Hello everyone!
My name is Taylor and I am a fiancé, dog mom, Probation Officer, and certified Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist. Welcome to my story!
My story begins in 2010 when I graduated high school. I went to Niagara University in Lewiston NY with the intentions of becoming a Veterinarian. Sadly, my brain is not wired to understand science, as much as I wanted it to. In my Sophomore year I made a very difficult decision and switched my major to Criminal Justice. I was devastated that I couldn’t work with animals, the way I wanted, but my new goal was to become a K9 Officer.
Fast forward to 2015, I never got my police officer job. Instead I decided to go to graduate school and had various security jobs, while maintaining the title of dog mom to one beautiful rescue girl. Lily is a Beagle Mix that came from West Virginia. Six months into having Lily, she started developing some behavior issues. After bringing a behavior specialist in, I was informed that Lily had fear aggression, specifically towards other dogs. Three years of personal research and work with Lily, she overcame her issues and is dog friendly.
In 2017, Lily and I decided we were pretty lonely. So Lily picked out a little brother and I picked out a boyfriend. Then in 2018, I started my job as a Probation Officer and my boyfriend upgraded his title to fiance. Starting a dream job can cause some heart ache though. I was not making nearly the same amount of money I had at my previous job. To help with finances I decided to start a side business as a dog sitter. I launched in 2018 and by January of 2020, I had made over $20,000 in additional income.
You can see my interview about my dog sitting business with The Savvy Couple here.
With my business, I was blessed with meeting over 100 different dogs and learned how dogs’ brains work. How they communicate, ask for space, play, even start a scuffle. I was also given an opportunity to foster dogs through a local rescue organization. After having only one foster dog, who had fear issues, in my home the organization asked me to become a full time volunteer. To this day, I help the rescue coordinate their fosters and help with foster dogs who need some extra obedience care. I have fostered almost 40 dogs (and one rabbit) with the rescue.
So this brings us to Bailey. That girl is and will always be my favorite foster. She was being returned to the rescue after being adopted out for almost a month. Bailey was dog-aggressive and was redirecting on her owner when on a leash and she could see a dog. Bailey spent five months with me learning how to be a polite dog on leash, in the home, out in public. She was successfully adopted out and has the best life now.
Lily and Bailey both showed me that I have the potential to be a great dog trainer. After thinking it over for months on end, I decided I needed to go back to school. I enrolled at Animal Behavior Institute Inc., graduated, and became a certified Canine Training Professional and Behavior Specialist.
This post is my big welcome to this blog is to inform the world of everything “dog”! There is so much in the world of training, a specialized post could help a new dog mom or dad! I want to share Lily’s story and Bailey’s story, in hopes to relate to someone else dealing with a reactive dog. There is also a plan to make some funny posts just for some giggles! I hope you enjoy this blog and you take something from it and share the information with others.
Waves and Wags,
Taylor
