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Photo by Robb Long
Curtis Johnson, who runs the dog behavorial business Citizen Kanine, with 10 dogs outside of Java Jack’s Café. “In a group setting, they really do well and they pick up sort of a calm energy from one another,” he says.
By Jake Weyer
 There’s nothing low-key about Curtis Johnson’s business.
When he’s working, heads turn, mouths drop; onlookers can’t help but stare.
There’s just something about a guy walking 10 dogs at the same time that commands attention.
“We kind of tease him about being the dog whisperer on the block,” said neighbor Elizabeth Erdahl. “He just really has a command of dogs.”
Johnson is the founder and sole proprietor of Citizen Kanine, a dog behavioral business he runs from his home at 46th Street & Aldrich Avenue. He does everything from helping with dog selection to training, problem solving, and dog walking.
His surprisingly orderly daily group walks, which have included up to a dozen dogs, have earned him a bit of neighborhood fame. But Johnson is nothing but humble.
“I’ve been called a dog whisperer. Personally, it’s not one of those things, a label that I would apply,” he said. “I like dogs. I know dogs. I communicate well with dogs. If that’s dog whispering, then I’m a dog whisperer. It’s a constant effort to try and figure out with different dogs how to communicate with them and get [their behaviors] turned around.”
Johnson, 46, has been a dog lover his whole life. He rescued his first pooch off the streets of South Minneapolis as a kid and has spent the better part of his life training hunting dogs.
A couple years ago, neighbors started taking notice of Johnson’s well-behaved black Labs and began asking him for advice.
“There’s sort of an axiom that a tired dog is a good dog,” Johnson said. “So I just started working with dogs and walking them … and pretty soon people were leaving notes for me at the coffee shop and chasing me down the street, asking if I could work with their dogs.” Johnson started a website for Citizen Kanine and he leaves business cards at 46th Street & Bryant Avenue coffee shop Java Jacks, but that’s the extent of his marketing. He stops by the coffee shop with a pack of dogs every day, so spreading the word about his business isn’t difficult.
“All he has to do is come here and that’s his advertisement,” said Java Jacks employee Julie Rathmann. “People will sit and have coffee and watch what a great job he does, and that’s his advertisement right there.”
Johnson’s canine crew varies from day to day. On a walk in early March, he had a Newfoundland, a golden retriever, two Australian shepherds, a yellow Lab, a puggle [pug and beagle mix], two black Labs, a standard poodle, and a German short-haired pointer.
Whenever a dog started to look distracted, Johnson said “sssst!” and the troublemaker quickly paid attention. The sound is similar to one used on National Geographic Channel’s popular TV show, “Dog Whisperer.” Johnson said he’s used the sound to get a dog’s attention since he was a kid.
He also knows the names of all the dogs he works with and the specific characteristics of each breed.
The puggle, Oliver, for instance, is easily distracted by scents, so Johnson has to make sure the energetic little dog doesn’t follow his nose and entangle the pack’s network of ropes and carabiners.
On the early-March walk, the 10 dogs didn’t bark, pull or get out of line once.
“In a group setting, they really do well and they pick up sort of a calm energy from one another,” Johnson said. “They’re pack animals, so they all look forward to it.”
With all those dogs, bathroom stops are inevitable, so Johnson keeps his pockets full of plastic bags. The dogs are good about stopping for each other and Johnson said he’s never had a mutiny for any reason.
Walks are normally about four miles and Johnson normally stops for a “cool down” at Java Jacks. He’s a familiar site for many at the shop.
“All the regulars know him,” said area resident Kris Martinka, who frequents Java Jacks. “It’s a very interesting situation because the new people just come up and are really agog.”
Lynda Roberts, another area resident and Java Jacks customer, was standing outside the shop watching Johnson get ready for the walk in early March.
“I want to thank you so much,” she told him.
Johnson helped Roberts find Little Lady, a cocker spaniel that has helped her husband cope with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Erdahl, who owns the puggle, Oliver, and a black Lab named Molly, said Johnson has been a big help in calming her dogs and teaching her to be a better owner.
“He’s taught me to use fewer words, lower my voice, be calm; [but] I still can’t do it the way he can,” Erdahl said. “It’s amazing.”
And Oliver and Molly love being in that attention-grabbing group. They perk up whenever Johnson is at the door, ready to take them on another tour of the town.
