Meet Gueseppe Junio | Dog Trainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gueseppe Junio and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gueseppe, what principle do you value most?
Quality of life. There are 3 main elements to quality of life: education, health, and security. As people, we are mostly in control of our quality of life. We can learn pretty much anything on the internet. We can control our physical and mental health with practices like eating real food, exercising, and meditating. We can control our sense of security by manipulating our environment.
Domestic dogs, on the other hand, are not in control of their quality of life. Their education, health, and security are completely reliant on us. However, many people get dogs without first understanding how to teach them, keep them physically and mentally healthy, and give them a sense of security. Without these key elements, dogs, just like people, will begin to unravel. Then people end up with dogs with behavioral issues, and they now have to police their dog rather than being able to enjoy their dog. That is, unfortunately, when a lot of people start looking into dog training.

It doesn’t take long to find that the dog training world is a very wide, very diverse spectrum. There are a lot of professional trainers saying a lot of different things, many of which contradict each other, all having their reasons for teaching their specific system of dog training. And quite frankly, there is a lot of bad advice out there. Which pains us to see, because we want our clients to have the dog that they envisioned when they got them – the dog that can run free at the beach, or go on hiking trails, or come with them to brunch and lay calm on the patio. The vast majority of the time, it is absolutely possible, it’s just a matter of understanding how to achieve it.

Our vision with Companion Canine is to use our deep pool of dog training knowledge to help both people and their dogs achieve a higher quality of life. This includes not only solving behavioral issues, but preventing them from manifesting in the first place. We aim to make our knowledge as mainstream and available as possible through our social media platforms and other upcoming projects.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
To be candid, our business is still in its infancy. Becky and I left our jobs and launched Companion Canine as co-owners in March 2022, using all our free time to find leads. We ordered some business cards and partnered with local veterinarians and doggy day cares to make them available. We posted them on notice boards in coffee shops and gave stacks to friends and family. We would go to nearby parks during peak hours and work our dogs there, sparking up conversations with anyone who walked by with a dog and handing out more business cards. Slowly but surely our time was less spent on creating leads and more on doing sessions with people! It was hard work and required a lot of discipline, but we made it happen and soon we were getting inquiries daily from people all over the Bay Area. In September we moved to the east coast and are still pursuing bigger plans for our business. We have some big projects in the making, but until we’re ready to reveal more we are making content every day on our social media in an effort to make our knowledge as available as possible.
We are so excited to make high caliber dog training available in every home, and right now the best way to support us is simply by following us and absorbing the information we’re putting out for free!
One thing that is different about our content is that we really focus on the real “living life with a dog” stuff. There is plenty of dog training content out there of people doing the cool flashy obedience, and although we can do that too, our focus is helping people maneuver through the little everyday decisions. What do you do if your dog constantly tries to bolt out the door? What are some quick and easy ways to fulfill an energetic dog? How did we road trip for 6 weeks with 2 dogs? We love interacting with our audience and answering questions like these so don’t be shy!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Beaches, lakes, and rivers! My happy place is in nature, so my go-to is anything involving the outdoors, especially around water. Other than that, I really prefer to be home. I’ve never really preferred going out and socializing, so I like to entertain with board games and making fun snacks.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
G: It may be a cliche, but shoutout to my parents! Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated by animals. I was always bringing home little critters and trying to take care of them, my first pet being a pill bug (aka roly poly) I found in the backyard when I was probably around 4 or 5, and my parents always helped me. I was 10 when my parents brought our first family dog home – an 8 week old border collie/lab/rottweiler mix puppy we named Xena. They showed me that we could teach her things like sit and shake, and after that my favorite pastime was trying to figure out how to teach her stuff. Luckily for me, she was probably the smartest dog I’ve ever had. In my teenage & young adult years we also had Diesel, an American red-nosed pitbull, who was the sweetest, most friendly dog I’ve ever had, and Chloe, a pitbull boxer mix, who was the craziest, most energetic family dog we ever had. I also kept bringing home other animals including several snakes, fish, a bearded dragon, and a flea infested kitten, and my parents never complained about it. They always supported me and took care of my animals when I couldn’t, and continue to support me today in my entrepreneurship and pursuit of happiness.

Website: companioncanine.org

Instagram: @beckyngueseppe

Yelp: Companion Canine

Other: TikTok: beckyngueseppe