One county resident is making his mark helping to improve performance of animals in the area.

Animal Behaviorist and Professional Trainer Lewis Grant says he relocated to the area in hopes of being re-inspired in the field of animal care.

"My family and I relocated to Grayson County from Palm Beach, Florida over two years ago," explained Grant. "I was losing my touch in the field, and decided to relocate to the area because we have family close by. Now I am enjoying my business like I did when I first started."

Grant, who is originally from Puerto Rico, started training animals at an early age.

"I started at 11 years old," said Grant. "I saved up money from my allowance to train a stray dog. My grandmother told me not to feed stray dogs because they would follow you home. What I did not realize is that they would follow me home anyway."

Grant's business', LG K-9 and Hacienda La Santa, is located on Kefauver Road just off of Highway 54.

He trains dogs and horses on a daily basis. One of his most notable customers was Matt Stanton's dog, Spike, for the Grayson County Detention Center.

Grant's role was to keep Spike polished on his training. "I do obedience, protection, trailing, tracking, and narcotics with the dogs," explains Grant.

His training is based on each animal’s particular need. Grant says a huge misconception with house pets is not picking the right breed.

"Each breed is made for a purpose," explains Grant. "If you do not pick the right dog then you do not know how to socialize it properly. So between not picking the right dog, and not knowing how to raise the dog accordingly to the breed is when we have a lot of problems." Grants recommends going to a local rescue league to buy a pet, but do research first to find out what you really want.

He says golden retrievers, boxers, and poodles are good breeds with children.

"It does not mean if it is a puppy that it is the best thing for you," explained Grant. "Test a dog when it is a puppy to see if its behavior is proper for you. With any dog you have to start with a base when it comes to basic obedience.”

Grant says a lot of people want to do protection training first, and a dog does not even know how to sit or heel.

"Basic obedience is the foundation of a dog's life," added Grant. "First use a leash to teach a dog to come to you, then little by little you can extend out from that. The main thing is to teach them not to pull, to stay down, and stay whenever you tell them to stay. If you train animals with a good basic early you do not have to worry about them later."

Grant believes a lot of dog's lives could be saved if they were trained not to pull away from their owners.

Grant's passion is his Paso Fino horses. In his spare time he shows horses all over the United States.

He got his first horse at 14-years-old, and now has 14 horses located on his 12 acres. Grant explained Paso Fino's are worth anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000.

One of his colt's mothers was a three-time world champion, and her father was a 1999 world champion.

"I chose this breed because this is what I have learned to love," said Grant. "A lot of people consider the Paso Fino's to have one of the smoothest gaits in the world."

All of the horses have Spanish names, because of their heritage and where they come from. Palm Beach, Florida, where Grant and his family used to live, is classified as the Paso Fina capital of the world.