ABOUT OUR TRAINERS

Meet the Off Leash K9 Team

Bryan & Joanne swihart - owners

Bryan & JoAnne Swihart are the owners and head trainers for the Off Leash K9 Training program in Georgia - offering locations in Atlanta/Smyrna, Athens, Peachtree City, Augusta, Duluth, Columbus, and Macon. We moved to the Atlanta area to settle near family after opening successful locations in Charlottesville, Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bryan is an Army veteran with multiple deployments; while deployed he was impressed with military working dog’s impeccable obedience training and high level of confidence enabling them to be the most well trained canines in the world. Bryan has a lifelong love of dogs starting with his first dog “Squeak,” who used to sleep under his crib every night. He has owned and trained a wide assortment of dogs ranging from Chihuahuas to Pitbulls; including his current comrades, a Rejected Labradoodle, American Staffordshire Terrier Mix, and the newest addition a German Shepherd Hound Mix. Bryan has a special love for “Bully Breeds” and wants to empower people to showcase what wonderfully loyal and loving dogs they really are. After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, he can now focus where his passion is. With a degree in business and finance giving him a solid small business foundation, with the precision and passion needed to transform your dog from unruly to obedient, frightened to confident, timid to content.

JoAnne’s passion is transforming fearful and anxious pups into stable confident members of the family! This passion began 5 years ago while fostering an extremely fearful young pup, who soon became a beloved member of the family. Obedience training helped transform the dog from a dog who was terrified of people to a super snuggle bug and constant companion for their 4 year old son. JoAnne has background in business and biological research and left her corporate career to join her husband in running Off Leash K9 Training, Georgia full time 3 years ago.

Bryan and JoAnne are thrilled to bring Off Leash K9 Training to Georgia, specializing in the same obedience training techniques used by the military and law enforcement. This style of training encompasses his core beliefs and philosophy of consistency, fairness, and crystal clear communication that will turn your dog into a well behaved member of society in any situation.

Professional Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT)

Bryan & Joanne swihart - owners

Greg Morris

Greg Morris was born and raised in Vero Beach Fl, where from an early age he developed a love and passion for dogs while helping his father raise and train their hunting dogs. A United States Navy veteran, he was deployed on multiple cruises in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After serving he pursued his other passion of cooking, becoming an award winning Pit-Master at one of Atlanta’s most renowned BBQ restaurants. But his love and passion for dogs never ceased, only growing stronger. After Buster, his chocolate Lab of 15 years, passed away, he decided that life was too short and that if you were going to do something, you should do the one thing you love. He began to spend all of his free time volunteering at local shelters and rescue missions, watching and learning dog behavior at all levels. After researching and observing dozens of local trainers he was most impressed with Off Leash K9’s methodology of obedience learning, confidence building and the extensive knowledge of all the trainers. He lives with his wife Terri and their thrice rescued pup Toby with a backyard that is a doggie heaven. Greg has a special fondness for rescue dogs that suffer from anxiety and fear issues, taking great pride in reforming and building confidence in them. His goal is to help create that special bond between dog and owner that forms with our obedience training programs and to make sure that you walk away from a lesson with all questions answered and a smile on your face!

Check Out Some of Greg’s Before & After Videos!

Mike Trimble

Mike Trimble is a lifelong dog owner and animal lover. Mike has always had a special affinity for rescues. He discovered his passion for training when he adopted a challenging Boxer mix, Obi. After completing the Advanced Obedience program through Off Leash K9 Training, Georgia, Mike found himself naturally helping others and soon became known as the ‘dog whisperer’ of his local dog park. His next rescue, a Rat Terrier mix named Roxy, flourished under the same training regimen! She went from being shy and knowing no commands at the shelter, to being much more confident and fully obedience trained in just a couple of weeks. The message was clear – keep going! Obi and Roxy continue their training, currently accompanying Mike as helpers for reactivity cases. His primary motivation is to improve quality of life for people and their dogs through a structured bond that fair and balanced training builds. Finding creative, real-world methods to help every client overcome their challenges is what he strives for!

Check Out Some of Mike’s Before & After Videos!

