Decoding Dogs: What'd You Do That For?

Our goal is to teach you to understand and communicate with your dog to achieve desired traits and correct unwanted behaviors.

Do you ever feel like you're speaking French and your dog only understands Italian? Like with any relationship, communication is key. Through real-life stories and experiences acquired over the past 15 years, Los Angeles-based dog trainer, Cassian Sandeberg, informs, enlightens and entertains while decoding the confusion behind the human-dog relationship. His unique perspective and philosophy will give you the tools to understand and communicate in a way that’ll have you speaking Dog in no time.

Born and raised in rural England, Cassian Sandeberg spent countless hours surrounded by animals throughout his childhood. Never having fewer than two dogs at any given time, his parents kept a seemingly open-door policy when it came to pets. Cassian was fascinated and enthralled by his family dogs and the relationships they shared with them. In 1995 Cassian moved to Los Angeles and quickly missed having a dog. After meeting a pit bull named Daisy at a friend’s house, he made the decision to find and adopt a dog like her; athletic and powerful but sweet and loving with people. Soon after, Cassian visited his local city shelter and adopted Chief, a pit bull puppy. That trip to the shelter profoundly affected him. Seeing first-hand the crowded rows of unwanted dogs, Cassian knew he had to help in any way possible. Through volunteering at local rescues and shelters, he suddenly began to realize just how many dogs were surrendered due to behavioral issues. This realization led him to start working with these animals, as well as with trainers, gaining experience helping to train and rehome dogs. Then, in 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit. Local rescues rallied around this disaster, bringing in dogs from New Orleans who had survived the storm. Working with these dogs as they arrived solidified Cassian's passion and drive not only to train dogs, but also to understand them and effectively communicate on a level they could both understand. From this, Decoding Dogs was born.