This Is Where My Heart Lives — Why I Created K911 Transformative Dog Handling & Training
By John Sorosky
For forty years, I’ve trained dogs—champions, family pets, obedience stars. But the dogs that have haunted me, changed me, and grounded me are the ones tucked into kennels, labeled “too difficult,” “too reactive,” or “too much work.” They’re the ones time is running out on.
These are shelter dogs who live in fear, not aggression. They growl as a warning because they’ve been pushed too hard. They shut down when handled. They lunge—not out of cruelty, but survival. Most shelter teams see symptoms: biting, pacing, barrier frustration. But I see the story behind them: pain, misunderstanding, and potential.
I built the K911 Transformative Dog Handling & Training Program for Shelters so that no dog is given up on too soon—and no handler is left without hope.
The weight shelters carry
I know how exhausted staff feel—a single dog’s reactivity puts everyone at risk. Volunteers quit quietly after a bite. Kennel environments deteriorate. Dogs who could have been rehabilitated regress. That frustration, guilt, and heartbreak — I’ve seen it. I felt it myself.
So I made K911 practical, not theoretical. It’s not about fancy tools or gimmicks. It’s about reading the dog, holding space, and teaching teams to lead from calmness. It’s about turning chaos into clarity, fear into trust, and confusion into consistency.
What makes K911 different
I’ve worked with the hardest dogs. Reactive, fearful, shut-down, barrier-frustrated—dogs that others send away. In my hands, these dogs start speaking again.
On your turf, with your dogs. I come to you, train in your kennels, with your staff, in your environment. Not a one-size-fits-all lecture.
Built for sustainability. We don’t just train one weekend and leave. You’ll get volunteer onboarding materials, leadership coaching, and protocols that support consistency long after I’m gone.
Nationwide. I’ll travel anywhere in the U.S. because every shelter deserves this change.
Trust over force. My mission: reduce bites, reduce turnover, improve adoptions — by teaching people to see the dog differently.
If your team is tired of improvising, living in fear, or watching dogs’ behavior break down, you don’t need a quick fix. You need a transformation.
This is where my heart lives: helping those dogs get home by helping the people who care for them transform.
Learn more or request a workshop: https://k911animalrescue.org/