About Trish

Almost all of the pups in this picture were considered "reactive" and/or aggressive - now we have a blast because they can all handle chaos and other dogs and people being close! (Howloween party 2023)

At a recent trainers' collaboration, some of the most successful trainers in the country declared that I am a "holistic" trainer and, honestly, I guess it fits. I don't like labels as a rule; with dogs OR people but I do work with the entire dog - not just his "obedience" but his mental and physical well being, what her early life experiences helps or causes her to struggle with, what the environment triggers, how can we help that fear or anxiety or has it been misunderstood? 

Whether you want your puppy to get the best start possible (I am the author of Choosing and Raising A Puppy (How Hard Could It Be?) and have a decade of specializing in puppies to back it up) or you want your troubled dog to have a more calm and fun life going forward, we can make it happen!

I address these things, start to finish. I show both of you how to be more confident and I show you how to be the boss by being the parent. I can't fix your problem unless I can get both of you better.

So I guess in many of ways I am a Holistic trainer.

I'll do everything it takes to get the results I tell you I will! When I couldn't find the right tool for a dog I INVENTED one! Welcome bodycollar! 

When I couldn't find the right book, I WROTE ONE! 

CHOOSING AND RAISING A PUPPY (HOW HARD COULD IT BE?)

As a vet tech for over 15 years and 10 of those at Adobe Animal Hospital, a busy 20+ dr. practice in Los Altos where I consulted with clients and doctors alike as their BEHAVIOR CONSULTANT, I learned more and more about how the relationships between health and behavior and the OWNER and behavior matter.

I am so confident in my training that I can offer a LIFETIME SUPPORT GUARANTEE.

The picture is of my very special, special needs Collie, Limerick. I'll write a blog or something about her, later but I wanted you to know that what I learned by living with her changed the lives of thousands of dogs in the Bay Area by changing my mind about a dog's role in our lives and how to bring out the very best in them. 

The first 20 years of my training career was dictated by famous trainers insisting dogs be robot-like and that their owners and trainers had to have an almost militant approach. No room for letting a dog be a dog - even a polite and GOOD dog, with rules and manners of course. 

I had already started seeing the problems with that, and then along came Limerick with her silly damaged brain and able to hear from just one ear and her absolute love of life and complete lack of ability to learn anything more complex than Sit and Down. The look she would give me when she tried was just pure innocent puzzlement.

Raising and living with (and LOVING) her forced me to learn new ways to communicate, have a different set of priorities, a need to understand on a deeper level and to help her move through the world safely without being suppressed. 

I guess that's the key! I learned to teach people to understand their individual dog and teach it how to be GOOD without needing to be a precisely controlled robot. We want to work WITH the dog's personality instead of suppressing it.

ok, that kind of all just spilled out of me, today as I am editing this page; back to our regularly scheduled copy...

 So, here is what my website guy thought this section should say...
ahhhhh, Trish; she was a weird (but adorable!) kid who was obsessed with training dogs almost as soon as she could walk. Lassie... RinTin Tin, when any show with a dog (or horse) was on the world came to a stop.
She read everything she could get her hands on and "trained" every dog in the neighborhood whose owners she could charm into saying ok.

In the mid 1970's a famous movie animal trainer held a school for dog trainers - he hired trainers from all disciplines and Trish was lucky enough to get in!  Upon graduating the course they offered her a job and she started training for Sun King Dog Training where she was quickly made an area manager but... bigger opportunities called!

She started at Marine World Africa USA and worked with trainers of all kinds of animals (yes, including Dolphins and Killer Whales) and even trained the Vice President of the park's dog along with several others. She learned about how animals learn, how people learn and how to get the best from both of them. During the 4 years she was there, she worked with the trainers to soak up every bit of knowledge she could. Sadly, the park moved to a new location and she stayed home to pursue her passion - training dogs and their owners.

She had developed enough skill and determination to be hired by a top police, pet and termite detection dog training kennel. Her experiences working with the dogs there just fanned the flame of her desire to help even more dogs But she craved a kinder, gentler approach (a low bar back in those days!); one that was more appropriate for FAMILIES who love their dogs and just wanted them to BEHAVE. So she started her own business doing private training all over the bay area.