When former Langley Thunder lacrosse player Adam Smith began training dogs last year, he quickly realized that the same kind of patient nurturing required as a coach would serve him well in his new occupation.

Smith, 30, has turned a life-long love of lacrosse toward helping people train their dogs near his home in Walnut Grove.

With his own 20-month-old mini-boxer pup, Koda, Smith has learned about the nuances and patterns of changing dog behaviour. He is currently working with a pit bull from Maple Ridge that has the habit of snapping at people.

"For me, it's the same as coaching," Smith said. "I really like working with kids because you can see their growth. And I like working with dogs and owners and watching their relationship grow, seeing the owner become more confident."

Born in Australia, Smith moved to Delta at the age of eight. Although he still plays lacrosse - he will represent Australia in the May 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Prague - Smith has always been a natural teacher.

He began his coaching career at just 16 years of age when he became an assistant coach of a peewee team in Delta.

Smith played junior and intermediate lacrosse - winning rookie of the year in the latter age category - for the New Westminster Salmonbellies, before being drafted by the Burnaby Lakers.

He then went to Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania in 2001 on a field lacrosse scholarship. During his three years there he helped the Saint Vincent coaching staff put on lacrosse clinics and assisted local high schools with training camps.

In 2004 he was asked to coach the U17 South Fraser Warriors, consisting of many players who were almost new to the sport. Smith performed so well as coach that the team won silver at the provincial championships that year.

The following year Smith was asked to be the head of the BCLA Men's Field Lacrosse Coaching Association.

Smith played for the Langley Thunder for three years, scoring two goals and seven points in 14 games during the 2005 season.

But it was as a coach that he really shone, taking a B.C. selects squad to the gold medal game in the U19 National Field Lacrosse Championship in 2006.

The next three years he won two golds and a silver in the national championships, noting that in 2008 his team became the first from B.C. to beat a team from Ontario in the junior age division.

Smith has been an assistant coach with the Burnaby Lakers since 2009, but his career path has changed dramatically.

After Smith got Koda nearly two years ago, he went looking for somebody to train her in obedience. He soon met Jaime Kinna, an expert in training police dogs for behavioural, bomb, and drug detection.

Smith enjoyed the training so much he asked Kinna about learning to become a trainer himself. She advised he volunteer for the Langley Animal Protection Society and suggested he enroll in a course.

Canada West K9 school in Salmon Arm offers two intense courses, and Smith has completed the first to become a certified professional trainer.

The first course involves three weeks of training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day. Two nights a week include an extra three hours in the evening to help run classes involving 15 different dogs.

"I've worked with everything from a hyperactive great Dane to a four-month-old boxer puppy and everything in between," he said.

Smith wants to take the second course in the New Year, but the lacrosse championships in Prague will set that agenda back a bit.

Still, he works with Kinna between one and three times a week for ongoing private mentoring. It's paying off.

In October he instructed six people in Walnut Grove on dog handling for basic obedience training.

"During our first class, one of the ladies cried when her dog did well at the final evaluation," Smith said of the emotional impact training can have on people.

They plan to get back together for intermediate training in the new year.

Smith was even offered a job this summer coaching a college lacrosse team in Pennsylvania, but turned it down to stay and work with dogs.

For now, Smith is enjoying the jump from coaching lacrosse to coaching man's best friend. And if his coaching record is any indicator, you can expect good things from his pupils.