My journey with dogs begins here:

“I met Yogi in April 2011 when I started volunteering at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. First he was a dog behind a glass window, with red, tired and sad eyes. In July 2011 I could finally take him for a walk. At HSSV you have to complete five levels of training to begin socializing more challenging, difficult dogs and Yogi was one of these fifth level dogs - diamond dog. I took him for a walk every other day, so that he could have fresh air as well as special time just for him. Dogs are very social animals, and isolation is stressful for them.

By the end of September 2011 I carefully read Yogi's adoption plan and found out that he had been in the shelter since December 2010, almost 10 months. At first I couldn't believe it, and that day I requested the shelter if it is ok to bring Yogi home with me so he could have a break. The shelter environment is stressful for dogs. That night for the first time in such a long time he had peaceful quiet sleep, on his own bed. That night I promised myself I will do everything in my power that he will never need to return to the shelter. And he stayed. For the first 3 weeks I was fostering him, and at the end of October 2011, my husband and I decided to sign adoption papers and he was ours. During our journey we went through many training session, my goal was to help Yogi so I began taking seminars with top dog trainers, reading multitudes of books, watching hours and hours of videos, absorbing everything about dog aggression, about fears in dogs, about socialization and positive reinforcement. I began by exposing Yogi to dogs and people, and using positive reinforcement, with rigid structure we started our journey that is continuing to this day.

In July 2012 we joined a doggy daycare together, me as an employee and Yogi as a student. In December 2012 for the first time Yogi was able to play with another dog.

From that point he started playing with more dogs, and his group of buddies to play with began to grow. Bringing Yogi home was one of the best things that happened to my family.

Watching his transformation is amazing. Yogi gave my family and I great lessons of patience, kindness, no judgment, bringing out the best side, and filled us with positive energy. Yogi shares his life with me, my husband and his 18 and 22 years old human brothers. Yogi shares his life with his family with respect, love and understanding. He goes everywhere with us, loves backpacking trips in Sierra. He helps socialize other dogs, and is an integrated part of our family. He is 11 years old now, and we don't remember how our life was before him”

Yogi challenged me, and was my best teacher. His story has a happy ending. The greatest success of his story is that he helped me to rehabilitate other dogs from the shelters that were running out of options. Dogs that almost ended on death row, but after training, socialization now living happy lives with beautiful families.

I have 2 years experience volunteering at Humane Society Silicon Valley, 6 years working at doggy daycare and boarding facility, I am a 6 year member of APDT (The Association of Professional Dog Trainers), attended seminars presented by top dog trainers like Ian Dunbar, John Rogerson, Ken Ramirez, Trish King, Sue Sternberg, Jean Donaldson, Pia Silvani, Kathy Sdao.

I completed 3 weeks Advanced Dog Training and Behavior Certification Course with John Rogerson in India. I also completed two levels of Trish King’s Academy of Dog Behavior, and attended The Dog Guru training program. Certificate Course: Dog Training 101 with Sarah Filipiak.

I had an opportunity to learn during training classes from Barbara De Groodt of From the Heart Dog Training in Salinas, CA, Dawna Caldwell of Happy Tails to You Dog Training in San Jose, CA, Lu Shoberg of Baymont Dog Training in San Jose, CA, Cecilia Sternzon of Canine Higher Learning.