Hello

As a child, I became obsessed with dogs. I loved reading breed standard books, watching dogs dock dive at the fairgrounds, and watching training videos. I was a walking dog encyclopedia, and my family would tell people to ask me about any dog breed. I always had an answer.

​

My real story starts with a Newfoundland named Zeus. Zeus was my first "difficult" dog, challenging me in new ways. I was only 10 when I started working with him, but I quickly realized how much easier life was when I worked with him instead of getting upset about his behavior. For example, Zeus would paw at people for attention. I turned this into "paw" and "high-five" commands, which meant he would only do said behavior on command! This started my trick training journey. After Zeus, I worked with multiple dogs, until I got my first show line German Shepherd, Kyo.

​

Kyo was my first fearful dog. He struggled severely with a fear of people. During this period, he also had some physical issues that required lessened exercise. Due to this, he became difficult to manage, so I turned to trick training again. Kyo knew many tricks, and was a trick dog champion. We also participated in various dog sports, including herding, fastCAT, and rally-obedience. He got better with training and age, and began to accept pets from strangers! Eventually, he learned to alert to allergens in my food as well. However, Kyo had another challenge: a dog attack. Soon after, he became reactive towards dogs. After a few months of work, he was back to normal. Kyo was a fantastic dog, and really helped my develop a love for behavior modification.