Youth at Ayres House make a pet connection with ‘Zen Dog’

By David N. Krough, TJJD Communications — 

A small group of TJJD youth are starting to learn the ways of the “Zen Dog,” incorporating dog training skills with healing trauma and rooting out aggressive behavior in animals as well as humans.

Last week, The Zen Dog professional trainer Matt Beisner and his 12-year-old dog Deja Blue made their first visit to the Ayres Halfway House.

Beisner may be best-known from the Disney+ show “Dog: Impossible” and Netflix’s “Inside the Mind of a Dog,” and appearances in many other media outlets featuring his work with dogs. He offers online and in-person dog training and consulting and develops dog-care programs for detention and recovery facilities. Beisner also leads free virtual workshops worldwide and works with Austin Pets Alive.

He started the dog training and coaching business after beginning recovery from addiction himself, getting nationally certified in dog training and then crafting his own informed approach to start “The Zen Dog.”

The opportunity to work with the youth at TJJD and others in similar situations is something Beisner said he has wanted to do for a long time.

“This has been on my list of things for years,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to do this kind of service.”

The Zen dog education is one of a growing number of animal programs at TJJD, like BARK (Building Attachment and Resiliency K-9s) at Gainesville State Juvenile Correctional Facility, which takes in dogs whose owners are facing temporary medical or housing crises. The program helps youth learn patience, take on responsibilities and learn marketable animal handling skills.

The CATS (Creating Attachment Through Safety) program at the Mart campus began in 2024 involving cats in need of adoption. CATS helps the girls learn similar life skills at the dorm they call “Whisker Wonderland.”

“TJJD has seen significant positive impact on our youth involved in our canine and feline programs,” Executive Director Shandra Carter said. “Not only do the animals provide positive therapeutic impact in the ability to develop healthy connection and relationships, they also incentivize positive youth behavior.  We look forward to building out more programs for our youth.”

Beisner’s Zen Dog techniques are not the traditional dog training with whistles or clickers involving command and punishment. Rather, they rely on reforming the animal-human relationship. The focus for their first session at Ayres House was primarily an introduction to the dog world and context for behavior, consent, and body language.

Deja Blue is a Blue Heeler-Pit mix and the last of 22 dogs he and his wife have owned and trained over the past several years. One of Deja Blue’s hind legs shakes from tremors that she’s had since Beisner has owned her.

“All the dogs in our home had really serious aggression histories” previously to being taken in by him and his wife, Beisner says. “One-by-one they’ve been rehomed or they’ve passed and so she’s the last dog in our house.”

Ayres Youth Visit with Deja Blue

At Ayres House, Beisner brought Deja Blue out into the backyard where the boys took a seat at the table. After everyone got settled, Deja did a typical dog shake-it-off and Beisner explained that dogs use that movement to literally readjust their brains from the stress and fear setting, back to the part that leads to clearer thinking.

“She doesn’t (currently) have any aggression issues,” Beisner said. “I was able to give her the attention that she needed all along, because her behavior wasn’t the one that was most problematic and now that she and I are just having our relationship together, this (meeting) would have been impossible … honestly, even two years ago.”

Aggressive dogs are largely reacting out of fear, Beisner says. They suffer from a lack of training in their critical formative years, or neglect and possible abuse.

“Understanding body language is necessary to stay alive,” he says. “And having a context for behavior can take a lot of the judgment out of the behavior too. Our motto is that there are no bad dogs.”

Their session revolved around Beisner discussing dog behaviors and why they act the way they do, whether it’s their body positioning, their ears and tails moving or how stress manifests itself physically.

It’s a kind of two-way therapy for the dogs, the youth and their caretakers as each begins to relate to their own emotions, behavior and body language.

After not too long, youth L.W. was able to approach Deja where she sat in the grass. He was gentle about reaching out and she seemed happy to get the pets.

L.W. explained he had previously trained three dogs at home and was eager to get back to having a pet.

“I’m a dog whisperer,” he said.

Aside from a couple of dried sweet potato treats as incentives, Beisner used no tools, toys or props, just a low-key time for Deja Blue and the youths to observe, adjust and get to know one another.

The boys talked about their favorite breeds and dogs they had known throughout their lives so far. One of the youths was bite-wary and didn’t really want to socialize or reach out to the dog, but Beisner said that’s not uncommon.

“My experience working with a lot of other youths in different capacities is that consent is rarely available for the youth,” he said. “I’m going to keep an eye on (that youth), because I suspect that there’s something that she’s going to be able to do for him.”

The youths’ ability to share their own experiences with someone like Beisner, who can relate to their circumstances in many cases, also provides a positive outlet.

“They can ask me anything,” he says. “Between all the recovery meetings and really making a commitment as a public figure who’s in recovery, I’ve never dodged an interview. I never dodge a question.” Beisner said he was genuinely impressed with the youths at Ayres and their interactions with the dog so far.

“I am amazed at how well she did,” Beisner said of their first session. “I’m just really impressed at how they did. If she’s more social, which I expect, we’ll be seeing progress, which I think you know she’ll draw them out and they’ll draw her out. I’m shocked at how social (she was.)”

The Zen Dog program will last from four to eight weeks, depending on what works for the youth.

Ayres Superintendent Dr. Ewell Gordon said he thought Beisner and Deja Blue were well-received at this first visit.

“Programs like these allow the youth to see that there are options after this experience and that you can learn in different ways – just like the animal – to adjust to stress,” he said.