My experience with animals is much more than the typical “I grew up with animals”. Yes, I had a wide variety of pets growing up, but there are two additional things that have really taken my animal knowledge to the next level. The first is years of volunteering in the rescue world. This has included mostly hands on experience with fostering and training, but also many hours in the city at Chicago Animal Care and Control. Along the way I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of both cat and dog breeds, including all of their unique behaviors and temperaments, which has ultimately made me more knowledgeable and prepared. The second is my personal journey of owning a reactive dog. Almost 7 years ago, we adopted an adorable terrier/dachshund mix, who little did we know, was terrified of basically the entire world. Our journey has included working with behavioral trainers and veterinarians, conducting massive amounts of research, extensive training and enrichment to help build his confidence, and sometimes using medication along the way to help ease his diagnosed anxiety and global fear disorder. In the process of trying to make the world not so scary for him, I’ve learned so much, not just about training, but also things like animal body language, trigger stacking, animal thresholds, and both mental and physical enrichment. And it’s really given me a better understanding of animal behavior in general, not just around reactivity. On the feline side, we had more cats than dogs growing up (my mom adored Siamese cats, so we always had several) and my last cat had some medical issues, including being diabetic, so beyond normal feline care, I’m also very familiar with insulin injections and administering medication. While I’m not a certified trainer, I’ve taken many classes on enrichment, behavior, and fear-free training, simply because I’m curious and want to understand any animal I’m interacting with the best I can. I’m nerdy like that :) My love for animals runs deep, I believe in kind, compassionate care, using positive reinforcement only, and I can promise you that your animals will be in good hands with me.