Zak George

Zak George

Zak George has always been intrigued by dogs, but his true talents for working with these amazing animals went undiscovered for more than 20 years. Little did he know that playing with his older brother’s German shepherd, Levi, would change the course of his life and bring these skills to the surface. It all began during a hot summer in Georgia when Zak’s brother asked him to throw a Frisbee to Levi. Years later, after the hours spent playing with Levi had sunk in, Zak had a dream where he saw a dog spring boarding off his back to catch a Frisbee. This is when it all clicked together for Zak and inspired him to bring Venus, an energetic and intelligent border collie, into his life. When Zak realized how in-sync he and Venus had become and how talented she was, he didn’t want to let it go to waste. It was then and there that Zak decided to leave the real-estate industry to become a full-time dog trainer. With very little formal training, Zak used his instincts to guide him and developed a positive training method in which Venus excelled.

Soon after dedicating himself to training full time, Zak and his dog, Venus, had propelled themselves into fame as a dog-Frisbee dynamic duo. Together, they won five extreme dogs competitions in their first five years! Zak and Venus soon became one of the most sought-after human-canine couples, appearing on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, in the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show and The Ultimate Dog Championship. Even David Letterman was barking up their tree for an appearance! Along the way, Zak added two more world-class trick dogs to his canine brood – Alpha Centauri and Supernova. After fans witnessed Venus’ triple-Frisbee catching, spring-boarding, high-flying stunts, they were biting at Zak’s heels to spread his training knowledge.

With his new-found fame, Zak was inspired to spread his love for dogs and training to pet parents around the world. He wanted to encourage others to get more involved with their pets in a way that would be mutually beneficial and fun for them both. He began by uploading YouTube videos that taught pet parents how to train their dogs to do everything from doggy waving, jumping through hooped arms, to making a dog into a Frisbee fanatic. Zak believes firmly in making dogs motivated to want to do tricks so it is as fun for them as it is for their parents. Over the past five years alone, he has helped more than 3,000 dogs and their people around the world and racked up almost three million YouTube hits!

The Zak George Project, a series of dog-trick training videos the can be found online at Animalplanet.com, is one of Zak and Venus’ latest ventures. When not training dogs, Zak is a gadget buff, enjoys eating seafood, honing his video production skills and spending time with family and friends in his hometown of Atlanta.

 

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