About

About

My Pets

Training Beliefs

Qualifications & Goals

Tools I Use & Don’t Use

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My Pets

Cornelius

The one who got me started on this journey. I got Cornelius from a man who said he was the last from an accidental litter. At 6 months old, Cornelius was attacked by another dog. I was told this had no impact on his behavior; he was supposedly great with other dogs, cats, and people. I missed so many red flags, but at 20 years old, I only saw a shy, beautiful dog who needed love. Had this man been honest with me, I would have sought training for Cornelius sooner. Instead, his reactivity and fear exponentially got worse in those first few months. I was a broke college student who didn’t know anything about dog training, so I signed us up for lessons at Petco. These did not help at all with his reactivity, but it started us on a path of learning.

Cornelius may never truly like other unknown dogs after everything he has been through, and that is okay. He no longer cowers at the sight of his own shadow or barks in fear at the sight of other dogs. Sure, he will hyperfixate or bark when he goes over threshold in the presence of an unknown dog, but his day-to-day quality of life has momentously improved. And I will continue to work with him every day for the rest of his life to ensure this goofy, strong, intelligent boy falls asleep each night knowing he is loved.

Canyon

The newest addition to the family. I met Canyon, named Chloe at the time, at an Alternative Humane Society adoption event at Paws for a Beer in March 2025. She was sitting outside with her foster because she was too overstimulated to interact inside with the other dogs. She and her puppies had been rescued two months prior after living in a makeshift enclosure at a homeless encampment. Her puppies had all been adopted, but Chloe was still waiting for her forever home.

I started volunteering with AHS to walk and train with Chloe. Her fear, confidence, engagement, and frustration were completely different from Cornelius. She challenges me to keep learning, observe more, and be more creative. I fell in love in Chloe while working with her, and with the support of her foster and help of my friends, I slowly introduced her to Cornelius. In September 2025, I officially adopted her after watching her and Cornelius flourish together.

I chose a new name for her because it was too close to my own and to mark the start of her new life with us: Canyon.

Spencer

Bet you weren’t expecting me to have a cat, too, huh?

Spencer was brought in to the Whatcom Humane Society emaciated and suffering from a severe Upper Respiratory Infection with 5 newborn kittens who were just as sick as their mom. All but one of the kittens passed within hours of arriving to the shelter. The Alternative Humane Society took Spencer and her remaining kitten into foster care, but the last kitten succumbed to their illness. Spencer recovered before spending months waiting for her forever home.

Her pictures continued to pop up on my social media feed. She did not get along with other cats but loved her foster’s dogs. My dad was allergic to cats, so my only experience with cats up to that point was from living with a roommate who had a cat for a year whilst in college. Cornelius had an inclination to play bow and chirp at cats in windows on walks around our neighborhood, so after weeks of thinking it over and researching how to best provide for a cat, I applied to adopt Spencer. Now, over two years later and with Canyon as part of the family, Spencer can be found most days watching birds from her window perches, playing with her toys, or sleeping in her hammock or her heated bed.

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My Training Beliefs

Every dog is an individual, but the principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning apply to all beings.

Positive reinforcement is one of the four quadrants of operant conditioning. Positive refers to the addition of something, typically a reward such as a treat. Reinforcement refers to increasing the chance a behavior is repeated. Through the use of a reward marker such as a word (“Yes”, “Good”, etc.) or a click from a clicker, we are signaling to our dogs specifically what behavior they are about to be rewarded for. This reinforcement drives our dogs to repeat the rewarded behavior.

When applied properly, positive reinforcement provides our dogs clarity in their training; we are telling them exactly what behavior we want them to repeat. This type of clarity is not provided when using positive punishment (addition of something that decreases the chance a behavior is repeated). A common example of positive punishment in dog training are the use of tools such as e-collars (shock collars) or prong collars which allows us to cause dogs discomfort or pain, typically applied after an undesired behavior. Positive punishment only tells our dogs what behavior we do not want them to perform. This lack of clarity means it takes our dogs longer to figure out what behavior they will not be punished for. Both us and our dogs can become frustrated as a result all while we continue to inflict discomfort or pain and damage the relationship we have with them.

Classical conditioning, on the other hand, is the pairing of a conditioned response to a stimulus. If you’re familiar with Pavlov’s dog salivating experiment, he conditioned dogs to salivate (conditioned response) at the sound of a bell (stimulus) by repeatedly giving the dogs meat after ringing the bell. The dogs would salivate at the sound of a bell regardless if the meat was present or not because they had learned to associate the bell with “meat is coming!”

Counter conditioning is similar: it’s changing a conditioned response to a stimulus. This can be used to help dogs with reactivity problems, usually in conjunction with desensitization, the gradual exposure of a stimulus starting from a low intensity.

“Our dogs are doing the best they can with the education we’ve given them in the environment we’re asking them to perform.” – Susan Garrett

I believe that training is not just about a dog’s ability to listen or perform learned cues, but equally the handler’s ability to teach, give cues, and listen to their dog. Engagement, trust, and clear communication set the foundation for training with any dog. From there, building a dog’s confidence in both themselves and in you as their handler will best set you up for success in training.

A positive outlook can drastically change the relationship we have with our dogs.

Qualifications & Goals

The dog training industry in the United States is unregulated. Anyone with any amount of experience or training can call themselves a dog trainer. However, there are third‑party credentialing bodies such as the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), and the Animal Behavior Society (ABS) that offer certifications for those who meet their qualifications and pass a certification exam.

There is also a plethora of dog training education programs available across the United States and online. It can be hard to know which programs are legitimate or align with your values. Any program worth a trainer’s time will be offered by an organization who clearly states their mission & philosophy and are transparent about their program details such as learning objectives and assessments.

At this time, I do not possess any certifications. My goal is to reach the 300 hours of dog training required to take Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed exam in Fall 2026. The only program I have completed so far is Home School the Dog which helped me improve my reinforcement timing and taught me fun games and tricks I now regularly play with my own dogs. This program did not offer any information or advise on becoming a dog trainer. I am currently saving to attend the Academy for Dog Trainer’s Certificate of Training and Counseling (CTC) program and University of Washington’s Certification in Applied Animal Behavior program.

Tools I Use & Don’t Use

Use

• Y and H shaped harnesses
• Easy Walk Harness or Wonder Walker Harness
• Muzzles
• Long lines
• Martingale Collars

Don’t Use

• E-Collars / Shock Collars
• Prong Collars
• Choke Collars