There are 24K influencers with a reach over 20,000!More than a dog trainer, dog mama, and animal behaviorist! Consider me kind of like the "couples therapist" for dogs and their people. Somewhere between there and "dog life coach" you'd find me, and I'd be happy to see you so I can help whatever issues you may have with your pet.
I've spent over 20 years as a professional in the animal care industry; from vetting and health support, to training, daycare, boarding, rescues, classes, workshops, and behavioral modification and development, I've had a hand it each! And I'm proud to say so.
Pets present an incredibly complex part of our human lives, so it takes a really wide range of perspective and knowledge to help families and their pets achieve their goals, and to experience their best selves for each other.
The experiences I've collected over all these years has been a literal treasure trove for many of my clients and followers. For the last 5 years, I've focused especially on the development and fulfillment of early life learning with puppies. The building blocks of a dog's life are set in puppyhood, just like in childhood for humans. But this phase of life is often overlooked, too adorable to be structured and intentional for many families. Sadly, overlooking early life learning has its costs for many, many dogs.
More than 80% of dogs who end up surrendered or abandoned at a shelter end up there because of "behavior" and "training" problems. We CAN do something about that. By raising puppies in a knowledgeable, intentional, and rewarding way, we can shape the minds of these pups to be the best dogs they can be as adults! Discovering the power of early-life learning and the creation of neuropathways and habitual patterns of the brain can help pet parents achieve success throughout the life of their dogs. When dogs don't have the opportunity to learn all the basics to create their foundation of relationships with humans, they often get the blame. That shouldn't be the case.
Our relationships with our dogs has evolved over decades of love shared; it's time for animal behavior and learning to update in the homes of millions. It's time for an upgrade to go beyond dog training with your beloved dog!
Dogs don't know our human thoughts and weird quirks; a lot of what we do and what we expect from our dogs makes 0 sense to them. But, if we don't introduce them to these unknowns and explain it to them in what ways they understand, how can we get upset if they behave poorly later in life, simply because they never learned something we thought they should?
We can't.
But many people end up in the situation where they know their dog doesn't know or understand something, but they don't know how to teach them. That's ok, because the chance to learn all of this is ready for anyone who wants to try!
It may take more than learning a few exercises and tricks. In fact, it most definitely will take more than that!
Early on in my career, I understood I'd be spending more time helping people learn than I would dogs. And while that's been true, it's deeper than I expected.
People struggling or just preparing for their dogs do not simply have hiccups in that relationship and setting. The challenges they're seeing in their relationships with dogs also appear in different parts of their lives.
Why?
Well, because when we're with our dogs, our earliest brain is active; this is, essentially, the 'inner child' of your brain. That means that your most genuine and earnest self is the one you share with your dog, and that relationship can tell you a LOT about you and your own life. This is why we are vulnerable, silly, and hopelessly dedicated to our pets. We say that they know us better than anyone else, and in most cases that is correct!
Their presence in our lives connects us to our earliest, most innocent selves. But, for many of us, our childhoods were not easy. They hurt. And we continue to hurt inside, and sometimes we hurt others with our pain.
It is incredibly tricky to try to access the vulnerable side of a person as an adult, but in order to heal, this side must be accessed. What better, safer, and more enjoyable way to achieve this than by using the help of a person's dog? They already trust their dog! They love their dog. They want what's best for Fido and Fifi, making them an ideal motivator to assess and address one's own challenges.
And when it turns out that some of the concerns a person is sharing or that the bad experiences a dog is having with their person are due to the human's hindered love and learning experience, it brings a new and much bigger perspective to "dog training".
With the right approach, a person can learn more about themselves and their dogs (and why they click or why they struggle) in a way that will positively impact every single aspect of their lives.
My job, my privilege, is to help others and their dogs learn these lessons together; to speak clearly and openly, to have realistic expectations, and to find forgiveness for a past which may still hold someone back back.
Remember, dogs live only in this moment and when we begin to learn with them, we can find the value of the present as well. It is a beginning of a brighter, more engaging life for people and their dogs.
