Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Steele.
Hi Chris, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started training dogs when I was very young. I trained my first dog when I was 12 I have always had a connection to animals.. Understanding them and what they need to be happy seems to come second nature to me. I persued other interests of course such as music, which is what brought me to Music City. I received a small record deal back in 2008 which brought me to Nashville. After doing that for about 10 years I needed a break. The music industry can be soul crushing. So I returned back to my love of working dogs and animals. I have even trained cats! Which believe it or not are almost just as trainable as dogs. Just takes a lot more patience! I started Music City K9 Training in 2018 and have been helping people with their dogs issues ever since. It has brought me more REAL joy than being a “Rockstar” ever did. I feel so blessed and fortunate to do something I love for a living while also helping people and doing good in the world. I love my job!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been easy!? lol No. Training the dogs is the easy part for me. The struggle has been being a small company competing with the corporate franchises etc. The biggest struggle being trying to keep my costs down while also competing with their much larger advertising budgets. I try REALLY hard to keep my costs down. Most trainers in this area are charging double or triple or more than I am. I really try to keep my overhead down and thus my costs so that the average person can afford to get training for their dog and help for the issues they are struggling with. I know that the #1 reason for dogs being taken to shelters or abandoned is lack of training. So my #1 mission is to keep as many dogs from going to the shelters as possible! For most people especially these days with everything costing more and more that puts getting help out of reach. It is no surprise shelters are full or nearly full again. Insurance? Groceries? Medications? or the dog? Balancing being affordable and being able to stay in business so I CAN help more dogs has definitely been a challenge especially in the last couple years. The other challenge I face is GOOGLE. Which for a small business is kind of a nightmare to afford and navigate with them constantly changing things. So Google, SEO ranking, making sure website issues are fixed quickly, phone issues etc. Those are my challenges. I truly wish I could JUST train dogs my life would be a LOT easier!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I own a Dog Training company that besides providing Puppy Classes and Basic Obedience also specializes in Behavioral Issues such as: aggression, leash reactivity, resource guarding, separation anxiety and more. I LOVE giving a Surviving Your Puppy class teaching owners how to be the best puppy parents, and doing regular Obedience Training for dogs that just need to learn the basics and some manners, but I have garnered quite the reputation for working with the more challenging issues. Many trainers will not help you with issues like aggression but I never say no. Yes sometimes it can be a little intense at first, but I have helped many many people with reactive and aggressive dogs that would have otherwise been surrendered, bringing peace back to my clients homes and going from dreading things like going for a walk with their dog to enjoying it. I am a top rated business on Google over 100 5 star ratings except for 1 that was a friend of a competitor…. go figure. You will see many reviews with stories about how they feel like they have a brand new dog. Doing that for people and giving those dogs comfort and happy lives is incredibly rewarding for me. What sets me apart is I never say no, I am much more affordable than pretty much any of my competitors with similar track records. I am a small business not a corporate franchise. I am very transparent with my pricing etc. Which is very different from most competitors who make you jump through many hoops just to find out what it costs. I try to make the experience as easy and fun as possible. People are often surprised to learn all my pricing is right on my website. I guess if I was charging what my competitors are I wouldn’t post it either. One other major difference to my competitors is I do not do shock collar or “E” collar training. My courses are a little longer because we do training through more positive and natural methods.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As I said before I started training and working with dogs when I was 12 years old. Starting in 4H programs and dog shows in my early teens. I have also always been an musician. Singing since I was very young and playing multiple instruments. Having quite a range of tastes and styles. My first album was all Neo Classical instrumental music no vocals. That album was mostly piano and orchestral. I released that just out of high school. It went on to be used my psychologists etc. for people with sleep disorders, road rage, grief counseling, and more. Which was all quite a surprise to me! I later fronted a rock band and had a small record deal which allowed me to tour meet and play with some of my idols. I have always been very independent. Around the same age of 12 I started selling greeting cards and wrapping paper door to door in my neighborhood and at church. I found a thing in the back of a comic and signed up. I was too young to be paid $ so you got points which you could then use for toys in their catalog. I wanted more toys my parents couldn’t afford them so I found another way. I have always been very entrepreneurial. I have also owned lawn and landscaping businesses and a painting company. I am a very highly skilled painter as well. Which is what I was doing when I had a back injury which caused me to have to close. I had already been wanting to go back to the dogs so within months of finding out I couldn’t really do the painting anymore I had Music City K9 Training up and running! Which has been so much more rewarding and fulfilling!
Pricing:
- 750 for 5 week Private Lesson Obedience Course
- $150 for Surviving Your Puppy Class Private Lesson
- $1000 for 6 week Behavioral Modification Private Lessons
- $250 6 week Group Obedience Course
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.musiccityk9training.com
- Instagram: @musiccityk9training
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musiccityk9training
