Episode 172: ⁣ On Your Mark with Howard Young

Your Working Dog Radio hosts, Eric @vanessk9 & Ted @ted_summers, sat down at Blueline Conference with Ted’s favorite guest and all around good guy, White Beard K9 Inc’s Howard Young. This will be the final episode for the Blueline conference series. ⁣

Young has had a passion for working dogs from a young age, leading ultimately to an over 25-year career supporting the Shelby NC Police Department as their civilian K9 training manager. In that time, he oversaw the development, procurement, and expansion of their K9 capabilities. His career success is now being translated into K9 training and support through his company White Beard K9, Inc. Since 2018 White Beard K9 has been training multiple agencies, allowing Young to continue to share his knowledge and experiences, hoping to impassion and broaden the skills of others to be successful in the world of working dogs.

From “yank & crank” to marker training, Young discusses how his methodology changed over time. Young’s Blueline Course Summary says it all: “Trainers and handlers frequently mark behaviors unknowingly. The focus of this class is to understand the power of marking and reinforcing behaviors we desire in our K9s. The power of the marker is vitally important in building a solid foundation, but also throughout the dog’s career. Marking the right behavior doesn’t just apply to detection.” ⁣

Make sure to give Howard a follow on Instagram at @howard_wbk9