Our Trainers
Our team of trainers is ready to help you along your training journey. Weather youre looking to improve basic manners or looking to add in fun activities to your dogs routine- Ria and Michelle are here to help!
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All About Ria
Ria got her first dog when she was 12 years old, sparking a lifelong passion that led her to become a professional dog trainer. She has been training dogs for 9 years now. Ria furthers her passion by being dedicated to creating more responsible dog owners.
In 2024, Ria became a certified canine good citizen (CGC) evaluator and earned her certification as a dog trainer through animal behavior college. In addition, Ria is also first aid and CPR certified. Her training philosophy uses a combination of positive reinforcement and fair corrections using the leash with or without tools. Not all dogs require tools- and for those who do, the goal is to transition them back to not using tools. She utilizes relationship building methods that focus on building a strong and respectful bond between owners and their dogs.
Ria specializes in relationship building, handler confidence building and guiding first time dog owners. Ria strives to make training enjoyable and supportive by providing a safe space with regular decompression breaks to keep learning stress-free.
Certifications include:
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Animal behavior college certified dog trainer
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Certified CGC evaluator through the AKC
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Member of IACP
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Additional education through STSK9 Dog Training Program
All about Michelle
Michelle has over 20 years of experience competing in a wide range of dog sports. Including, flyball, agility, disc dogs, dock jumping, barn hunt, and multiple NASDA events (urban locating, trailing & locating, shed dog, and lost item). She has been activly training clients in some of these sports for over 10 years. While she does have experience teaching puppy and basic obedience classes, her true passion lies with sport dog coaching.
Michelle has successful founded Gold Rush Flyball, a local flyball team. In less than a year, the team grew from only 5 dogs to over 20 dogs, and proudly earned the Multibreed Regional Championships. In addition, she currently owns and operates a North America Sport Dog Association (NASDA) club, that operates local trials. This allows her clients to gain valuable competition experience in a supportive environment.
Her goal is to bring her experience and enthusiasm to complement and enhance established programs- like Workindoggz. When working with clients her objective is to create fun, engaging and successful learning experiences for both dogs and their humans. ​​​
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