Job Spotlight with Dog Trainer Curtis Hearn

Growing up in the west central Alabama community of York, Curtis Hearn developed a fondness for training dogs, including a German Shepherd that he would spend time with, encouraging him to "sit" and "stay."

"Once I saw the big picture of what dogs are capable of doing, I really got into it," said the retired U.S. Army first sergeant who picked up more dog training skills while stationed in Germany. "Dogs are used in so many ways -- the police department, bomb dogs, search and rescue, service dogs."

Today, Hearn, 50, is a trainer with United Canine in Phenix City, primarily raising and training pooches for personal protection and police departments. In any given week, he may be working with a dozen dogs. He also helps individuals in the community to develop their dog-handling skills as well.

Overall, it's a competitive field, considering the pool of pets in the U.S. is massive. The American Pet Products Association estimates there were 83.3 million owned dogs across the nation in 2012.

The Ledger-Enquirer visited with Hearn recently to discuss his job, why he decided to make a living from training animals, and the difference between family dogs and those used by authorities. This interview is edited a bit for length and clarity.

You got into training dogs while serving in the Army in Germany?

Dog training's a big thing in Germany. They have a lot of what they call hundeplatz. That's where they go and train their dogs. While I was over there, I bought a Rottweiler and started going to the club and training, and I just got really involved in it, caught up in it, and decided once I got out of the Army I was going to make that my business.

Has dog training changed through the years?

It's definitely changed and evolved. When I first started, it was more like you make the dog do what you wanted them to do, with a little more force. But as the years went on, it's mostly all motivational now. You reward the dog for doing something instead of forcing him to do it. It first originated in Belgium in competition, with trainers using the (toy) balls and treats and getting the dog to perform.

Like you saw earlier, my dog is happy when he's doing things. It's more a mental thing now. You read the dog to see what best method works for that particular dog. Some dogs might like the ball and some might like the food. So it changed from negative reinforcement to positive reinforcement.

What types of training do you do?

My primary thing right now, the one I'm doing the most, is protection dogs for families. With the crime rate what it is today, a lot of people feel comfortable with dogs. You've got a lot of soldiers around here who are constantly gone, deployed or whatever, and they feel better if they've got a dog at the house to protect their family.

It's not like the old-style attack dog. The dog protects you when necessary, on command, and guards your property. The way I train them, you can take them anywhere. It's the same around the kids.

I would say 60 percent of my business is protection dogs and teaching people obedience with their dog. Probably another 30 percent is police dogs. I send flyers out to police departments telling them of the service I have, and once they get back with me, I go down and give them a demo.

Do you sell dogs to police departments?

Sometimes I will and sometimes they have their own dog. But I raise dogs and keep one or two out of the litter for just that purpose, because they have to have a particular temperament to be a police dog. That's the first thing I do when people bring me a dog is evaluate them, and I tell them what that dog would be best suited for.

What do you look for in a police dog?

Nerves of steel. He has to be comfortable on all sorts of floors, going up stairs, elevators, escalators, hopping in a car, jumping in a truck, running through the woods, swimming. You can test that for a dog.

And with my puppies, I imprint that on them. A puppy is like a baby. They don't know that the fire burns, so they might stick their hand in there. So I make sure I introduce them to everything a police officer is going to be looking for -- the different types of floors, gunfire, being in tight areas, being in big crowds. That is one of the keys to dog training, being able to read that dog and evaluate that dog.

What about a protection dog?

Anytime you train a protection dog, you've got to make sure his obedience is almost perfect. You don't want a situation where he's protecting you when you don't need him to.

The average family would not enjoy having a police dog, because they're hyped up. He might have to search a whole apartment complex, so you want a dog that has a lot of energy and likes to move around. He just wouldn't be comfortable sitting around the house, and needs to be worked once a day.

A family dog should be a little more gentle and less hyper and, in essence, be a family friend?

Exactly. When I'm breeding them, I may save two that are mostly for families because they're kind of friendly and not that hyper. Then you've got that one that tugs on your leg 24/7 and chases the water hose if you move it. And I'll say this one here might be a candidate for the police department. Every puppy is not going to be that dog, just like every kid is not going to be the football or basketball player you want them to be.

Do families bring their own dogs to you to train and how does that go?

A lot of families already have their own dog, so they'll bring them to me and I will evaluate them and give them little tests to make sure they've got the controlled aggression to be a protection dog. I make sure it has the right nerves.

Sometimes you can have a dog that once you start training, its nerves are little shaky and they kind of go overboard. It's too much of a protection dog. It thinks everybody wants to mess with them. So it has to have strong nerves, but also a calmness about itself.

The biggest thing is educating the people. I can train a dog in a month or so, have him completely protection- and obedience-trained. But when you factor in the people, you've got to explain to them exactly how they should handle that dog, how to treat the dog. I go from housebreaking to praising the dog to letting them understand the whole aspect of training. You can't teach them everything, but you can tell them pretty much what to expect.

A dog likes to be treated fair. Every dog was bred to do a certain job and a dog is happiest when he's doing that particular job. So I explain about the walks, playing with the dog, the time put in with the dog. I let them know that the dog will be a more productive family member if they do those things.

