You know how when your dog is doing something you don’t like—you notice it immediately? Or if something is going wrong in life—how that is what catches our attention? 

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Most of the time, these pain points or annoyances are simply symptoms of an underlying cause. I find and address that cause. But I learned how to do this in a pretty unique way.

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When I was a kid, I was fascinated by animal behaviors. I would watch my dogs or wild animals interacting with life for hours. One time, after many days of observing a chipmunk that gathered seeds under our deck, I was able to get her to trust me enough to climb into my hand. I ended up being able to pet and carry her around.

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When I grew up, knowing how in-tune I was with body language and non-verbal communication, I first majored in Deaf Studies (basically American Sign Language & Deaf culture), then went on to get my master’s in special education.

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I worked with a huge variety of kids and adults of varying abilities, but very soon realized it was not my true passion. And I did not fit into the politics of the education system.

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I ended up learning from then managing a dog training, boarding and personal protection facility where I absolutely fell in love with training dogs and their owners. It was here that I further learned the importance of clear communication in a variety of ways. I began to understand how this builds trust, which in turn strengthens the relationship between the owner and canine, and ultimately, clears up many behavioral issues.

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Shortly after, I established Aligned K9 as my own private dog training company and haven’t looked back since.

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My goal as a balanced dog trainer and behaviorist, is to help humans and dogs become the best, most-fulfilled versions of themselves together by building confidence, trust and fun engagement through clear communication and united understanding.