Meet Amanda

Amanda has always loved animals and has known that she wanted to work with them since she was a small child (one of her first words may have well been "doggie"). Childhood pets included dogs, cats, horses, turtles and the occasional piglet that she "rescued" from the farm on which she grew up.

As a Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), Low Stress Handling and Fear Free Certifications Amanda has demonstrated her understanding of animal behavior, teaching skills, learning theory, canine development, canine body language and ethical behavior modification techniques. With the required CEU's annually, Amanda will continue to learn and use proven, science based training methods- never with prong, choke, or shock collars or with methods that are based in fear, coercion or intimidation.

One of Amanda's most challenging cases was her dog Roxie, the brindle pittie mix pictured above. When Amanda was working as a veterinary technician, Roxie was found underweight, ill, and malnourished and brought into the clinic.

When Roxie was first placed in her foster home, she didn't know what toys were and knew few commands. She was not well socialized with other dogs and as a result did not always know how to play well with them. After being medically treated, Roxie needed a permanent home. Amanda and her husband took Roxie and over the next 13 years she learned that people are wonderful, couches are the best, and that other dogs were something she could check in with her humans about before reacting. By letting her show that she was uneasy, Roxie saw that we would protect her when she was feeling uneasy around other dogs- she was never forced to interact if she did not want to.

As a Certified Pet Dog Trainer-knowledge Assessed, Amanda has demonstrated her knowledge of animal behavior, teaching skills, learning theory, canine development and body language as well as multiple behavior management techniques. In addition, she is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, through which she continues learning about dogs by attending conferences and networking with trainers across the country.

One of Amanda's more challenging cases has been her own dog Roxie, the pit bull mix pictured here. When Amanda was working as a veterinary technician in Hawaii, Roxie was found underweight, ill and malnourished and brought into the clinic.

When Roxie was first placed in her foster home, she didn't know what toys were and knew few commands. She was not well socialized with other dogs and as a result did not always know how to play well with them. After being medically treated, Roxie needed a permanent home. Amanda and her husband took Roxie in and began to teach her commands and that people do good things!

Instead of going after other dogs, Roxie is now able to sit and focus on her owners- a great way to stop fights before they happen. In addition, Roxie's repertoire of commands now includes sit, down, stay, wait, shake, wave, high-five, fetch, catch, come, heel, place, roll over, leave-it, and she is learning more every chance her mommy gets!