I have loved animals since I was a child. I wasn’t allowed to have a dog, so I compensated by tying shoelaces to my stuffed animals and dragging them around the house. Finally, with the freedoms afforded in college, I got Sparky. I wanted the best for him, so of course, I asked Google. There was also no shortage of advice from well-meaning dog park acquaintances. Unfortunately, the advice was confusing and even conflicting and Sparky’s (very normal) puppy behavior got worse: playing keep away, pulling on leash, dumpster diving, and howling when left at home! I even sprained my ankle chasing him across a busy intersection one time. During a brief stint volunteering at the local shelter, I discovered force-free, positive reinforcement-based training, and it literally changed our lives.

In 2013, I signed Sparky up for a rally class, hoping to fine-tune my R+ skills and for the behaviors Sparky learned in class to translate to our everyday adventures. Turned out, Sparky loved rally, and he loved performing when we started competing shortly after. He basked in the attention; he would strut through the course, working through the obstacles and entirely connected with me.

Marlowe the border collie came a year later. My husband and I moved back to the Bay Area shortly after, and I signed Marlowe up for agility after some dabbling. Just like Sparky, she loved having something to do, and she loved doing it FAST. As a team, we started trialing, and we’ve been having the best time!

In 2019, I took over my current dog walking pack. I love taking my group out for our hikes; watching the dogs play never gets old. You can also find me at Golden Gate Dog Sports in San Francisco, teaching agility where we train. Lastly, I’m working on getting myself certified as a dog trainer; I’m currently enrolled in The Academy for Dog Trainers, known as the “Harvard” of dog training programs.

Sparky passed in July 2022 to cancer and I am so lucky to have had a first dog who was so forgiving, tolerant, playful, happy, and the perfect friend to learn about training with me. Before he left, I had been thinking about a malinois, but couldn’t nail down timing; plus with young kids, I wasn’t sure about a mali-gator pup. But pulling out of the parking lot from the West Coast Open, Batman the belgian tervuren popped up as the first post on my feed, and the rest is history.

I currently live in San Mateo, CA with my two dogs, Bat & Lowe, my husband, and three human children. When I’m not doing dog stuff, I’m taking the kids out swimming, hitting the local parks, reading, and just enjoying family time.