Elena Feliciano

Elena Feliciano was born and raised in Cumming, Georgia. She began sailing at age six and became a sailing instructor at age 14. She was able to travel to Seattle and New Zealand as a sailing instructor where she taught children and adults how to sail. In addition she was also a lifeguard instructor for for Delta. These experiences made her realize how much she enjoyed teaching. She loved that sense of accomplishment when someone learned a new skill. Her teaching skills extended to training her childhood pup. Unfortunately, as her pup grew, he became extremely aggressive and had to be put down. She knew from that point that she wanted to help other families and their pets and teach them how to overcome problems. She decided to get a job working with dogs. She started as a kennel tech and was soon promoted to a dog trainer. At that point, she realized there was no turning back and wanted to make dog training her career of choice.

Ashley Seals-Bonebrake

Ashley Seals-Bonebrake was born and raised in Oregon. She has had a love for animals her whole life and would regularly be found playing outside catching frogs, crawdads, snakes and anything else she could find as a child. As she got older she realized she wanted to work in the animal field and follow her passion for helping animals. She volunteered at Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation in Corvallis, Oregon for multiple summers and got her first paying job in the animal world as a dog groomer. Ashley was a groomer for 3 years before moving on to training. Ashley loves to help people learn how to connect better with their dogs through training. She is always trying to learn and better herself as a trainer.

Thomas Cervone

Thomas J Cervone was born and raised in Connecticut and also spent a few years living on the East Coast of Florida before settling down in Georgia. Thomas has always had a dog or two in his household growing up leading to a love for dogs. He has held other careers previously, but when his good friends and trainers introduced him to the world of dog training, there was no turning back. Thomas has a passion for training so that families get the most out of the joy of having a dog in their home. He also has a beautiful wife, two small sons and a Lab at home. Thomas loves having the kids grow up around so many dogs.

Andy Grinstead

Andy Grinstead was born in Anchorage, Alaska to an Army family. He then moved all over the US, finally settling in Augusta, GA in 2006. He graduated from college with a Business Administration degree and set out into the working world. It wasn’t until 2017 when he met Audrey that his whole career path changed. Andy became extremely focused on helping Audrey train her older Doberman. After turning the dogs behavior around he then started to pursue a career in dog training. Andy has been on board since 2020 and has already changed the lives of numerous dogs with Off Leash K9 Training. Andy also enjoys working on cars and drifting in his spare time.

Audrey Baker

Audrey Baker was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina where she spent most of her childhood and early 20’s focused on becoming an equestrian. She has shown in Dressage, Hunter/Jumper, and some smaller one day eventing trials. Audrey’s love of dogs and animals started very early. She has always had dogs, growing up with a Pit Bull and then later Dobermans. Audrey has been a professional dog groomer for the past 11 years. While she still grooms a bit, her main focus has become training dogs. Audrey moved to Georgia in 2016 and found her way to Athens, GA in 2020 where she joined the OLK9 team. She currently competes with her youngest Doberman Pinscher in conformation ring and hopes to start in Rally Obedience soon as well.

Christian Scholfield

Christian Scholfield has owned and loved dogs for his entire life. He discovered his innate ability to understand and communicate with dogs at a very young age. Once old enough, he got his first job at a boarding and daycare facility where he was able to test and strengthen his natural abilities by working with dogs of all sizes and personalities. His love for dogs grew even stronger. Through working in the field, he started to realize that his natural understanding of how dogs operate wasn't so natural to everyone else. He noticed a disconnect between dogs and dog owners and has made it his mission to give owners the proper guidance and information to help them to grow their bond stronger than they ever thought possible. He understands the impact a well trained and well behaved dog can have on one's life and will do anything in his power to help you get to that point. Christian is pictured with his newest addition "Koa", a border collie pup. In which he will be competing in sports such as agility, disc, dock diving, and herding.

