Assistant Trainer
Lani comes to SteveBrooksK9U with 3 years of experience in the veterinary field under her belt. As the previous receptionist of a veterinary hospital and the current receptionist of an emergency veterinary hospital, she has had a variety of exposure to different elements of pet health and behavior. When she's not at SteveBrooksK9U, she is working on finishing her doctorate in psychology where she has been working on achieving her dream of combining the calming effect of dogs in a therapeutic context. On the weekends and during most evenings, she can be found taking her 10 year old Papillon/Spaniel mix and her 5 year old Chihuahua/Terrier mix to dog beach, the dog park, hiking, or walking around and making friends in Toluca Lake.
Wife & Partner
Steve’s wife, Yasmine, is an integral part of K9U as well as a renowned stylist with 30 years experience in hair, makeup and fashion.
Yasmine was born in Iraq and moved to Chicago when she was 13. But she didn’t stop there. She worked in London, New York and San Francisco during her tenure as an art director and teacher with the Vidal Sassoon Salon and Academy. She maintains a presence in the beauty industry today through a limited schedule at L Salon on LA’s trendy Beverly Boulevard.
It may surprise you to learn that, although she’s married to one of the country’s foremost dog trainers, cats are Yasmine’s first love. “When I got into dogs, it was a whole different love, especially when I met Steve. He trained my dog—or me, rather!—three times. The rest was history.”
Steve and Yasmine have been together since 1999, and were married in June 2006. Yasmine’s exposure to Steve’s work—and all those dogs—has definitely had an impact on her.
“I fall in love with all the dogs he trains. I don’t want them to leave. Dogs are our family. Learning dog training made me a stronger, more assertive person.”
Yasmine is a big part of the reason K9U has such a serene atmosphere. Her soothing presence adds to the aromatherapy, massage, candles and classical music programs that make SteveBrooksK9U unique among dog training facilities. Says Yasmine, “I have an innate way to relax dogs using my voice and my touch.”
Queen of K9U
Yasmine’s dog is a pit bull mix who joined Sven on the K9 Fusion CD to sing backup vocals and appears in the K9 Fusion music video.
As the queen of K9U, Legali helps Steve with training by helping to make the new dogs comfortable, showing them how to act, and generally being the teacher’s pet (and we mean in that in a good way).
K9U Cat (Honorary Dog)
Perhaps the most unusual staff member at SteveBrooksK9U isn’t a canine at all. It’s Steve and Yasmine’s cat, Fuego Caliente. He helps by being a great distraction but also a great friend. In fact, Fuego and Legali are bunkmates.