Your dog is smarter than you think!

Professionally Certified Dog Trainer offering private in-home or group lessons for dogs of all ages. In a positive, fun environment, you and your dog will learn to communicate more effectively, creating a relationship that allows your dog to be a well-mannered member of your life and your family.

About Me

I began training/showing dogs in 1963. Since then, I've worked with hundreds of dogs in home, class and shelter situations. Competitvely, with my own dogs, I've earned more than 30 AKC Companion Dog titles, 8 Companion Dog Excellent titles and 4 Utility Dog titles as well as more than 60 other AKC Championship, Rally and Obedience titles. Most recently, I brought a little rescue dog all the way to his AKC Trick Dog Elite Performer title, one of a handful of dogs to earn meet this level. I'm a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, and certified as a Dog Trainer through The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Additionally, I serve as an AKC Canine Good Citizen, Canine Good Citizen Advanced and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator. Interestingly, I also served as the on-set Dog Trainer for the Animal Planet show, PIT BOSS. Finally, teamed with my Clumber Spaniel Josey, we deployed multiple times as a certified Search and Rescue team, assisting local law enforcement in locating missing persons.

My Training Philosophy

It's simple…I believe our dogs are much smarter than we give them credit for! I focus on the concept of “play-training” – short training sessions that make learning a game for the dog. Coupling this with lots of positive reinforcement in the form of high-value food treats, an upbeat happy attitude, patting, praise and clear directions, dogs learn quickly and happily. I let dogs “figure things out for themselves”, knowing their discovery of a desired behavior will be more readily learned than one forced upon them. Utilizing a “marker word” to help a dog identify a desired behavior, training progress tends to be consistent. All of this is then individually crafted to meet the specific needs of each dog and owner.

I am comfortable working with fearful/fear aggressive and reactionary dogs as well as handling the most common canine issues such as housebreaking, jumping, pulling when walking, inappropriate greeting behavior with people and other dogs and excessive barking and/or chewing.

What To Expect

With a Masters degree in Education I understand how people learn best. My goal is to give every owner a "tool box" of skills that can be applied to everyday interactions with their dog. I sincerely believe, if the students in my classes are not having as much fun as their dogs, I'm not doing my job. After all, positive, upbeat, fun training works equally well with humans and dogs! I especially enjoy working with youngsters, of both the human and canine variety. I take a special pride in helping everyone - young and old – to master effective dog training tools, so that their pets are fully integrated members of the family.