How My Dog Training Story Began

I love offering dog training in Garrettsville especially because this was my home town. My story began on State Street. It was a warm day and my dad, Richard, brought home a Shetland Sheepdog puppy. My dad was a Biology teacher and would bring numerous animals home. I would care for most of them including: hamsters, gerbils, and mice. Some of the unusual ones were a tarantula and jelly fish. I enjoyed all of them but deep in my heart, I truly wanted a dog.

This day was different. My dad didn’t bring the puppy home for me to keep, he actually wanted to see how much I desired the puppy so the puppy went back home. I begged and begged and my parents caved. I was 8 years old and ready to take on the responsibility. So I received the run of the litter and named her Heather. 

I excelled at training her many tricks. I won first place at my dentist’s yearly animal show often. My dentist loved animals and this yearly event was special to me!

You can also learn more about my story here.

Changing from Punishment Based Training to Positive Dog Training

In fourth grade I joined Tailwaggers 4-H Club in Portage County. I took Heather to numerous shows and attended the yearly Randolph Fair. Despite my love for training, I could not teach Heather to come well. In fact, she hated coming because I would yell at her when she didn’t come.

As my dog training in Garrettsville started, my 4-H advisors taught me traditional punishment based dog training methods. Because, I yelled when Heather didn’t come to me, she had no motivation to come.

Unfortunately, Heather had to live outside and she would run off to explore Garrettsville. I would always search for her and find her, until one day, when she was across the street. She ran to come home and was hit by a car and passed away. It broke my heart. I went into a deep depression.

Eventually, I healed a bit and went to the Portage County Animal Shelter and adopted Shadow, a border collie mix. I was still in 4-H using the traditional ways of training. Overtime, I got drained from these traditional ways. I decided it was time to change. Yelling at my dog for not responding was draining and I became angry while training my dog.

I went to a Show N Go and my judge at the time took me aside and told me that there was a better way to train! I was all ears. He told me to read Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor. I read it in a heartbeat. At a young age in middle school, I began to change my dog training methods.

When I began clicker training, my 4-H advisor told me that I was ruining my dog. A clicker is a way to mark a behavior, it tells the dog he/she performed the correct response and then the dog is given a treat. I struggled with this method at first. However, I didn’t give up. This is when my dog training in Garrettsville, shifted to a more positive end result.

I Began Attending Dog Training Seminars and Attended College Focusing on Animal Learning

In high school, I began attending professional dog training seminars, with a strong focus on positive reinforcement dog training. I was hooked and I was one of the youngest in the room. At this young age, I loved training so much that people actually contacted me to help them. As a result, my service of offering dog training in Garrettsville began.

Needless to say, Shadow learned a much better come command than Heather. I knew now to reinforce good behavior with treats. Shadow loved learning and I loved dog training again.

I thought of dog training as an experiment. If I wanted Shadow to do something I would think of ways to motivate her. Then I would try those ways out, until I found a way to make her feel happy and willing to respond. It was such a fun game for me to play!

When I graduated from high school, I decided that I wanted to be an animal trainer. So I attended Ohio Wesleyan University and chose to major in psychology with a strong focus in animal learning. It was fascinating learning how the brain works and I learned with the right motivation you can train almost any animal species to do any behavior that their body is capable of doing.

In college, since I couldn’t have Shadow in my dorm room, I had Cookies N Cream. I did an independent study and taught Cookie to play basketball and numerous other tricks. It turns out a rat is smart like a dog! Who knew!

I Trained Numerous Exotic Animals at Numerous Zoos

My excitement about training animals progressed to numerous zoos. I started at the Cleveland Zoo, during one of my summers in college, and trained birds in the Outback Animal Show.

Once I graduated from college, I moved to live in the Columbus area and brought Shadow with me. I worked at the Columbus Zoo for three summers. Twice in the reptile department and one summer with the Education Department where I trained numerous animals for the shows.

It was rewarding to train so many exotic animals including: a toucan, macaws, birds of prey, a prehensile tail porcupine and more! Sometimes I would escape my co-workers and create a space to train the birds on my own. I trained a chicken to play dead and used clicker training to do so. I enjoyed spending time training the parrots on my own too.

I decided that I wanted to pursue a full time job training animals at a zoo.. The jobs were so highly competitive. As a result, I ended up getting a job at the Utah Hogle Zoo bird show. It was a seasonal job but I decided to take it. I brought my beloved, Shadow, with me as well. At this Zoo, I trained parrots and birds of prey.

Shadow and I had many adventures in Utah, hiking off the leash in the mountains and she learned well. As I worked at the zoo, I realized I was better with dogs and decided to pursue the dog field.

I Began My Dog Training Business in SLC, Utah

I worked at numerous doggie daycares and I didn’t enjoy those jobs much. After moving from job to job, I decided to start my own business. Four Legged Scholars came into formation in 2006 in SLC, Utah. 

It was a dream to be able to hike in the wilderness with my dog off the leash. Perhaps because Heather and I didn’t accomplish that. Shadow and I did. My dream continued with Seiki. He was also a border collie mix and developed a stellar come command. We hiked many places including the Uintas, Kodachrome, Millcreek Canyon, etc. So many memories were created. Good times!

When I first started my business, I was great with the dogs and not so great with the humans. As a did my own inner healing, I decided to study Neuro Linguistic Programming and became a certified NLP coach. Once I got this, I excelled with the human end of dog training. I also got certified in TAG teach which helps me communicate better with owners as well.

I lived in SLC, Utah for about 14 years. I met my daughter’s dad. We fell in love, and he struggled with addiction. The relationship wasn’t met to last. After Iris was born, I stayed with the hopes that he would improve. After 3 years of addiction I decided it was time to move back to Ohio to be near my family, and  I was so glad I did! 

I Moved to Ohio and, I Offer Dog Training in Garrettsville and Many Other Locations Including Utah

I kept my business in Utah. I attempted to hire numerous dog trainers that didn’t last, so I converted my Utah business to online. I still do live personalized online dog training through Zoom with great success.

I grew my business in Ohio which I am still doing. It is time for Geauga and Portage county dog lovers to know about me. I would love to help you train your to create more peace of mind in your life. I can help with obedience and behavioral issues including: aggression, reactivity, fear, resource guarding, separation anxiety, etc. I offer in person private training in your home or live online through Zoom. I now have group obediences courses at the Geauga YMCA.

I will be expanding to outdoor leash courses this Spring / Summer in the Middlefield and Chardon areas.

I would love to help you with your dog. Contact me below and tell me how I can help you!.