Dog Training and Behavior

In 1996 I found a homeless Rottweiler mix who I ended up adopting.  It was a struggle trying to figure this dog out.  I had no idea how to  effectively communicate with a dog or how to address her insecurity, reactivity, or aggression towards dogs and people.  After attending a few traditional force-based classes and seeking help from trainers with the same methods, I was relieved to discover reward-based training.  Since then, I have regularly attended workshops and seminars given by experts in dog training and behavior.  I try to stay current on the most humane and effective strategies.  I love the art, science, and magic of good animal training.  It has become my lifetime practice.

 My love of animals led me to start a pet care business in the mid-1990s.  I provided dog-walking, dog boarding, dog and cat vacation care.  I also worked part-time at a local dog boarding and daycare facility during this time.  After completing my School of Dog Training apprenticeship at the Anti-Cruelty Society, I became one of their senior instructors, teaching classes for ten years at the shelter.  I have fostered dogs and conducted behavior evaluations for the Anti-Cruelty Society, Chicago Canine Rescue, Chicagoland Shepherd Rescue, Illinois Doberman Rescue, and Simply Shepherds Rescue.  I have conducted behavior evaluations at Chicago Animal Care & Control for Safe Humane Chicago and was one of Safe Humane's Community Training Partners.  In  2016 and 2017, I received approval from the Illinois Department of Agriculture as a Humane Investigator.  In 2020 I graduated from a three-month Explosive Detection Canine handler school at JBSA Lackland.  In addition to my dog and horse lessons, my current schedule includes working  as an EDC handler.

Horses are a big part of my life.  I bought my first horse in 2009, after riding various lesson horses as a child and as an adult.  I adopted my second horse in 2019.  Horses are magestic; they teach us so much about ourselves and life.  Horses help influence my dog training, just as my dog training affects how I work with horses.  The overall theme is trust, understanding, clarity, repetition and patience.  In addition to dogs and horses, I do occasionally foster cats and have participated in TNR programs in Chicago, IL and San Antonio, TX.

My current animal family consists of Plum-my German Shepherd Dog, Suze- my Siberian Husky,  Jesse- my American Eskimo Dog, AJ-my American Eskimo Dog mix, Mur- a German Shorthair Pointer, River-a Quarterhorse, and Hauser-a Quarterhorse /Thoroughbred cross.