Life Is Magic And Nose Work Is Life

A long snapper fires the football at an average of 50+ miles per hour. I read Jon Dorenbos’ book at equivalent speeds, turning page after page, laughing, crying and swelling with inspiration. Don’t read another word of this post, get your copy of Life is Magic and dive into it now!

My son started wrestling this year, for the first time in his life. He’s about to turn 16. When I picked him up from practice one night he asked to go straight to the Y so he could work out and sit in the sauna to try and cut weight. I instantly had flashbacks to some of those eating disorder and weight loss made-for-tv movies from the 90s, like the one starring Tracey Gold, For the Love of Nancy. I’ve known many wrestlers over the years, and some of them make it a life goal to stay 105 pounds or 120 pounds, often at the cost of overall health and growth. I asked my son why he couldn’t just wrestle in the next highest weight class. He quickly shot my idea down. He said, ‘I’ll get crushed if I wrestle at a heavier weight.” Having just finished Jon Dorenbos’ book, I said, “You know, it might help if you think positively. I think you could wrestle someone heavier than you and win. It’s like Jon Dorenbos would say, ‘fire it in there and don’t be a pussy’, only it’s ‘wrestle a bigger kid and don’t be a pussy’.” Oh shit, was that fatherly advice? I might’ve panicked when my already skin and bones son was talking about dropping pounds. No. It was good advice. Fire that fatherly advice in there and don’t be a pussy!

After our workout and sauna at the gym, we got home and the first thing my son yelled out to my wife was, “Mom! Dad called me a pussy!” “No I didn’t. That’s not what I said!” I yelled out in defense. This back and forth went on as we bounced up the stairs into the living room. When we got into view of my wife I could instantly see there was little chance I’d successfully explain why my son and I were bickering about me calling him a pussy. I tried anyway. Context, inspiration, Jon Dorenbos said it. Blah, blah, blah. Point of fact, I didn’t call my son a pussy, I called upon him not to be a pussy. Nuance is lost in conversation with a 15 year old… and a 15 year old 44 year old…

Life is Magic is a crazy true story. Read it and I think you’ll understand why I saw it fit to inspire my son with Jon’s NFL pre-snap pep talk. Within the first 2 pages you learn that 12 year old Jon’s father murder’s his mother in the garage with a power tool. It’s shocking. The heartbreaking tragedy that Jon and his siblings and extended family experience becomes, against all odds, a force of good in their lives. Jon does what few of us could at that – or any – age. He goes to therapy, writes in a journal, shares his grief with others, connects with his emotions, confronts his father, and pours his being into the incredibly challenging art of close-up magic. All of this before he enters college. Oh, and he gets pretty good at football.

You might know Jon without having read his book. Just under 10 years ago, while in the off-season as a professional NFL long snapper, Jon decided to try out for America’s Got Talent. Not only did he make it onto the show, he made it to the semi-finals and finished 3rd. Every judge fell in love with his energy, his storytelling ability, and his ability to make you feel like you’d just witnessed real magic. Because of his success on AGT, he caught the attention of Ellen Degeneres and became a regular guest on her show.

After one of Jon’s performances on AGT, judge Simon Cowell says to him, “Jon, you’re an American hero.” I smiled and my eyes welled up. This guy went from 12 year old boy with a mom and dad, to 12 year old boy with no parents. He had his whole world taken from him. What he realized was no one could ever harm him worse than that. He didn’t worry about what others might think or say about him, he didn’t worry about what others could take away from him. He lived one of his therapist’s pieces of advice: “don’t listen to yourself, talk to yourself.” Jon talked to himself throughout his teens and into his adult years. He told himself the story he need to hear and wanted to hear. He created his future, first, through his own words to himself, then, through his actions towards others. During one AGT performance, Jon slowly unfolds his magic trick, facing down at a table upon which he spreads a deck of cards out as he artfully tells his story and shares his philosophy. He says, to everyone listing, “This right here. This is life. When everything is going so perfect. Yet tragedy and chaos, they strike us when we least expect it. And it’s what we all have in common. We all face this. But I think the difference is: do we decide and do we choose to live in vision, or do we live in circumstance? And I don’t know about you guys, but I wake up every single morning, and I choose to live in vision. To find happiness, knowing that life will work its way out, and we will find ourselves.” A few years after this performance, Jon will accept a lunch invitation from his father, who served 13 years in prison, and who Jon had not seen for 26 years, and Jon will go to that lunch telling himself this story: “Don’t hate. Don’t blame. Forgive.”

