Kevin Ballance is a dog trainer in the Greater Metro Atlanta area. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. He’s had a passion for canine behavior since childhood. Kevin combines his educational background and years of experience with dogs to develop creative and reliable ways to teach and modify canine behaviors. Because his background is firmly grounded in education, Kevin understands that each human and dog has his or her own individual (and fascinating) ways of learning. His method of training is called Choice Teaching, which consists of empowering dogs to think critically and make choices on their own. He is passionate about creating the bond between dogs and their human counterparts by teaching them how to work together and solve problems along the way. Kevin only uses positive methods in his teaching; he’s absolutely adamant that all teaching should be non-violent and involve no form of intimidation.

In addition to having a private studio of dog and human students, Kevin also teaches dogs at Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization which trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities, seizure conditions, or other special needs. At Canine Assistants, he works with dogs on very basic to advanced behaviors, scent discrimination, behavior modification, and canine cognition in order to create sound and stable service and companion animals. Kevin is the primary teacher and director of the Canine Assistants Volunteer Team, which is comprised of nearly 500 individuals. Additionally, he is a lecturer and dog handling instructor in each Canine Assistants Recipient Camp and Jennifer Arnold’s annual Teach the Teacher seminar, a week-long educational program for individuals aspiring to become service dog trainers. Kevin also travels around the country with his Canine Assistants “spokesdog” Henry giving presentations and workshops to raise awareness about service dog teams and positive (rewards-based) training methods. Kevin and Henry have been featured on several local and national news shows. Kevin’s dogs have also been featured on eHow Pets, a YouTube Channel in which Victoria Stilwell gives dog training tips and advice.

Kevin lives in Alpharetta, GA with his partner and their five canine kids: two golden retrievers, two chihuahuas, and a border collie.