Joel Silverman (born December 21, 1958) is a celebrity animal trainer who hosted Good Dog U on Animal Planet from 1999–2009. Early life Joel Silverman grew up in Southern California and at the age of 13, the first animal he ever trained was the family dog, Shadow. At about the same time, he and his family spent their summer vacations in San Diego and would go to SeaWorld every year, and after a number of summers watching the trainers riding the killer whales, Silverman developed a fascination with the whales and trainers. At the age of 16, he got hired to pick up trash at SeaWorld, and after helping out the trainers and years of hard work, Silverman was hired as a trainer. He started off with Pacific and Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins, California sea lions, and eventually killer whales. In 1983 Silverman shifted his focus into training animals for movies TV shows and commercials, and currently training animals for film and TV. From 1988 to 1992 Joel was the trainer of Dreyfuss from the TV series Empty Nest. In 1989, Joel wrote and hosted his first dog training video called, Joel Silverman's Hollywood Dog Training Program. It was sold as an infomercial and had sold over 300,000 videos at that time. In 1999, Joel hosted his first TV series called, "GOOD DOG U" which aired on Animal Planet from 1999–2009. Dog Training Style Although there are a variety of styles and methods to train dogs, Joel Silverman's style is what he calls a "hybrid" dog training method. This method combines parts of dog training he learned from training dolphins, sea lions, and killer whales, as well as the training of dogs. Joel also adds a personality based dog training style called What Color is Your Dog? This method teaches people that there is no "one size fits all" approach to dog training. He believes dogs should be trained based solely on their personalities. Partial TV & Film Credits 1988-1992 - Empty Nest - Dog Trainer 1997-2014 - IAMS National print and commercials - Dog & Cat Trainer/Animal coordinator 2005 - A Good Year - Dog Trainer Full List - IMDb Videos 1989 - The Hollywood Dog Training Program 1999 - "Unleashed" - A series of videos for the PETCO pet store chain 2009–Present - Joel Silverman's Dog Training DVD Series Authored Books What Color is Your Dog? (2009) - Explains