been a smooth one. I don’t think that’s impacted us much because we never expected it to be one. I was certainly naive in the beginning about certain things but we’ve done a good job adapting and learning as we go. I’m a researcher by trade so that fact has been helpful for us for sure. In the beginning, I couldn’t get any “quality” breeders to sell me a dog. I think it was a combination of classism, prejudice and racism. I actually had to have our RRK9 nurse Leigh buy the dog for me because nobody in the medical service world would sell me a dog. After getting the dog, I was targeted by manager at a grocery store and challenged about the legitimacy of the dog. At the time, I didn’t have the information I have now so I allowed this man to violate my federally protected civil rights in an attempt to comply. Despite my compliance, the situation still ended with this manager calling the police, the police citing me and the dog with a trespassing violation, and me being banned from every single store location in the state of Texas. Once the situation went viral, the store later called it a “misunderstanding” and tried to make it right. Their version of right, I suppose. The whole situation was a baptism by fire and taught me what it means to be a person of color and own a medical service dog. The assumption most often made is that the dog is fake and that we are simply frauds looking to beat the system. At the time, I had no idea. Now we work diligently to educate all of our trainers and handlers on ADA laws regarding medical service dogs and make sure that both the dogs and handlers are prepared for these types of situations. In regards to the day-to-day interaction with other trainers, that has also been a bit of a challenge.

For the last two years, I’ve been harassed and terrorized by local and county officials to the extent that there is now an open investigation into what’s been going on. KTLA even stopped by the ranch to do a feature story on what’s been going on. This all started with a call another trainer initially made to Animal Control. It ended with a noose and a bunch of cotton being left in our mailbox and a man from a local agency showing up to my place with a chainsaw. If I hadn’t lived through this madness, I probably wouldn’t believe it myself. Professionally, I exist in a space between medical service dogs and very serious protection and apprehension dogs. I’m not sure if there is anyone else currently in that space. Because of that, I have a very nuanced perspective and approach to both worlds. This year, I was tapped by one of my heroes in the dog world, Ken Ramirez to be a Faculty Lecturer and Keynote Speaker at the 2021 Karen Pryor Clicker Training Expo. As far as I know, I am the first speaker ever to give a live demo on training protection dogs. Protection Work Redefined: (The) Neurobiology of Directed Canine Aggression has garnered some interest from my colleagues and I’m looking forward to highlighting the ways in which we’ve attempted to innovate and pioneer a new approach to training protection dogs. Many of us have seen and heard of the tragedies associated with protection dog practices, whether on TV or just word of mouth. When we think of protection dogs, we generally think of an out-of-control, ferocious dog foaming at its mouth. But did you know that true protection dog training is a highly specialized tool, sharpened with scientific-backed training techniques, which can only be mastered by a well-behaved, social, and confident dog? My hope is to breaks down the science behind canine protection training! I plan to explore how we combine canine physiology, anatomy, biology, and psychology in our approach to dog selection, drive development, and human-focused aggression. Using theoretically consistent and effective marker-based positive reinforcement (clicker training), my end goal with protection training is a confident and social dog who is safe, clear in the work and is able to perform its job without taking the work personally.

Needless to say, this hasn’t made me very popular in either the medical service world or the protection world. But I understand change is hard. The dogs in my training club have taken home a collective 22 titles in 2020 despite the pandemic. That’s a hard statistic to argue with. At Redemption Road K9 (RRK9), we believe dogs are mankind’s true link to happiness and make life more fulfilling. We believe all dogs are working dogs and that it is our responsibility to enhance the human experience by awakening a lifelong love for dogs. We also see it as our responsibility to help pet parents become the best version of themselves by teaching them effective leadership and communication skills that bring the best out of themselves and their dogs for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and fun. The theoretical basis for our training philosophy utilizes the four cornerstones of Mr. Ken Ramirez’s professional training program: 1. Health Care Program 2. Nutrition Program 3. Environmental Program 4. Behavioral Program This along with a focus on positive relationship building, reinforced cooperative behavior, canine fitness and conditioning, we believe that the use of markers and positive reinforcement in protection work not only accelerates the learning process but also gets us closer to our desire goal which is a confident and social dog who is safe, clear in the work and is able to perform its job without taking the work personally.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We have partnered with local communities, vocational schools and some of the top dog-training professionals in the world to curate career-oriented programs through a number of dog-related courses. All of our courses follow an apprenticeship model which includes learning to assist, teach and facilitate the courses. Program tracks include: Training Track 1: Certified Pet Hygienist & Certified Pet Groomer Training Track 2: Medical Service & Therapy Work Training Track 3: Detection/Tracking Training Track 4: Personal Protection Training Track 5: Agility & Sports Competition Training Track 6: Decoy/Protection Work Our training tracks include the following educational courses: Puppy Classes Basic, Intermediate & Advanced Obedience K9 Safety Classes & CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Training and Testing Professional Pet First Aid / CPR Training R.A.T. (Rattlesnake Aversion Training) K9 Group Hikes Special Field Trip Classes Students are assigned a dog for the duration of the training program. Additionally, all students participate in kennel maintenance and management. Upon successful graduation from the program, our students receive a professional dog training certification, credit hours towards accreditation with nationally recognized professional dog training organizations, along with additional certifications in Pet First Aid, Dog CPR and Advanced Pet Safety, Dog Walking, Dog Emotion & Cognition, Animal Welfare & Behavior, and Animal Psychology.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
That’s so hard! There are so many awesome resources out there. If I had to pick my top 5 they would be: Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training Book by Karen Pryor The Eye of the Trainer: Animal Training, Transformation, and Trust Book by Ken Ramirez Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know Book by Alexandra Horowitz The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think Book by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs Book by Karen Pryor There are a ton of amazing trainers on Youtube that I admire, including but not limited to: Janice Gunn Dave Kroyer Michael Ellis Larry Krohn

Contact Info:


Image Credits:
Photography By: Zeke Dickson, Black & White Dogs Photography, iWildWolves Photography, A&E’s America’s Top Dog

Suggest a Story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in