Keeping It Simple

Did you know your dog is as smart as a 2-year-old? Mike Deathe, founder and owner of K.I.S.S. Dog Training in Shawnee, certainly does. In fact, that’s what his entire business model is built around.

“I always joke with people that you’re going to use a lot of the same techniques with your dog that you’d use with a 2-year-old,” says Deathe.

It’s only natural that Deathe would compare dogs to people, given his background in the field of human psychology.

He graduated from the University of Kansas with a psychology degree. From there, Deathe used his people skills as district manager for an automotive maintenance company. After more than 15 years in the industry, he quit his job to stay home with his children. Looking back, Deathe recognizes the transition was his first step toward becoming a dog trainer.

“You can only watch so many Gilligan’s Island reruns,” Deathe says. “While the kids were at school, I picked up a part-time job at Pet Smart.”

The longer Deathe worked at Pet Smart, the clearer it became to him that dog training was all about psychology.

“It’s all Pavlov and Skinner. It’s basic learning theory, which I’d already studied in college,” he says.

Deathe’s extensive knowledge of psychology, paired with his business and sales background, made him the perfect candidate to provide as well as sell dog-training classes.

“Next thing I knew I was a dog trainer, and then I was an area trainer. As the timeline progressed, I determined that I wanted to work in people’s homes,” he says,

Because Pet Smart did not provide this service, Deathe signed a six-month non-compete clause and began making plans to open his own business.

What resulted was K.I.S.S. Dog Training. And, yes, that acronym does stand for what you think it does.

“Keep It Simple Stupid Dog Training just fit,” he says of the name. “My sister is a retired art teacher, and she drew my first logo. I remember a heated conversation … where she said, ‘You can’t call your clients stupid!’ and I said, ‘Yes, I can.’”

Deathe’s amusing approach to naming his business is a reflection not only of his humorous side but also of his dog-training principles.

“I do like to bring humor into dog training because, usually, there is already a pretty high level of frustration involved by the time people have hired me. If we can barb and laugh at ourselves and the mistakes we’ve made, it’s a lot easier to keep things fresh and open,” he laughs.

Deathe’s model of going into the homes of pet owners to train their dogs is a far cry from stupid. In fact, it’s smart on a number of levels. First, it allows for personalized and specific training.

“It’s tough to bring a dog into a sterile environment and get them to show the problem behaviors they’re having in the house,” Deathe says. “For example, if it’s a barking issue, I need to see if it was the mailman at the front door causing the problem. It’s a lot easier to see the behavior in the dog’s world, and then fix it there.”

The model also cuts down on business expenses.

“If you’ve got 100-foot-by-100-foot facility, there’s a large lease payment, electricity, and other overhead involved,” Deathe says.

With this unique and savvy business model, he still finds ways to socialize dogs and teach group classes. “Over the years, I’ve worked with Great Plains SPCA and Bar K (an off-leash dog park and bar in the River Market area). I partner with places like that to do my group classes.”

In the 11 years since Deathe started K.I.S.S., he has provided multiple classes, trained countless dogs, and written eight books on the subject of dog training. He has also expanded his business to include another trainer. Business is booming despite some of the economic challenges faced in recent months.

“I’m very fortunate to be in this business, in that everyone and their uncle went out and got COVID puppies,” says Deathe of the impacts of the pandemic on his business. “Everybody wanted a buddy to spend (lockdown) with, but a lot of people did not realize the amount of work that was going to be required …. The business is, at least, at the same level it was before COVID, or maybe even a slight uptick.”

Like every other business in the country, Deathe has had to get creative to deliver his services over the past year.

“For the first four to six months of the pandemic, we did everything outdoors or via Zoom. Zoom is really hard, but we’ve got a lot of resources to support our clients. We’ve got pretty healthy social media accounts, blogs, and a YouTube Channel,” he says.

Deathe finds support from the other trainer who works with K.I.S.S., Karen Engwall. Engwall is an elementary teacher turned dog trainer whom Deathe met when he was mentoring a dog training organization.

“We jokingly call her the Puppy Princess of K.I.S.S. Dog Training because she loves working with puppies,” Deathe says. “The puppies are definitely her wheelhouse.”

As for the future of K.I.S.S. Dog Training, Deathe hopes to continue to grow as a business, and as an individual.

“Of our eight books, two of them are now audio books on Audible.com. It’s my goal to get all the books completed on audio. I’d also like to hire two to four more trainers and work in a consultant role. I’d love to see my job branch into travel and public speaking,” Deathe says. “If you’re not moving forward, you’re standing still.”

And standing still is out of the question for a dog trainer.

Mike Deathe is pretty sharp when it comes to all things dogs. Here’s a quick rundown of his answers to a few big pet ponderances:

• How can I stop my dog from being naughty? “If we can reward good behavior, they’ll repeat it. If we ignore or redirect bad behavior, we can turn bad behaviors into good behaviors.”

• How much force can I use with a dog? “If you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it with a 2-year-old, I probably wouldn’t be doing it with a dog.”

• What breed of dog should I get? “I think it’s important for people to look themselves in the mirror to see what kind of personality they have (before) choosing a dog. Are you a runner? You want (an animal) that can get out there and run with you all day long like a German shorthair. If you want to do activities with a dog, get a herding breed because they’re smart.”

• What’s the secret to training dogs? “It’s really not training the dogs. It’s training the humans. The dogs aren’t usually the ones with the problem.”

• Thoughts on cats? “Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.”

913-269-7595

www.KISSDogTraining.com