I love running, dogs, and micro brews — not necessarily in that order.

I have raised puppies for a service dog organization since 2001. When our own dogs (service dog dropouts) became older and made it clear they wanted to retire as puppy raisers, we took a few years off to enjoy our seniors and let them live a whippersnapper-free life.

Sadly, we lost all our dogs in a short span and happily, we’re back to raising puppies again. My focus is to prevent problems before they start — for both my pet dog clients, as well as for those service puppies I get to raise.

I have a predilection for Labradors and Great Danes — the two breeds I raised for service work — but love dogs of all sizes.

Before founding Smart Dog University, I completed my BA and MA in psychology (in the hopes of being an FBI agent) and, when that didn’t materialize, I spent 18 years in the Federal government (Department of Commerce, not FBI) working in Leadership and Management Development, as well as administrative positions. I served as President of the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) and was a certified therapy dog team with my yellow Lab (and KPA partner), Tango.

I didn’t set out to be a dog trainer, but my educational background set me up well for this career path. I value strong communication skills and humor as I work with my clients and their dogs.

In addition to running and microbrew tasting, social media and marketing are two of my other hobbies. I’m active on several different social media platforms, please come join me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or my blog!