It’ s Question and Answer Time With: Master K9 Trainer“ Leri Hanson” of
California K9 Services
By Andy Seguess
on the weekends, but at home during the week, was my time to put in the reps. Like most little girls, I grew up with a love for animals, particularly horses. As time went on I needed to downsize my passion to something more affordable and easy to access, so I traded in my horses for dogs.
Leri Hanson owns and operates California K9 Services. She developed a K9 safety awareness for everyone program called“ K9 S. A. F. E” which is a family owned operation that services the Long Beach and surrounding cities. She has extensive experience in working dogs especially the American Pit Bull Terrier. She has been an active APBT enthusiasts for over 18 years and has competed regionally and nationally in Schutzhund, French Ring and Mondio Ring
Q. Can you give us a little background on yourself? How you got into dog training and what it is about working dogs that make you so passionate?
My parents always had a house full of dogs; dad loved Dobermans and mom loved Chihuahuas. I would go with my dad to the local obedience class
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Q. Did you have any mentors and who have been some of your biggest influences?
I have several mentors, both past and present. These are the people who have influenced me the most.
Sandy Comer was a big influence when I first started, not because I had her dogs but because she offered both handling and obedience training classes at her property in Riverside. Sandy had a knack for taking on newbies under her wing. At the time it made perfect sense for two reasons, it was convenient since I lived nearby, and more importantly, her classes were great fun.
Nancy Corbet( UKC obedience judge), who later became a strong competitive influence for me as well as a dear friend. My very first obedience competition was in Sub Novice and there my boy Frazier ended up tied with a Peach poodle; and the sudden death run off began. I was new to competing, and without knowing what else to do, I just rolled with the flow. To my surprise, we rolled right into first place that day. I was indeed surprised, excited and proud of my self-taught pooch Frazier.
The judge too, was impressed by our victory. So much so that after the trial Nancy approached me about joining her club Pacific Coast Obedience Club( PCOC). Soon PCOC was working handin-hand with the local APBT clubs to offer both obedience and conformation at the events. Nancy was tough, no nonsense and became a huge fan of the breed. She was also a contributing author for