My Story

Hi, my name’s Sara. You’ve just read about my credentials, but that’s the dry stuff. What about the good parts? How did I come to this fascinating career in animal training?

Widget

It started with Widget, a 6-month old lab/cattle dog puppy. After adopting her, she quickly earned the nickname “devil dog” with friends and family because she was quite naughty. I knew nothing about training dogs but I did know that Widget needed some lessons in good manners – so we signed up for a basic training class. Unfortunately we got kicked out of the very first class because I had the dog that supposedly couldn’t be trained! I was determined to teach Widget good manners so I began reading books and attending classes on dog training. I discovered that training was something I truly enjoyed and made the decision to pursue it as a career. I soon graduated from two different dog training schools and began training dogs full time. And Widget? She’s since traded her “devil dog” title for Canine Good Citizen!

In her younger days, Widget ran on several flyball teams. These days she pretty much just takes it easy. She’s a grand old lady now. She sometimes joins me for training classes and loves helping me teach puppies and young dogs the finer points of socialization. She also helps train shelter dogs and enjoys showing them how fun it can be to socialize properly.

I conduct behavior evaluations at the House Rabbit Society and Widget takes part in that too. She plays the part of the “well-mannered dog” so we can determine if rabbits might do well in a family with a dog.

Leroy

The newest member of our home is Leroy, a loveable pit bull who bravely survived Hurricane Katrina. After the hurricane he was sheltered in a Louisiana prison with many other dogs, mostly pit bulls. BAD RAP made a rescue run to the prison and was able to save a few pitties. After a long night of behavior evaluations, Leroy was one of the lucky dogs who made it back to California. He was placed up for adoption at the Oakland SPCA’s Pit Bull Hall but unfortunately sat around with no one showing any interest in him – the curse of the black dog. I took him home to foster and decided he was staying.

Leroy’s still learning all about his new world and is currently studying to become a Canine Good Citizen. He regularly accompanies me to the Oakland SPCA and Pit Bull Hall where he helps socialize his fellow pitties. Leroy is quite the character and has had many girlfriends come and go. He’s crazy about balls so we hope to do fly ball or agility or even obedience. Leroy loves to work and meet new people. He’s such a ham!