The Story Your DOG is your workout partner!™

 

How It Works Jill Bowers, Dog Trainer/Co-Founder

Jill founded Thank Dog! Training (a private in-home dog training company) in 2002 after completing a year of training and working under military dog trainer,
John Van Olden.

After several years of private in home training, attending conferences and doing work for the shelters around the area, in 2007 she finished another extensive dog training course in which she lived in Colorado to study under a renowned celebrity dog trainer. During that time, she lived with the wolves for a week researching pack behavior, while also learning more techniques and various types of training.

Along with becoming one of the “leaders” in dog training, Jill has excelled in the world of fitness. She became a regular at Barry’s Bootcamp and appeared in their infomercial due to her success (lost 40 pounds!) in reaching her fitness goals. She also trained for and ran the 2008 LA Marathon. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, hiking and kickboxing.

With her vast knowledge of both fitness and obedience, Thank Dog! Bootcamp has become her passion.

How It Works Jamie Bowers, Dog Trainer/Co-founder

After 7 years of being an inner city elementary school teacher, Jamie made a choice to leave the profession to become a certified dog trainer and partner of Thank Dog! Training.

Over the years, Jamie has studied and learned from Jill while taking clients to master her skill in dog training.  In addition, she attended a Dog Training School in Colorado, where she learned various types of dog training techniques, researched wolves and pack behavior, and furthered her knowledge of the dog's mind.

While playing a major role in Thank Dog!’s success today, she continues to study and train with mentor John Van Olden, one of the most experienced and successful dog trainers in the state of California.

When Jamie isn’t out being the alpha dog, she is doing the next best thing…exercising.  Not only does she love the gym, hiking, rock climbing and yoga, now kickboxing has become the core of her exercise routine.

Combining her love for both dog training and fitness, Thank Dog! Bootcamp is her dream come true!

How It Works Torri Shack, Fitness Trainer/Co-Founder

Fitness has always been a part Torri’s’ life.  From an early age to current day, she has trained and succeeded in various sports such as swimming, soccer, martial arts, equestrian and most recently, personal training  and marathons.  Because of her athletic experiences and interest in health, she started to expand her knowledge base in both exercise and nutrition.

However, it wasn’t until Torri enrolled at the Famous, Barry’s Bootcamp in West Hollywood, that she grew to know and love the “bootcamp style” fitness program. Being a long time athlete, this type of work out was nothing like she had ever done before. She loved the challenging and fast paced environment coupled with how quickly she saw the results in her body.

Because of her passion for bootcamp and her yearn to change peoples lives through fitness, she decided to leave her career as owner and founder of a successful mortgage and real estate company. She moved on to become a full time Bootcamp instructor and Certified Personal trainer and is a proud owner and co-founder of Thank Dog! Bootcamp.

How It Works John Van Olden, Chief operating officer

John Van Olden has been a professional dog trainer for over 20 years.  After completing service in the US Army as a Military Police Dog Trainer, he began to develop his own dog and owner friendly process of dog training, and after realizing a nearly 100% success rate, he founded K-9 Advantage, which would go on to become the first private dog training franchise in the United States. 

John went on to start PAWSitive Solutions, which employed as many as 32 dog trainers who offered John’s training throughout California.  John personally trained and mentored all of the trainers, growing PAWSitive Solutions to the largest privately owned, referral based dog training company in California.  John is also a charter member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and has served on its Board of Directors.

John currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, and offers training and behavior problem solving, often becoming a dog (and it’s family’s) last hope after many failures with other trainers.  A believer in the benefits of dog receiving both physical and mental guided exercise rather than the mindless “point A to B” routines that dog owners are seeing these days on television, he was asked to join Thank Dog Bootcamp’s team to put his business and dog training skills to work to help grow this unique and ground breaking concept into a brand that will reach and benefit dogs and their people all over the country.

In addition to being one of the most successful dog trainers in the United States, John is an accomplished distance runner.  A former qualifier for the All-Army Track Team during his military days, he completed both the Los Angeles and the inaugural Missoula marathons in 2007 and also qualified for an elite start in the 2008 Bay to Breakers road race in San Francisco.