I'm Tommy Stark — The Dog Director. I've spent my whole adult life learning to understand dogs from the inside out, then teaching the people who love them. This is the long version — the dogs, the breeding, the resort, the move west, and everything I learned along the way.
"Perfecting dogs by correcting people."
I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and my whole story starts with a Rottweiler named Barin in 1998 — a rescue I lost far too soon to bone cancer. Then came Zeus, another rescue, lost the same way. When my first AKC-registered female, Sasha, also passed young, I made myself a promise to understand what makes a healthy, sound dog. That promise pulled me into the show and trial world.
I became one of the top handlers in the country, learned from the best handlers in Europe, started importing dogs, and went deep into breeding and behavior. When I gained full custody of my two infants, I made the hard call to drop out of my law program and go all-in on dogs. I taught classes from everything my mentors in the U.S. and Europe had given me, became a PetSmart Area Trainer across seven Atlanta stores — training the trainers — and kept building from there into a daycare, a training center, and eventually a full dog resort.
Today I'm on my 30th adult Rottweiler. My dogs have earned titles in Schutzhund, therapy, herding, conformation and obedience, and I've placed dogs in Canada, Costa Rica, Turkey and across the U.S. What began as grief over three dogs became a life's work.
Two decades with dogs, in a few minutes.
In the late '90s, Barin's intelligence and loyalty sparked something I couldn't put down. I devoted myself to studying pedigrees, genetics, and old international competition results — reading critiques on thousands of Rottweilers, cataloging which lines produced what. It was the beginning of the path from passionate enthusiast to certified professional.
In 2003 I took the first real step and started Canine Behavior Solutions — my first venture into behavior modification and consulting. Four years later, in 2007, I broadened it into iSpeakDog! to take on more severe behavioral cases. It was the "Dog Whisperer" era and everyone kept calling me that. My answer was always the same: "I don't whisper, I speak." It stuck — and it's still the heart of what I do.
Alongside training, in 2006 I founded von der Stark Rottweilers — "of the strong." My breeding was meticulous and deeply researched. I'd spend months finding the right stud to complement a female, weighing genetics, faults and qualities. It often meant importing semen or traveling to Europe for a live breeding. I never bred to American lines; every breeding I ever did traces all the way back to the three Rottweilers from 1911 that were revamped as police dogs. I bred to the German ADRK standard, and always in the same order: health first, then temperament and workability, then structure. The dedication didn't stop at conception — I managed each female's nutrition and conditioning, watched over every whelping, and spent weeks raising the pups.
In 2009 I started planning a dog resort. A visit to my parents on St. Simons Island, Georgia revealed how little quality daycare and training existed there — so I seized the opportunity. Paws at Play opened in 2011, and by 2014 I'd expanded it into Island Tailwaggers, a full-service dog resort with daycare, boarding, grooming, training and retail. I hosted more than 11,000 clients and worked 7am to 7pm running the facility, the staff, and the packs. After a decade, I realized what I loved most was the part where I taught owners and their dogs — so I sold the resort.
Quality ran through everything, including the bowl. I fed a raw B.A.R.F. diet years before pre-made versions existed, balancing the diets of 8 to 20 competition dogs at a time and starting every puppy on raw. With guidance from a mentor who held a Ph.D. in canine digestion, I went on to consult thousands of owners on nutrition — because so many behavior problems, allergies and weight issues actually start with what's in the dish.
Over the years I've accredited and certified 42 dog trainers, groomed every kind of coat, handled dogs in international trials and shows for over a decade as one of the country's top Rottweiler handlers, and worked with rescues, shelters and humane societies on staff training and their toughest cases. I've been featured in newspapers, magazines and breed newsletters, named Best Dog Daycare by Elegant Island Living, and given the keynote — "The Art of Dog Training" — at the Art Unleashed charity event. The recognition is nice; the dogs are the reward.
In 2018 I moved west to Dana Point with my faithful companion Bhaji and built my reputation from the ground up all over again. In 2019 I began co-hosting monthly community pack walks with Emily Haley, The Dog Listener — now 150+ dogs at every walk, with one summer 2022 turnout of 167 dogs covered by the OC Register. And on Mother's Day 2023, I opened a private, members-only dog park named in loving memory of my mom: Dee Dog Park.
2006 – present (currently dormant)
"Of the strong." Scientific breeding of healthy, sound, working Rottweilers to the German ADRK standard.
2003 – 2007
My first behavior-modification and consulting practice, plus group classes — the foundation everything else grew from.
2007 – present
"Some whisper, I Speak." Born to take on the toughest behavior cases — and still the name over the door today.
2011 – 2013
My first facility on St. Simons Island, Georgia — daycare, boarding and training under one roof.
2014 – 2018
"A place where friends meet." The full dog resort: daycare, boarding, grooming, training and retail.
2018 – present
In-home behavior & training across South Orange County — plus Dee Dog Park and THE Pack Walk of OC.
~20,000 dogs trained · 11,000 temperament evaluations · 42 trainers accredited · 112 puppies raised · 30,000+ hours of pack observation.
Beyond everyday obedience and behavior, I also offer service-dog task training, dog sports & show handling, nutrition consulting, and guidance on choosing a breeder or the right puppy. If it involves a dog, chances are I've spent years on it — just ask.
Register once, tell me your availability, and I'll come to you anywhere in South Orange County.