Hi! My name is Em, and I am a queer and trans* Durhamite with many years of experience caring for, training, and loving animals. I grew up working on a local farm in Orange County working with and training dogs and horses (as well as a menagerie of other farm animals). I loved getting to see each animal's personality come through, to find out what they liked, and what their quirks were. My love of animals and fascination with animal behavior and psychology has led me to where I am now: I am a fully trained veterinary assistant with 4+ years of experience. I currently am working relief at a local Emergency Animal Hospital (where I am training to become a VMA) with two years of additional experience in a busy general practice hospital. I love animal training (Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive) and am an avid agility handler. I am pursuing my CPTD-KSA certification to become a professional dog trainer and continue training as an animal behavioralist and counselor. I regularly teach Obedience and Puppy classes at Pet Behavior Help in Chapel Hill, where I also am in regular agility lessons with my demon dog, Charlie, who I completely rehabilitated (he was set to be euthanized for major behavioral issues). If training is something you are interested in, I am happy to chat. In summary, I have many years of experience working with animals of all kinds, pet sitting, and dog walking, and I am very comfortable working with animals of all ages as well as those with special needs and medical issues. I hope that you reach out, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with your pets.