 Kate Palese MA, CPDTOwner of K8's Gr8 K9sHi, Dog training is my first Love. My mom was a dog trainer and there have only been 6 months of my life that hasn't had a dog (or several dogs) in it. I started training in the dark ages with choke chains. It took a very smart Akita/Lab mix to show me the errors of my ways. It is infinitely easier to motivate a dog to do what you WANT it to do than to punish it for doing everything else. I met Ian Dunbar in 1992 and found that many trainers were re-thinking how we trained dogs. I served on the first board of directors for the APDT I now train as positively as I can figure out how to and I don't even own a choke chain. I live with a nine year old Rednose Pit, a five year old 5lb Chihuahua, a foster Poodle and a long suffering black cat. | Jen Jeffress, MAHello, I have always loved animals since I was a toddler. My mother tells a story of the time I developed a severe case of hives from playing with the kittens at my uncle's house and subsequently scaring all the families at the local pool. Needless to say, I am glad I no longer get hives from furry creatures! My love for animals led me on a journey out of my home state of Texas to sunny San Diego...an opportunity to work with bottlenosed dolphins! After 7 years of learning all about operant conditioning and working on research projects with dolphins, sea lions and beluga whales, I decided to go back to school and earn a degree in psychology for counseling. I worked with children with autism and their families and utilized my knowledge of operant conditioning to make daily life for them (a little) easier. After having 2 of my own kids to now care for (and train--not so easy when it's your own kids!), I am so very fortunate to be able to continue to work with animals and employ the powerful principles of positive reinforcement with dog owners and their precious charges. I live with my wonderful husband and our two girls, ages 3 1/2 and 10 months. |
