Joel Silverman
Joel Silverman (born December 21, 1958) is an animal trainer who hosted Good Dog U on Animal Planet from 1999-2009. He was raised in the San Fernando Valley by his parents, who were both teachers.
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[edit] Early life
The first animal Silverman ever trained was the family dog, Shadow, a wire-haired mutt. Anyone who knew Joel in the 1970's knew he would be an animal trainer, because of all the things he trained Shadow to do, and the way he related to her. That style he developed at the age of 13 has never changed, and even today when you see him on TV or read his books.
As a teenager, he and his family spent their summer vacations in San Diego and would go to SeaWorld every year. After watching the trainers riding the killer whales every year, Silverman developed an incredible fascination watching the whales and trainers. At the age of 16, he eventually got hired to pick up trash at SeaWorld and lived out of their travel trailer.
After helping out the trainers and a lot of hard work, Silverman was hired as a trainer. He started off with Pacific and Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins, California sea lions, and eventually killer whales.
In 1983 Silverman shifted his focus into training animals for movies TV shows and commercials, and to this day, has been training animals for film and TV.
From 1988 to 1992 Joel was the trainer of Dreyfuss from the TV series Empty Nest.
In 1989, Joel got a chance to host his first dog training video called, Joel Silverman's Hollywood Dog Training Program. It was sold as an infomercial and had sold over 300,000 videos at that time.
In 1999, Joel got a chance to host his first TV series called, "GOOD DOG U" which aired on Animal Planet from 1999-2009.
[edit] Present
Joel's style is what he calls a "hybrid" method which is a cross between parts of training he learned from training dolphins, sea lions, and killer whales, as well as the training of dogs.
For the past 14 years, Joel has been closely involved in the animal training and coordination in nearly every national IAMS commercial and print ad. For the past 5 years, Joel had also coordinated and trained the animals in the Purina Pro Plan commercials.
Joel's passion rests in his desire to drastically reduce the number of animals returned to animal shelters, humane societies, and rescue groups through educating the public through his books, DVDs, and TV series. Currently, Joel resides in the Reno, Nevada area where he is using the Nevada Humane Society as a home base for portions of his new syndicated TV series, "DOG & CAT TRAINING WITH JOEL SILVERMAN", as well as personal appearances and book signings.
[edit] Videos
- 1989 - The Hollywood Dog Training Program
- 1999 - A series of videos for the PETCO pet store chain
- 2009–Present - Joel Silverman's Companions for Life Dog Training DVD Series
[edit] Books
- What Color is Your Dog? (2009) - Explains how to train a dog based on the dog's personality.
- Take 2 - Training Solutions to Rescued Dogs (2010) - Explains how to find the right dog to adopt, as well helps the reader with problem solving issues.
- "Bond with Your Heart, Train with Your Brain" (2012) - A self help book for parents, teachers, managers, and supervisors for building a better relationship.. all animal based.
[edit] Television series
- Hosted Good Dog U on Animal Planet - 1999 to 2010
- Hosted, wrote, and directed Dog & Cat Training with Joel Silverman- 2012-