Ellen Cervone

Ellen Cervone was born and raised in Connecticut, after spending three years in Florida she and her husband have now settled down in Georgia with their two small children. Along with being a mother and wife, Ellen has always had a passion for helping people. She’s worked with special needs, the elderly, and children but her passion has and always will be dogs. Ellen has had a love for animals for as long as she can remember. She’s always had a dog in her life whether it was her pet, a stray she rescued or a neighbors that she was pet sitting. Ellen found her way to the dog training business after her husband started working for Off Leash K9 Georgia. She started as a camera woman but couldn’t resist getting more involved when she saw how rewarding being a dog trainer is. Since joining the company Ellen has fulfilled her true passion in life. By becoming a dog trainer she is able to help people and their adorable pets live their life’s to the fullest! She is hoping to make a difference in as many people’s and pet’s life as possible.

Daniel Bozard

Daniel Bozard is a native of Marietta, Georgia, Daniel, and his family returned home from Louisiana to be closer to their family during the pandemic. After spending a career in higher education and non-profit fundraising, the pandemic presented an opportunity to make a career change and pursue an area of lifelong passion for Daniel. Having grown up with Shelties and Aussies, Daniel’s 4-year-old mixed breed, Beignet, had a completely different personality and was highly reactive. While transitioning home to Atlanta, Daniel thought the family may need to rehome Beignet until they sought out the services of a professional trainer. That experience quite literally changed the life of his family as well as Beignet. Beignet thrived with the structure, and Daniel found joy in the presence and connection that came from working with Beignet. Daniel is grateful to turn this passion into a career and to continue to develop his craft by being part of the Off Leash Georgia team. He looks forward to sharing with you what he continues to learn along this journey to help you and your dog build a harmonious and mutually rewarding relationship.

Samir

Samir has always been fond of animals, especially dogs. Having grown up around many strays on the streets of India, he always considered them to be his best friends who were always there for him. Although he moved to the states with his family, got a degree in Biology and got involved in developing his family’s hotel business he could never forget the love he felt for animals as a child. He left the family business 5 years ago to travel the world and to pursue his passion for wildlife. Traveled through 9 countries, volunteering at various conservation projects in S. America, Mexico and India involving alpacas, jaguars, pumas, seabirds, stray dogs, primates, bears and tigers. During his travels no matter where he was in the mountain towns of Ecuador or in some remote village of India, there was always a dog, who found him and showered him with unconditional love. Having these experiences Samir came to realize that there is something special between him and dogs and he needs to use this gift wisely. Ever since getting involved in the dog training world has been fascinated with service, therapy and working dogs. He’s blown away by the infinite possibilities that dogs can provide if we cultivate that human-animal bond with a proper foundation and training. He’s delighted to have a career where he can literally transform the lives of dogs and their families.

Nic Hooks

Nic Hooks was born in Savannah Georgia but grew up all over the U.S due to his Dad being in the Marine Corps. He always had dogs growing up but Roxy his little brothers Doberman was the one who really sparked his passion for training dogs. After high school Nic followed in his Dads footsteps and joined the Marine Corps. There he served as a Military Working Dog handler before being selected for MARSOCs Multi Purpose K9 program. He has attended Vohne Licke Kennels for MPC Handlers course and has participated in multiple Train the Trainer programs. After his time in the Marine Corps he started working at K9s for Warriors a non profit that trains rescued dogs to be service dogs for disabled veterans. Outside of work he enjoys spending time hiking and camping with his fiancé Caroline and his 2 dogs Lana and Willow.

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About Off Leash K9 Training

Dog trainers who are recognized around the world!

Nick White is the Owner and Founder of Off Leash K9 Training. Nick is a former US Marine and former US Secret Service. He currently has over 130+ dog training locations throughout the United States.

Nick is globally recognized as being one of the top dog trainers in the world. He has 2 official world records in off leash obedience, named on Wikipedia as one of the top 20 dog trainers in the world, recently named top 10 trainer in the world by bestdogtrainers.org, has been featured in many magazines and shows, and he is regularly requested by the top celebrities and athletes! He has been called upon by people such as actor Ryan Reynolds, WWE’s John Cena, MLB All Star Max Scherzer, UFC World Champion Jon “Bones” Jones, and many more!

You can visit our YouTube Channel and watch over 1500+ before/after videos of Nick and his team’s work! Off Leash K9 Training has more documented videos than any dog training business in the entire world!