“They like to be with their pack,” Erdahl said. “They know when he’s coming.”
For more information about Citizen Kanine, visit citizenkanine.net.
Reach Jake Weyer at 436-4367 or jweyer@mnpubs.com.
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Art beat // Closing and opening
By Dylan Thomas
Art of This leaving current space, but won’t cease to existLYNDALE — A few weeks before they planned to shutter their Nicollet Avenue art space for good, John Marks and David Petersen of Art of This Gallery reflected on “Open Summer,” their ongoing, open door, last blast summer project. A free-for-all residency program that eventually enrolled 80-some artists, the slowly percolating “Open Summer” was building steam as it headed into its, and the gallery’s, grand finale at the end of August. And for all the potential pitfalls in telling some seven dozen people where the gallery key is hidden, about the worst thing that happened all summer was when someone spilled salsa in the refrigerator and never cleaned it up.
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On the mat // Green yogis in Linden Hills
By Sarah McKenzie
Devanadi Yoga, a new studio near Lake Harriet, is a trailblazer in the local yoga community. The small 525-square-foot studio, tucked behind the Bruley Center on West 43rd Street in Linden Hills, is the first yoga studio in the state to be certified by the Green Yoga Association for its environmentally friendly efforts. The studio’s green practices include using non-VOC paint, controlling the thermostat to keep the building energy efficient and encouraging students to walk, bus or bike to class. Tanya Boigenzahn Sowards, studio director/owner of Devanadi Yoga, said being green is “core value of the studio and it ties back to the yogic philosophy of doing no harm.” “Minneapolis frequently ranks as one of the top green
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Everyday gardener // Q&A
By Meleah Maynard
Struggling tomatoes, rain barrels and rootbound plantsEven though spring started in earnest in March this year, it still seems like summer is going by too fast. So, fast, in fact, my inbox has been a bit stuffed with questions. As always, I’ve replied directly to people who asked for help with various things. But here in the column I’m going to cover some of the questions that seem likely to be of interest to a lot of gardeners. By far, the questions I’m getting most are about tomatoes, so I’ll start there. Q: My tomato plants look good and have a lot of flowers, but I’m not getting a lot of fruit this year. What’s going on?A: It’s been too hot for tomatoes to set fruit
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Flavor // A smokin’ sensation on Nicollet
By Carla Waldemar
If you’re wondering what caused the traffic stand-still on South Nicollet the other evening, let’s just say I should have kept my window shut. When passing cars got a whiff of possibly the best aroma in the galaxy — I’m talking about barbecue, of course — they halted to demand, “Where’d you get that?” At C&G’s, of course. Greg Alford launched C&G’s Smoking Barbecue exactly a year ago; the anniversary balloons in the otherwise-Spartan, clean-as-a-whistle hole in the wall provided the only touch of whimsy in this serious business. Greg was born in Louisiana, which may explain his superior taste in food. He grew up in Detroit, one of 12 kids whose mamma set him to cooking when he was 5, he
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Wild city // Eating the yard
By Mary Jean Port
I love August. It is so lush. All summer, as I nurse the garden along, I anticipate these eating days. We now have too much of everything: tomatoes, green beans, heat, humidity, and also thunder, for those of us who have a dog frightened by it. I have been working our piece of ground for 14 years, and have good soil to show for it. Back when we first started, my husband was more of a lawn guy. He liked the idea of a garden, but drew a line in the grass with his toe. Don’t dig up anything beyond here, he said. So I dug my first of what are now 10 beds, and planted the pumpkin right on his line. The vines ran out of the garden and took over the whole backyard. My husband good-naturedly threw up his hands. We started with vegetables, and
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Kid rock
By Sam Lane
Twin Town Guitars hosts a camp that gives young musicians a chance to play and perform in a bandMore than 60 excited, camera-toting fans packed Cause Spirits and Soundbar on a warm August afternoon waiting for two headline bands to take the stage. The hotly anticipated musicians weren’t well known. They weren’t 20-somethings trying to strike a record deal. They weren’t middle-aged men trying to relive their youth. They were kids, ages 8–17, who spent prior weeks at Twin Town Guitars, 3400 Lyndale Ave. S., preparing for their first concert. In an economy where budget cuts deal constant blows to public school music programs, the owners of Twin Town have spent the last three summers providing a haven for aspiring
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