I have been working with people and animals, in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area since 1978. After going to school to be a Registered Veterinary Technician, I worked in the veterinary field for a couple of years before I realized that medicine was not for me.

When I was eight years old, I found a stray dog. I knew my parents wouldn’t allow me to bring her home, so for two weeks I hid her and cared for her secretly in the empty lot next door to our house. When my older siblings told my parents of my shenanigans, they agreed to let me have the dog on the condition that I be completely responsible for her care. I accepted the responsibility gladly, and it was a match made in heaven. I learned a lot from watching that dog join our family and the other dogs in the neighborhood. I took her everywhere I went and we bonded in a way I will cherish forever. I first rode a horse at the young age of seven in the Pocono Mountains on a two-week Christmas vacation. My toes were numb and my nose was dripping icicles but I didn’t care, I wouldn’t get off that horse for the life of me. I spent the rest of the vacation in the barn, actually in the stall, watching the horse’s every movement. I was hooked and begged to go back in the summer to camp, where I won every class I entered and rode the biggest horse there and played with the horses all day long while the other campers were off doing different camp activities. I got my first horse when I was 13 and haven’t been without one since. I began working with dogs and horses with family and friends at a very early age and began to do so professionally in 1978.

I realized my true calling was to help people better understand how animals think and behave in the world. During my work as a veterinary technician.  Dr. Blake DVM pointed this out to me because I handled every fearful/aggressive dog that came in and taught my colleagues how to restrain a fearful/aggressive potential biter and not one technician was sent to the emergency room for a dog bite in the duration of my work at this animal hospital.  This and many other observations inspired Dr. Blake’s strong suggestion that I go into the field of dog training and dog behavior. While in college, I took a couple of dog training classes and brought my new dog to a few different dog trainers. From what I learned through observation and books, I knew I could offer much more than these classes and trainers were offering me. They weren’t teaching the language of dogs. And although I learned a lot about riding technique from my horse trainers, I wasn’t being taught the language of horses. About this time I knew I must begin my career in teaching the language of dogs and horses to all my clients.

For the past 30 years I have been doing volunteer work in animal shelters and helping people train their dogs, including service dog work. When people have a clear understanding of their dogs’ or horses’ behavior, they and their pets can live in harmony.