So don't train a dog for protection and then just put it in the backyard and not interact with it?

Right. An old German guy told me a long time ago, if you can't spend 15 minutes a day with your dog, you shouldn't have one.

Are there certain dogs best suited for protection? Could a Labrador do it?

Every now and then you'll have one that can do the protection work, but not to the extent a German Shepherd would. You'll have what they call a watch dog, which will be territorial and pretty much bark all the time.

Every breed doesn't make a good protection dog. I mainly focus on the working line -- Doberman, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Giant Schnauzer, a couple of bully breeds.

But every now and then I'll have someone come in with a Labrador and say they want it trained to be a protection dog. I just finished one in my last class and the dog is doing OK. He doesn't take it quite as serious as a German Shepherd would. But he barks to make people who don't know the difference think he is a good protection dog.

Pit bulls are routinely in the news. Have you dealt with them and what are your thoughts on them as a working dog or protection dog?

I have worked with quite a few pit bulls, because people love those dogs. The pit bull has been around for a long time. But they didn't get their reputation until they got popular. And once they got popular, people began to breed them just to make money ... and that's what kind of made them have the aggression toward people, which is not normal for a pit bull.

They've always had aggression toward other dogs. If you read the history of the pit bull, you could have a crowd of people standing around with a dog in a pit, and the dog would never turn on the owner. But once they got popular and everybody started breeding them, trying to get them bigger, trying to get them different colors, that's when it kind of ruined the breed.

They are very smart dogs. I have trained them for protection work and they do pretty good. You've got to make sure they don't have the same aggression toward people that they do toward dogs. If you see one going in that direction, you need to cut it off because it will become a liability.

But, again, they are really smart dogs. They can do anything any other dog can do. They can be just as nice as any other dog, if you bring them up right.

There are different types of pit bulls. They've got those that they call gaming pits, which is strictly about fighting. It's hard to take that natural instinct that they've got toward dogs away from them. And then they've got the bigger ones that are more of a pet-quality do. They do really good. They do have a little temperament toward other dogs, which you've got to control. So you've got to make sure the owner's strong enough and can convey to the dog that they are in charge. That's the biggest thing.

The bottom line is you've got to enjoy being around dogs?

To have a career in this, you've got to like dogs. It's not something you can do and not like it and still be good at it. The dog's a living being. If the dog feels that you don't really care for it and don't have that vibe ... I tell people about the vibe and they don't understand it. A dog actually responds more to you by what you do than what you say. They're looking at your body language, how you treat them. So I tell people it's all about the way that you interact with the dog.

Is there a season for training dogs?

No. It's pretty much all year round. For some reason you tend to get a few more calls during tax season and you sell a few more puppies during Christmas time. But, for the most part, it evens out through the year.

What's the most challenging aspect of your job?

The toughest part, as I was saying before, is explaining to the people everything they need to know about their dog. If they don't understand exactly why the dog is doing what it's doing, they can get frustrated with the dog, they can think you didn't do your job. They can think the dog is not smart.

A lot of times it's just you not knowing what to do. (For instance) you dog-proof your yard. If you come out and the dog's chewed up your phone, it's just one of those things, you shouldn't have left your phone out there. That's the way I see it. But 90 percent of the people think this stupid dog tore my phone up.

That's the thing I try to convey to people, if a dog could make you happy 100 percent of the time and do exactly what you wanted them to do, they would, because they're all about pleasing you and they're loyal. That's their nature.

What's the most rewarding thing about your job?

It's being involved in dog competitions and really enjoying winning and getting to the big stage. I've never made it to the world team. I've made it to the nationals a few times. That's my personal enjoyment of training.

But I'm really happy when I can pass along what I know to people (interested in becoming trainers) like Brittney (Geibert) and Allison (Seward), because that's the way I learned it. Germans took me under their wing and showed me how to train dogs, and I like passing on information and seeing a family satisfied with their dog and the work that I've done for them.

Bio

Name: Curtis Hearn

Age: 50

Hometown: York, Ala. (in west central Alabama)

Current residence: Phenix City

Education: Earned an associate's degree from Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas. Also attended K9 International in Orlando, Fla. (certified in training police dogs, bomb dogs, service dogs, personal protection and obedience)

Current jobs: Dog trainer with United Canine; an independent instructor for Animal Behavior College (an online college), with students doing hands-on portion of their training with him; he's a trainer with United Schutzhund Club (which includes competition and sport dogs)

Previous Jobs: Retired U.S. Army first sergeant who served in Operation Desert Storm and was specialized as an artilleryman using the multiple launch rocket system; was a civilian training technician at Fort Benning; was a Morale, Welfare and Recreation dog trainer in Baumholder, Germany

Family: Has two daughters

Leisure time: Enjoys watching sports, such as football and basketball, going hunting and participating and watching dog competitions

Of note: He works to rescue dogs and find them a good home, and also trains people to have a career in dog training

This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Job Spotlight with Dog Trainer Curtis Hearn."