It Started With Bosco
For Brett, BOSS Co. Dog Training & Boarding started long ago and it started with Bosco.
Bosco was Brett’s German Shepherd, and the challenges they experienced together pushed Brett to learn more about canine behaviour, health and the way dogs experience the world around them.
When Bosco later developed significant health issues around 6 years old, including EPI and diabetes, they were told he may only make 4 months. Brett immersed himself in understanding what he was dealing with and how he could help. Bosco lived to 13 and a half, and the experience left a lasting mark.
That curiosity eventually grew into a much deeper interest in behaviour. Brett spent time learning through a number of different trainers in the GTA, and volunteering time at Humane Society environments, including the Toronto Humane Society, and continued developing his understanding of dogs well beyond basic obedience.
An Idea That Never Really Went Away
The idea for BOSS Co. dates back more than 20 years. Life took Brett in a different direction for a while, including into the corporate world, but the idea of working with dogs never completely disappeared.
Eventually, he came back to it — and went all in.
Brett pursued his formal education in canine training and behaviour at Canine Academy in Campbellville, Ontario, under the instruction and mentorship of Sue McMullen, founder of Canine Academy. He completed the professional trainer program and graduated with honours, building on years of experience and a lifelong passion for understanding dogs and why they behave the way they do.
That education helped shape the philosophy that would become the foundation of BOSS Co. Brett began building the kind of business he had envisioned years earlier — one where training went beyond commands, behaviour came first, the root cause mattered, and every dog was understood as an individual.
Building BOSS Co. From the Ground Up
Then came the property — and a lot of work.
Brett took his vision for BOSS Co. and helped build the facility from the ground up. Working alongside contractors and taking on much of the work himself, he installed nearly two acres of fencing and thoughtfully designed the property with separate fenced areas, zones and spaces to safely accommodate dogs with different personalities, behaviours and needs.
Every part of the facility was created with purpose. From how dogs move through the property to how they are introduced, trained, exercised and given space to decompress, the environment was designed around the dogs who would come through it.
That same thoughtfulness reflects the philosophy behind BOSS Co.: training should go beyond commands.
Behaviour, psychology, emotional regulation, environment and the individual dog all matter. Understanding why a behaviour is happening is just as important as teaching a dog what to do instead.
The result is a facility built not just to house and train dogs, but to provide an environment where they can feel safe, learn and make meaningful progress.
Looking Beyond the Behaviour
That approach still shapes the way Brett works today.
BOSS Co. has worked with dogs facing everything from everyday training challenges to significant behavioural concerns, including dogs others had given up on.
Those experiences reinforced something Brett strongly believes: a dog should never be reduced to a label or a behaviour.
He wants to understand what is happening underneath it.
Today, BOSS Co. has worked with thousands of dogs, but the philosophy behind the business is still rooted in the same curiosity that started with Bosco years ago.
Learn the dog. Understand the behaviour. Then build from there.
