World-traveling dog trainer brings talents home, opens dog lodge in central Ohio

ALEXANDRIA, Ohio ( WCMH )  – Central Ohio is home to many amazing people who have made a big difference, not only locally, but for some, across the world.

Joel Slaven, a local animal trainer, is one of those people. Slaven who has trained animals for movies, theme park shows, and much more, and now he’s keeping his talents close to home.

Columbus’ own Jack Hanna helped Slaven get his start, and he took off from there. From SeaWorld to Busch Gardens, and from the United States to China; his animal training became known world-wide.

Now, Slaven, 71, is volunteering with Canine Companions, and running Joel Slaven’s Dog Lodge, where he trains pups and boards dogs in his state-of-the-art facility.

Slaven started his journey to becoming an animal trainer as a kid by raising a rabbit.

“Then I started raising mice, and guinea pigs in my parents’ basement. When I was 10, I started my first business… I had guinea pigs, and hamsters, and white mice, I used to sell them to all the pet stores,” said Slaven.

Slaven had a deep love for animals. He went from selling to pet stores, to being a jockey. Then he started training race horses for Darby Dan Farms. Eventually, he started volunteering at the Columbus Zoo.

“That was in the 70s, right around when Jack Hanna came to the zoo,” said Slaven.

Hanna was the one who helped Slaven get his interviews as an animal trainer at Cypress Gardens in Florida. From there, he trained animals for shows at Six Flags.

Eventually, Anheuser Busch brought him on to train animals for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens locations across the country. That included SeaWorld in Ohio, where he did the All Star Mutts show. He did some film work, too.

“Road to Wellville; Disney’s, That Darn Cat!; we did Pets 4D!” said Slaven.

NBC4’s Monica Day interviewed him when he toured with The 101 Dalmatians Musical. Slaven took 21 Dalmatians from rescues, and trained them for the show.

“That was one of my, I’ll say greatest honors, or most fun things, was to have animals that I rescued and trained, perform at Madison Square Gardens,” said Slaven.

In fact, all of the animals in Slaven’s shows were rescued. And live shows were his true forte, like Surfin’ Safari at the Columbus Zoo.

Show work shut down with the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s when Slaven decided to take a step back. He then opened Joel Slaven’s Dog Lodge in Alexandria, Ohio. That’s where he offers dog training and boarding.

“I wanted to do a facility where the dogs could come and really have a good time, and get a lot of enrichment, and not be confined in small kennels,” said Slaven.

The place was booked within 6-months of opening, and now he’s expanding. He plans to triple in size.

“We have over 22 acres. Part of it is fenced, where the dogs can just be taken off leashes and they can run. If the dogs are social, we can let them play under supervision with other dogs,” said Slaven.

And Slaven gives back, too. Organizations across the state reap the benefits of his expertise. That includes one of our favorites, Canine Companions. Slaven actually has three of the Canine Companions release dogs. He’s also raised tens of thousands of dollars for the nonprofit.

“Every Wednesday night, I also help Canine Companions train the puppies,” said Slaven.

Anytime a Canine Companions puppy-raiser is traveling, Slaven boards their dogs at the dog lodge for free.

“As far as I can remember back, I just always loved animals,” said Slaven.

Many of Slaven’s accolades include six IAPPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) awards, which he equates to an actor winning an academy award. He says the thing he’s most proud of, is that he and his team took over 3,000 animals out of shelters, and they found homes for every single one of them.

For more information on Joel Slaven’s Dog Lodge, click here .

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