For Emilio Marotta, his interest in dog training started as a hobby. He did some private work on the side, but when he found Lorenzo's Dog Training Team his interest became serious.
“Lorenzo showed me the professional aspect of it,” said Emilio. “That's when I decided to get serious and get experience. I was interested in making a break from the corporate world, and this was a really great opportunity.”
Even though Emilio was anxious to get started, he was surprised just how fast he was able to train and learn.
“I talked to Lorenzo for a while,” remembers Emilio. “He told me to bring my dog and come to training. He said you just need to have the constitution to be a dog lover. Soon you'll have a demo dog, and then just show him to people.”
Working with dogs has always come naturally to Emilio, but his training showed him how to work with owners as well.
“The number one thing in this job is getting clients to understand,” Emilio explains. “You have to be able to teach them how to put the training into action. To be successful, you have to be able to transfer knowledge to the owners.”
But Emilio has found confidence can be even more important than knowledge.
“A lot of the things we do are to help the owners realize they have the confidence to work with their pet,” Emilio said. “A lot of people let the size and force of their dog affect how they handle their pet. We teach them to have confidence as a leader. I always find myself telling clients that if they can find the confidence to lead in all situations, the technical stuff will take care of itself.”
A large part of building confidence is having the right expectations. Many owners accept bad behaviors that don't need to happen.
“A lot of times, dog training is about getting the owner's expectations to change” said Emilio. “Often times at the beginning of training they think 'my dog likes this, and doesn't like that.' But they learn they need to lead the dog. They have to set the expectation that the dog is part of their pack. Being in tune with your pet is essential.”
In a community like San Diego, it's easy to find owners who want to be in tune with their pets
“San Diego is dog crazy,” said Emilio. “It's really a dog culture. You run into folks at the pet store or park and when you ask them about their dog they always say they have 2 or 3. People really love their dogs around here.”
As a San Diego resident, Emilio is no exception. He has two dogs himself.
“My older dog actually went through training with Lorenzo,” said Emilio. “She's a sweetheart. And I recently adopted a young rottweiler. He goes out with me on sessions and interacts with clients.”
Like all of the trainers at Lorenzo's Dog Training Team, Emilio has worked with some local charities.
“I trained a couple of dogs at the San Diego Chihuahua Rescue” Emilio said. “Through that organization, we get clients into the rescue community. And it really is a community. Not only do they recommend clients to us, but our clients help them too.”
As a former Marine and college football player, Emilio knows about hard work. And while he dedicates most of his time to dog training, he doesn't really consider it work.
“Working with the dogs is the best, without a doubt,” Emilio said. “ Of course there are still business pressure, clients, a bottom line, etc. but at the end of the day you work outside with a dog. When you take a second to look around, I always say, 'who's got it better than us?'”
