Our Team
Tiffany Shields (she/her)
I have been a Service Dog handler for 9 years. Zoey was trained using purely positive reinforcement. I have mentored under an amazing trainer for 10 years, helping her train pets needing basic obedience and many other things while training my own dogs. Zoey has been trained to mitigate my disabilities in quite a few ways. There are many tasks a service dog can do for you, if you and your doctor feel it would be beneficial. Service dogs are not just for the blind. They can also help people with PTSD, Psychiatric Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Mobility assistance, as well as blind and deaf individuals. There is a lot of training that goes into Service Dogs. Training a dog specifically for Service work can be very different from training a pet as special skills are required for public access rights.
Valarie Ross-Smith (she/her)
Owner/Certified Dog Behavior ConsultantValarie has been working with and training animals for as long as she can remember. After fostering a dog named Mitchell, she was inspired by another dog trainer to change career paths. Since that time she has become a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, and a Dog Bite Prevention Educator. She is also working towards becoming a Certified Control Unleashed Instructor. Valarie finds working with dogs that struggle with anxiety, fear, reactivity, and aggression very rewarding. She enjoys working one on one with dedicated guardians. When not training she enjoys reading, traveling with her wife Hannah, watching Schitt’s Creek on repeat, kayaking, and hiking with her dogs Gracie Bean and Phoenix. Valarie- has cPTSD and PTSD, she trained Gracie Bean to be her PTSD Service Dog.