Meet the Trainer

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Corinna has always had a knack for animals, having grown up around dogs, cats, bunnies, birds, ducks, fish, and turtles. When she was in college, she adopted two dogs, both of whom were as sweet as can be but also completely out of control. They didn't listen, chewed up the house, barked at everything and everyone, terrorized the neighborhood, and were impossible to walk on leash. One of the dogs was also extremely fearful of everything. Corinna took her dogs to several training classes but they did little to change their behavior. For the next several years, Corinna did the best she could to keep her dogs happy inside the home, providing them with an endless amount of treats, toys, and cuddles; she did not have a yard at the time so the dogs' outdoor times were limited mostly to potty breaks and very short walks. She thought her dogs were simply untrainable and that she would never be able to bring them anywhere. But whenever she could, she'd continue to look for ways to improve their quality of life.

After completing her graduate studies in Boston and working for several large corporations, Corinna realized that while her job was wonderful and gave her stability and financial freedom, what she really wanted to do was to work with dogs, to learn to understand and communicate with them. So Corinna left her full-time consulting career, went on to attend the Starmark Academy for Professional Dog Trainers, and became a Certified Canine Training & Behavior Specialist. After graduating from Starmark, she was selected to train under the tutelage of two industry veterans in Texas, both of whom have decades of dog training experience and have competed numerous times in the IPO/Schutzhund sport at the national and world levels. 

Needless to say, her two former troublemakers now go with her almost everywhere dogs are allowed and they enjoy a much happier and far more fulfilling life. Corinna believes that her becoming a dog trainer was one of the best decisions she's ever made. It equipped her with the knowledge and skills to not only turn her own dogs' lives around, but to also help other dog parents just like her do the same for their dogs.

To date, Corinna has worked with hundreds of dogs in puppy training, basic and advanced obedience, competitive obedience, tricks training, IPO/Schutzhund, agility, service work, dock diving, nosework, and narcotics detection.  Corinna is also an approved Evaluator with the American Kennel Club ("AKC") and may administer the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy program, Canine Good Citizen ("CGC"), AKC Community Canine, Urban CGC, and Trick Dog tests.

Corinna currently lives in a Houston suburb with three rescue mutts - Noti, Milli and Kaiyoti (pictured below as "superheros"). Noti is a female Chow Chow and German Shepherd mix, Milli is a female Husky and German Shepherd mix, and Kaiyoti is a male Pit Bull mix. Noti is bananas about a game of fetch and all things tricks; Milli is a certified therapy dog; and Kaiyoti is being trained for competition agility. 

While living in Austin, Corinna volunteered with Homes for Pets, a San Antonio-based nonprofit rescue organization. Corinna worked with behaviorally-challenged rescue dogs so that they can become more adoptable.  

(Photo: Corinna and client dog Odin at the IPO/Schutzhund trial hosted by the Greater Dallas Working Dog Club)