Marlene Johnson 

I am Marlene and I have been fascinated with animals, particularly dogs for as long as I remember. I have always been particularly interested in behavior and one of my earliest memories is teaching my grandmother’s poodle tricks with the help of doggie biscuits. As a teenager I saw the benefit of consistent training with a dog that I had trained to sit before crossing a road. This simple behavior, sit before crossing the road and waiting for permission to cross the road, ended up saving his life.

From an early age I read every book on dog training and behavior that I could get my hands on and my skills and knowledge grew over the years. In the 90s I was introduced to reward based training and clicker training and I volunteered to teach group classes for a local animal shelter. Most of the pet owners who attended had just recently adopted their dogs and had all sorts of questions about behavior problems and we spend a lot of our class time talking about how to deal with behavior problems. I was happy to help and it was good to see that with a little help, problems were overcome that could have otherwise meant the dog would have lost its home again.

I had a mobile dog training business for several years but I never sought certification as it isn’t required in order to start a business and after a few years I closed the business when I moved to a rural town.

My main interest when it comes to dogs is assisting dog owners to solve behavioral problems such as anxiety, aggression, resource guarding and so on. I have owned a few challenging dogs myself, so I not only know how to work with the dog, I also know what it feels like to be the owner of a dog with some serious problems. My training philosophy is that the best strategy is the prevention of problems before they even start by teaching appropriate behaviors and managing the dog appropriately. If a problem arises, it is almost always possible to solve it with reward based training methods and good management.