Cathie (AKA Cat) is a Colorado native from the Salida area. Her current stomping ground is in Northern Colorado, and her business K9 Wisdom has two locations in Loveland. She has been training dogs professionally for over 15 years and is a proud dog nerd! She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy, a graduate and Certified Dog Trainer through Animal Behavior College, a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), and is a certified AKC (American Kennel Club) Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. In addition, Cathie is a Mentor Trainer for CATCH Academy, where she mentors aspiring dog trainers!

 

Prior to opening K9 Wisdom she worked in the Training and Behavior Modification Department of a nationally recognized Humane Society. While working at the humane society she gained invaluable experience working with homeless dogs with behavior problems, conducting Behavior Evaluations/Assessments and matching the right family with the perfect dog.

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After leaving the humane society she became the Training, Behavior and K9 Coach Coordinator at Animal Friends Alliance and Grooming where she trains dogs and coaches volunteers on how to increase the adoptability in rescue dogs. The K9 Coach Class has became a huge success! Cat's main goal for the K9 Coach Class is to set dogs up in finding and staying in their forever home. The program improves dogs chances of being adopted through training and manners.

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She believes dogs learn behaviors best with humane training methods. She values and believes in the power of relationship-based training and uses it as the core when working with clients and their K9 best friends. Knowing all dogs (and owners!) learn differently she uses training styles that work for the individual dog/owner team, setting every client up for success! She utilizes Mark and Reward based training as she feels this opens up the line of communication between owner and their canine sidekicks, all while speeding up learning!

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Cathie has an enthusiastic devotion to keeping current on "all things dog". In doing so she is able to provide an unsurpassed training experience to her clients, while helping their four legged friends learn how to be well mannered and appropriate. She pursues ongoing continued education by attending seminars throughout the year and keeps current on all new canine literature.

 

Cat's main focus as a trainer is to help owners and their dogs create lasting bonds. She resonates with and strives to improve the lives of shelter dogs and dogs with behavior issues. Specializing in reactivity and dogs who lack confidence has given her a well rounded view of the canine world. Through her work with reactivity and aggression, Cat has created a well versed curriculum for dogs of all ages and struggles. In order to help her community reduce adoption returns, aggression and reactivity, Cat focuses strongly on teaching owners how to properly socialize their puppy!