I have been called the “Ted Lasso” of nose work. I have been called a “philosophical” nose work coach. Many people I share my vision of nose work with have come to the conclusion that “nose work is life”. If magic is life and nose work is life, then, I choose to live in vision and my vision is: nose work is magic.

Jon Dorenbos has lived a magical life. Not a perfect, safe, happy life. An unbelievable life, the bad and the good. What he reveals to us, is that the bad is never worse than the good – unless you give in to circumstance and give up your vision. When Jon says that magic is life as he performs with a deck of cards, he means it. When I say that nose work is life when I search with a dog and human, I mean it. Jon used magic to get himself through the bad times in life, and he used it to amplify the good. He learned about himself, about human behavior, and about storytelling through the art of magic. The same is possible in nose work. All you need is vision.

Jon spent 14 seasons in the NFL (he would say he was entering his 15th), a league he calls “Not For Long”. He experienced being expendable, and he experienced being part of a family who would keep him on the roster even if it wasn’t the right business move. He always knew not to take things personally, in the locker room or on the field. He loved to play for an inspiring coach, and he loved to play with teammates who were dedicated to the game and dedicated to their community. I can relate to Jon. At a time when most people trained dogs as a side gig, or in exchange for ring time, I moved from California back to Minnesota and made coaching nose work my main source of income. I’ve played in the big leagues – traveling the country to do seminars, teaching at national level camps, writing a blog (the original K9 nose work blog) that thousands of people read each month. I’d like to say I’ve never taken things personally, but I had to learn that lesson as I went. Now, I’m pretty set with that. I love to work with inspiring dogs and humans. I love to surround myself with people who share my values and care about our Minnesota nose work community. I have vision, but I still have that voice in my head that I listen to, when I should be telling myself the story I want to hear.

Jon nearly died from an aortic aneurysm discovered during a pre-season physical required by contract as he prepared to play for the New Orleans Saints in 2017. I and my wife nearly died from a drunk driver crashing into us in 2019. Yet, the good shines through the bad. Jon’s life was saved. He got a dog. He had a daughter. He is a world class speaker and entertainer, delivering his Magic is Life message to thousands of people. My life was saved, not by doctors, but by luck. My wife and I were in my truck when we were hit. Had we been in her SUV, we could very well both have died. After that accident, I re-examined my life. I fought to regain my health and athleticism. I began writing nose work blogs again. I focused on 1-on-1 coaching and dramatically changed my vision of nose work. I changed it from one of performance and competition success, to a vision of truly listening to dogs and opening up to how they can help us improve ourselves and improve our relationships.

Jon repeatedly writes in his book that he is not “athletic”, he’s not an NFL athlete. I think what he means is that his success in the NFL comes from his mind, heart, and soul. And, these are intangibles that are not measured at the NFL combine, they are not written on your physical body. I get what he’s saying. I am not a dog trainer. I exist in a world where most people (including myself) would describe me as a dog trainer. But, I think my success comes from intangibles, like Jon. I see nose work in a unique way – whatever “skills” I have as a trainer are not as valuable to me as my mindset, my heart and my soul. Just as Jon could shuffle a deck of cards for hours, I can listen to a dog endlessly. When it’s time to get in front of a group of people & their dogs, I go all in, knowing the dogs will guide the way. Jon was not a long snapper when he tried out for the position in college – but, he knew he could do it. All those years ago when I started coaching people in nose work, I definitely wasn’t a dog trainer – but, I knew I had something to offer people and their dogs. I think what I love most is making inspiring moments possible. Creating a space where magic can happen. Where people can believe in their dogs and themselves. Where the vision becomes clear: Nose Work is Life and Life is Magic.

Get this book and read it. Watch Jon’s youtube videos from his AGT performances. Watch Jon on Ellen. Do a nose work search with your dog. Let’s go! Tell yourself the story you want to hear. Choose to live in vision. Choose to see the magic in nose work and life. Put in the hours, give nose work and life your mind, heart, and soul. And, if you’re so moved, support the blog.