Sunshine After the Storm: An SNL Set-Builder Finds His Calling as a Force-Free Dog Trainer

This former Saturday Night Live set designer now spends his days training dogs—and their humans—to find the silver lining, whether it's in a pile of chewed socks or the middle of a pandemic

Aside from a handful of layovers at Newark, I've never really spent time in New Jersey. Still, there's one thing I'm certain of about the Garden State crowd: they're wild for Bruce Springsteen. And honestly? Fair enough. Here's a guy who kept both feet planted on the Jersey Shore while handing the American Dream its wings. Not exactly a minor feat in the kind of chaotic year we've all been through.

So when I hop on a Zoom call with Ken MacLeod—a Hoboken-based Saturday Night Live set designer who's since turned dog trainer (more on that in a minute)—I'm charmed by how seamlessly Springsteen slips into our conversation. That music has clearly been a steady soundtrack through the chapters of his life, and I get it. Amid a year that gave us words like 'social distancing,' 'quarantine,' and 'self-isolation,' a Boss anthem like 'Land of Hope and Dreams' becomes an anchor in the storm. A reminder none of us is alone: 'You'll need a good companion now / For this part of the ride / Leave behind your sorrows / Let this day be the last / Tomorrow there'll be sunshine / And all this darkness past.'

For nearly three decades, Ken has worked behind the scenes on the elaborate film and TV sets most of us take for granted—as if they materialize out of thin air right before a director hollers 'Action!' From sketching concepts for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to serving on the SNL film crew, his fingerprints are all over our shared pop-culture memory. But when COVID lockdowns rolled in, Ken found the breathing room to push his fast-paced TV career aside and let his other passion step into the spotlight: working with dogs. The guy who'd spent years chasing a schedule you could only describe as insane finally got the chance to take a hard look in the mirror—and the person staring back was ready to commit to the wellbeing of canines and the people who love them.

Because where plenty of folks see a half-empty glass, Ken sees one half-full. A pandemic? Sure. But also a once-in-a-lifetime opening to embrace something brand new? Absolutely.

With so many people adopting dogs in that window (insert a big 'yay!' here) and first-time pet guardians suddenly desperate for guidance, Ken was ready to let My Positive Pup—his platform for 'training people to train their dogs'—take on a life of its own. Before long, his once-small dog-training side gig blew up into a full-on buzzing venture almost overnight.

But no 'overnight' success comes without a build-up. As a kid, Ken's parents weren't really pet people, so his dream of a fuzzy friend had to wait. That changed fifteen years ago when he met his wife, SNL set decorator Kim Kachougian, and her beloved Parson Russell Terrier named Mac. 'I found my best friend,' he laughs. 'And I'm not talking about my wife.'

Mac meant more than just a new four-legged roommate. 'It changed my whole existence,' Ken says. 'The connection I had with this dog was just unbelievable.' Mac even landed a few commercials—one of the perks of having parents in the biz, I suspect—and Ken found himself getting into training. 'Nothing formal,' he insists. 'But we had this whole 'communication' thing going on between us.'

When Mac passed away three years ago, Ken admits: 'It destroyed us.' (Been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt.) The couple knew they'd adopt again someday, and five months later they met their new boy. He was supposed to be a therapy dog, but it quickly became clear the nervous puppy needed confidence work first. As for a name, they landed on Scooter, borrowed from the opening of Springsteen's 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out': 'Bad Scooter searching for his groove.' From that moment, Ken was determined to help Scooter find his. That meant a serious commitment: working toward the prestigious Karen Pryor Academy certification, built around force-free training and, in the org's own words, 'a community of positive reinforcement trainers.'

The philosophy clicked. Working with dogs isn't exactly like running a tight film crew, but Ken recognizes the parallels—because coaxing the best out of others is a responsibility he doesn't take lightly. Tellingly, when I ask about his proudest industry milestones, he doesn't drop celebrity names. Instead, he thinks a beat and answers simply: 'My crew'—a tight unit of roughly a dozen colleagues who've become a well-oiled machine. And that didn't happen because they nagged each other's flaws. 'Criticism was never going to get us anywhere,' he says.

Zoom out to My Positive Pup and you'll spot the same philosophy in motion. 'With Scooter, I think we just counted our 12-millionth click-and-treat the other day,' he laughs. 'Reward the behaviour you want to see.' Example: when he noticed Scooter's habit of snatching his socks—you know, the ones carelessly left on the floor overnight—rather than scold him for 'naughty' behavior, Ken turned it into a teachable moment. Scooter ended up learning four commands. 'Now when the UPS guy comes and the packages are small,' Ken says, 'Scooter will take, bring, trade, and drop.' All because of a few dirty socks.

Our chat keeps getting interrupted by a playful Aussie Shepherd hunting for snuggles. Her name is Jersey—after Springsteen's 'Jersey Girl,' obviously—and Ken calls her presence nothing short of a miracle. 'We didn't think we'd ever be able to have a second dog. But seeing Scooter go from fearful to having a baby sister? He's totally fine now.'

Admittedly, with a career spanning three decades alongside the biggest names in the industry, Ken has tasted plenty of success. But it's a recent compliment from a My Positive Pup client that touches him most. 'Before you,' the woman told him, 'my dog was just living. Now, he's living engaged.'

And Ken is taking his own advice, living engaged too. After all, he didn't just have an idea ('Oh, I'd love to work with dogs and their people!'). He made it real. That gap between wanting something and actually building it stops a lot of people cold. So I ask him outright what advice he'd pass along to anyone longing to take a leap into the unknown. 'Listen to more Springsteen,' he tells me. 'Faith will be rewarded.' There it is—lyrical wisdom straight out of 'Land of Hope and Dreams.'

A few days after our conversation, I tune in to catch the magic of Ken's TV world unfolding on that weekend's Saturday Night Live. Coincidence or synchronicity, the guest host is—you guessed it—Bruce Springsteen. And once again I'm reminded: whether it's a dog who needs a little extra patience, a pandemic on its way out the door, or an idea whose moment has finally arrived, tomorrow there will be sunshine.

Follow Ken, Kim, Scooter, Jersey, and My Positive Pup on Instagram:@MyPositivePup

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