Aaron's Story

Aaron Tucker is a retired firefighter, paramedic, police officer, tactical medic, and cadaver K9 handler with over two decades of real-world experience and knowledge in the field of emergency K-9 care.  Aaron lives in Florida with his service dog Archer, a black Belgian Malinois.  Also pictured in the photo above is Aaron's long time K9 partner Falco, which sadly passed away this past November (2023).

Aaron suffers from PTSD.  "The fact is a part of my life, but having PTSD doesn't mean I'm broken; it just means I'm molding into a new person rather than being who I used to be.  I'm not the same person I was 5 years ago, but I like who I am now, the new me", says Aaron.  

For over 20 years Aaron was a part of a team, police officer, firefighter medic, SWAT medic, Cadaver K-9 Handler, but that came to a grinding halt when he was diagnosed.  Gone were the days when he worked out for SWAT, and trained combat medics.  His diagnosis meant he was no longer part of a team.  The new reality left him trying to find himself, and figure out where to go, and what to do.  The only certainty he had, was his dogs. 

 Aaron had always wanted to be a dog handler, and I was before this new version of his life.  Being a dog trainer was never on his short list, but it was a natural fit.  So as he carved out a new path for himself, he trained other people's dogs as well as his own.  In doing so, he was making a name for himself, but still something was missing.  Aaron then happened upon an obstacle race, and thought "What if...", and from there Aaron and Archer were born.  Getting back into racing gave him a purpose.  It's his new missions, and now, he has a new team!

As a retired firefighter, paramedic, and police officer, Aaron has seen it all, and with those jobs came the duties of making sure working dog programs had the best training possible, especially in volatile areas of the world, like the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Aaron made sure that the dogs under his care were well trained and ready to perform.

Aaron still runs his dog training school, Florida K9 Unleashed in Central Florida, and to this day, he continues to work with dogs.