Kathi has been working with dogs professionally for over 13 years. Her parents allowed her to get her first dog at 14 years old only because she promised to train him. She signed up for obedience classes and overtook it by week 5, helping the other students and becoming the instructor’s assistant. She started going to client’s homes to teach private lessons when she got her driver’s license at 16 years old, and started teaching group classes for the Auburn parks and recreation department.
After a little while, she wanted to do more than obedience and behavior modification, so at 18, she got her first German Shepherd and started dog sports and Search and Rescue. She has titled several dogs in AKC obedience and rally, National Association of Canine Scent Work, Schutzhund/IPO/IGP, and Working Dogs of America venues, as well as certified in Search and Rescue for live find and human remains detection. Kathi uses balanced training methods to teach behaviors from obedience to searching to behavior modification.