Houston’s Promise
Our origin story.
Bill and Houston, sharing a moment.
Houston’s Promise
You may notice the paw prints featured throughout our website, business cards, and company logo. Those prints belong to a dog who will always be special to us: Houston.
Houston was a two-and-a-half-year-old pit bull who had lived with the same family since he was eight weeks old. After being abruptly discarded, he was passed from person to person before ultimately arriving at a shelter where Bill was volunteering at the time.
When Houston first arrived, he was extremely fearful and displayed defensive behavior toward people. Over time, however, he formed a strong bond with Bill and began making meaningful progress with a small number of trusted handlers. Despite that progress, Houston’s fear and distrust ultimately proved too much for him to overcome safely.
After a final incident in which Houston injured someone, the difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize him on May 29th, 2025, with Bill and one of Houston’s favorite people by his side.
Houston’s case taught us an important lesson: difficult dogs often fail not because they are beyond help, but because they lack the structure, resources, and skilled support needed to succeed.
Our mission is simple: No more Houstons.
We believe that many difficult cases are not simply “bad dogs,” but dogs who lack the structure, support, training, and resources needed to succeed. Through Canine Consultants, we work to help dogs and their people build safer, more stable relationships while also supporting shelters and rescues working with challenging cases.
Our work includes behavior consultations and evaluations, shelter and rescue support, animal welfare consulting, volunteer and staff training, and helping organizations develop systems that allow more dogs to succeed.
Our goal is simple: safer environments, better trained handlers, and happier, healthier dogs with better outcomes.
Houston’s paw prints serve as a constant reminder of the promise we carry forward - to do everything in our power to help the next dog have a better chance.