Tell us about the first animal you ever trained.

My most important animal teacher is also the first animal I have ever intentionally trained. I've been at my full-time job for 10 years now, and the first few years were mostly spent learning about canine behavior, particularly border collies and their herding instinct. 

However, in the summer of 2020, I went on a road trip with my mother to pick up a border collie puppy to train for my job, and for the last 6 years, she's been my teacher, my working partner, and my best friend. 

Was there a particular dog/animal in your life that was your most important teacher?

Penny was the first animal whose training journey I had the pleasure of being a part of from start to finish. She was a very reactive puppy, and I had a lot to learn quickly to help her overcome her fears and frustrations so that she could become one of our best working canines today. 

She now helps me teach new handlers and new dogs, and she spends her off time herding my cats (who love it). She also inspired me to become a certified dog trainer. I learned so much helping her through her reactivity journey that I wanted to expand my knowledge further to help others. I now specialize in fear and frustration-based canine reactivity.

What is your favorite activity or sport that you do with your own dog(s)?

When we are not out chasing geese for our full-time job, we enjoy nose work and barn hunt together. We also like attending Camp Dogwood every year to hang out with our fellow dog people. 

My biggest hobby outside of my animals is reading, and usually at the end of a long day, you'll see me in a cozy chair reading a book while Penny sleeps as close to on top of me as she possibly can.

How has completing the Dog Trainer Professional program and becoming a KPA CTP changed your life and career?

Becoming a KPA-CTP has absolutely changed both my life and the lives of the animals in it for the better. Being originally in the herding world, I didn't know much about force-free-based training. While I was always kind to my animals, corrections were also a large part of any training plan.

Since crossing over to positive reinforcement via the Dog Trainer Professional program, I've been able to both influence how we teach our working dogs and train private clients who want to teach their own dogs with kindness and respect. I've become one of our major dog trainers, with a significant influence on our program, and I am very proud of that.