John Stenzel, Training Director

John grew up with German Shepherds, but his entry into training dogs and his passion for protection sports started with a dog he imported from the Czech Republic.  He began his training career at Kraftwerk K9 and Hiddenhaus Kennels, which provided him the opportunity to work with a number of visiting trainers from other countries and a variety of breeds including German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Cane Corsos, Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds and American Bulldogs.

 

Having had the opportunity to watch and learn from many great trainers in the sport, John credits Doug Deacon, Thorsten Eggers, Ralph Gilby, BSP Participant Michael Kaiser, Dave Kroyer, Lynne Lewis and Dennis Rhode for their encouragement and guidance as a young trainer.  He enjoyed observing so many different approaches to training and is able to tailor his training approach for each dog and breed individually..

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John has competed with his own dogs, but finds coaching others toward their goals in the sport very rewarding.  A number of his clients have achieved BHs, IGP1 - IGP3s.  He believes in developing a dog by building drive with motivation and focus, but also enjoys the challenge of problem solving for clients who had issues in their previous training program.  He is a Working Dog Association (WDA) Regional Helper and a USCA Club Helper