Meet Savannah...
I’ve known since I was little that I wanted to work with animals. For the longest time, I thought that would be through veterinarian medicine until I took biology in high school (let’s just say dissections are not my favorite). When I started the job at the personal protection dog company, I knew from day one this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
The mindset the dog has in training is a main focus of mine. Awareness. Confidence. Understanding.
Awareness doesn’t mean literal focus on me at all times, but being aware of my presence and perceptive to direction.
Confidence. I want the dogs to be confident in my abilities as a handler. I make sure I never ask too much too soon and never put them in a stressful situation that is overwhelming.
Understanding. I want the dogs to understand they set the boundaries and rules. If it’s too much for the dog to be one the furniture then we say no more furniture. If the dog’s listening skills go down around other dogs then we back off play time until I feel that the dog understands rules still apply when play mates are around.
When I started Savvy K9 one of my major priorities was to stay personalized with clients and their needs. I keep up with the latest training methods and am constantly looking for seminars and working with competition trainers who have been in the business for a long time in order to be the most knowledgeable trainer I can to build confidence for pet obedience dogs and the most understanding handler for my sport dogs.
Education is also very important to me. I do presentations for high school students all over the state to bring awareness to responsibly purchasing a dog from a rescue or breeder, dog safety and also to encourage students who are about to leave high school and really confront their future.