Mantrailing Global Head Instructor & Assessor
My love of dog training began in 2020 when, like many, we decided to get a new family dog. Our previous dogs have all passed and we decided to get a German Shepherd. After all, we both owned dogs before and considered ourselves dog-savvy. Well… weren’t we naive about the difference between working breeds and the universal family dogs that we were largely used to. Add to that that our female GSD puppy was quite reactive or as I describe her now, she has strong huge feelings about things. Trying to figure this sweet girl out is what started me on a deep dive journey into the mind of a complex dog.
For what it’s worth, I enjoy a good challenge, and shortly after we added another German Shepherd, and a year later foster failed a Belgian Malinois.
Yeah, it was pretty crazy, but the challenge turned into the best passion I wouldn’t trade for anything. To this day, I breathe dog training and behavior, and I found my niche in scent-based activities with our dogs.
I have seen those disciplines give our dogs great purpose and offer remarkable help to people with high-energy breeds who are otherwise at a loss.
I am an active Search and Rescue member of the North Florida Search Team, SAR tech II certified, accredited Mantrailing Global head instructor and assessor, and am pursuing master-level professional dog training education at Catch Dog Trainers Academy while still training my dogs in different disciplines of scent detection. And before I forget, I have had a 20-plus-year career as a licensed massage therapist in the State of Florida, which thankfully still supports my dog passions and volunteering in SAR.
Dogs are my greatest passion though and I’d love to share the game of mantrailing with you and your dog.