4th Annual Working Dog Seminar

Grassroots K9 is thrilled to announce our 4th Annual Working Dog Seminar. Get ready for the ultimate working dog weekend!

Featuring renowned trainers Mike Lilley, Ricky Rivera, and Steve Leitzell, this weekend promises to be packed with valuable insights and hands-on training.

The weekend will cover:

• Bite work, Grip Development, and Troubleshooting
• Competitive and high-level obedience
• Tracking with Mike Lilley

Stay tuned for the full schedule, coming soon!

We're excited to welcome special instructor Lucas Chaston from Aegis K9, teaching Decoy Grappling. Plus, don't miss out on our lineup of vendors offering top-notch products and services.

And what's a weekend without great food? Enjoy lunch by FatBoi Grill!

Camping, RVs, and trailers are permitted on the property at an additional cost, so you can make the most of your experience.

Get ready for a weekend of learning, networking, and fun! Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details.

We can't wait to see you there!

Learn about Instructor's:

 Mike Lilley : 

At a very early age, Mike developed a deeply ingrained love for dogs and the training that went

into making them operational. His father would have 15 to 20 hunting dogs in their kennels at any

given time along with multiple litters of puppies. Mike and his younger brother were tasked with

taking care of the dogs everyday which taught him early on how to properly tend to the needs of the

animals. As Mike grew older, his love for raising and training dogs flooded over into his own line of

dogs. Throughout the years, Mike has worked with many talented trainers where he gained a wealth of

knowledge which he put into training countless working dogs.

Mike became a State Law Enforcement Officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Commission (FWC) at the age of 24. During his career with FWC, he was voted Officer of the Year

for his region and also the NWTF Officer of the Year. He was a member of the FWC Special

Operations Group (SOG) as well as a founding member of FWC's Resource Protection Unit (RPU).

After a few years, Mike went through FWC's interview and rigorous physical assessment in order to

become a member of the FWC K9 program. He was ultimately selected where he was partnered with

his first K9 partner, K9 Roscoe. After completing a seven-month K9 school, Mike and K9 Roscoe

went back to their respective region certified in tracking, article recovery and fish and game detection

through NAPWDA. Mike and K9 Roscoe were responsible for countless arrests along with assisting

other agencies in the recovery of crucial pieces of evidence that would have otherwise gone undetected

allowing dangerous criminals to walk the streets.

After a couple of years, Mike decided to capitalize on an opportunity to work a dual-purpose

patrol dog with the Hendry County Sheriff's Office (HCSO). Mike travelled to Royal Police Dogs in

Tallahassee where he tested several candidates but ultimately selected a 10-month-old Belgian Malinois

named “Neko”. Mike and K9 Neko attended their patrol school with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's

Office K9 Unit (PBSO.) After completing over 800 hours of training, Mike and K9 Neko certified in

Patrol, Tracking and Narcotics detection through FLECA. Mike was invited back to PBSO where he

assisted with instructing a large K9 school with teams from multiple agencies. After completing almost

two years training, he was given his Police K9 Trainer's certification.

Mike officially became a professional dog trainer in 2016 and was promoted to Sargent over the

K9 Unit. Soon after, he had successfully trained multiple police K9's for his agency along with

assisting other agencies with problem solving issues in order to take their K9 Unit to the next level.

Mike and his wife, Suzi, opened their pet training business, New Age K-9 Services, where they helped

many pet dog owners restore their relationship with their furry family members. Mike and Suzi moved

to Knoxville, Tennessee and opened a dog training business, MLK9, to better serve clients with the best

training possible. Mike works with pet dogs in basic and advanced obedience along with civilian scent

detection and law enforcement K9s. He also is an instructor for K9s United providing modern training

techniques to agencies in need across the United States. Additionally, Mike is a Silver and Gold school

graduate under the teaching of Bart and Michael Bellon in the world renowned trademarked training

method known as NePoPo. This training gives Mike the ability to utilize remote training collars in a

modern and professional manner to better communicate with the dogs in his care.

The training techniques that Mike uses are ever evolving which gives the client and their dogs a

plethora of tools and techniques to make their relationship rock solid for a lifetime.

Stephen Leitzell and Ricardo Rivera:

Founders and head trainers of Spectrum Canine’s Police Dog Program, have over 24 years of combined experience training dogs and police K9s. They are the head trainers and contractors for several law enforcement agencies in California, providing dog sales, basic handler schools for patrol and detection, and weekly maintenance training services. In addition to these contracts, they have hosted schools such as Basic and Advanced Ecollar, Police K9 Decoy School, and High Stress Scenario Based Training for countless other agencies throughout the country. Through years of experience and seeing firsthand what sort of training is effective and what isn’t, they have built a program that has produced police dogs with unmatched results and deployments on the street but with a high level of control. As the head trainers and contractors for multiple prominent police agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area in California with high volumes of calls for service, they know that results and effective dogs are just as important as minimizing liability and that the two go hand in hand.

The Spectrum Canine program has taken agencies from having a small number of deployments and an overall lack of faith in the effectiveness of police dogs to the unit being utilized on a daily basis and the department building trust and desire to use the vast applications of the K9 teams. They have also taken agencies from the ground up, helping them start their first K9 program and setting them up for success by selecting the right type of dog and providing training that leads to predictable results on the street.

Police K9s when trained and deployed with modern methods are one of the most effective tools and deterrents a department can have, and it is the goal of Spectrum Canine to provide dogs, training courses, and maintenance training that keeps their clients on the cutting edge of the capabilities of police dogs. Spectrum Canine is committed to producing street-worthy dogs with predictable results and training handlers that are confident and know the capabilities of their K9 and can be an asset to their agency and not a liability.