Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
References
Timeline
Generic

Emma Smith

Kanab,UT

Summary

I began working with dogs when I started as a receptionist at a doggy daycare. I quickly fell in love with the atmosphere but learned that there were other areas of animal welfare that needed me. I found a job at my local animal shelter and really found my passion for the dogs that needed a little extra attention. I would ensure time in my day to work with my "project dogs", whether or not that meant coming in early or working late. Eventually I realized this was something I wanted to really focus on, so I enrolled in Starmark Academy's Canine Training and Behavior Specialist course. After graduating from the 4 month course, I returned back to my local animal shelter to be their full time trainer. I was able to offer so much to both the community and our shelter dogs; group classes, private lessons, behavior consults, personalized training, workshops for our volunteers and fosters, and more. When I decided to make the change to Best Friends, I was excited for the opportunities to learn and grow from the behavior team. I was also excited to work with the unique population of dogs that live at the Sanctuary. My experience at Best Friends has helped me widen my tool belt, I've learned how to train dogs in a completely different way than I originally did. While that has been a challenge to master, it has given me many different skills to apply to my training. I look forward to all of the ways I will continue to learn, grow, and mature in my training journey.

Overview

6
6
years of professional experience

Work History

Behavior and Training Specialist

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
Kanab, UT
04.2023 - Current
  • Evaluate which skills an individual dog needs to work on to help them become more adoptable. Create a training plan and work each day towards accomplishing our goal.
  • It's crucial to the dog's success that we all are on the same page. I work hard to educate and motivate the rest of the staff to feel confident and comfortable with the training plan. I work with both Caregivers and Volunteers to ensure they understand an individual dog's training plan.
  • Evaluating both Caregiver's and Volunteer's handling ability; the level of difficulty they can manage. Coaching them through a given behavior, stressful situation, or even just tips/tricks on becoming a more confident handler.
  • Working with adopter's after adoption to help with the transition of bringing home a new dog. Working with the adopter to help them understand what their dog is doing and why, how to address it, how to troubleshoot issues that may arise, and how to maintain the training moving forward.
  • Working a dog through their Dog to Dog skills. I follow the DPFL approach for introducing dogs. I am confident in helping a dog figure out how to, at the least, coexist with dogs when initially they may have been making aggressive choices.
  • Handle dogs with advanced behavioral issues, extensive bite histories, and unknown triggers. Evaluate their behaviors, establish a handling protocol, and work towards expanding their world.
  • Become creative and innovative with my training when I have hit roadblocks with my training. Understanding that every dog is an individual and learns in their own way. Educating myself on different techniques and approaches.

Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist

Homeward Animal Shelter
Fargo, ND
05.2022 - Current
  • Assess each dog that comes into our care to determine their ideal home, what training they may need, and how to protect them/staff/volunteers
  • In shelter & foster training for any & all of our dogs that need focused training for behavioral issues such as fear aggression, resource guarding, animal aggression, reactivity, etc.
  • Work with adopters before & after adoption to ensure they can continue training with their dog. Offering in-home lessons to help prevent returns and to ensure a smooth transition for adopter & dog.
  • Determining what level of difficulty each dog in our care is at initially to determine which level of volunteers can walk them. Taking each volunteer through multiple levels of training to ensure they are confident and comfortable to handle difficult dogs.
  • Offering training services to the community, including group classes and private lessons. I led multiple different group classes individually; Puppy Class, Trick Class, Basic Obedience, and Reactivity Class. I would cater the private lessons to the client, I had clients ranging from barking at the doorbell to varying types of aggression towards humans including dogs who had bite histories.

Adoption Counselor

Homeward Animal Shelter
Fargo, ND
12.2020 - 01.2022
  • Process all foster & adoption applications, determine (if they are approved) which animal would be best for them, guiding them through the adoption/foster process, and continuing to communicate with them once the animal is home to ensure there are no issues.
  • Over-see every animal meet with a potential adopter, introducing dogs to potential new fur siblings, and talking through any questions/concerns with potential adopters.
  • Answer the phone, emails, schedule appointments, entering/filing paperwork such as vet records or adoption information, communication with landlords/law enforcement/references about adopters/fosters, and anything that came with being behind the front desk.
  • Filling in where needed, I often restrained animals for vaccines, administered medication, gave fluids, and much more minor medical assistance.

Receptionist

Wags Stay N Play
Moorhead, MN
10.2018 - 01.2020
  • Scheduled and confirmed appointments and meetings for management team.
  • Served visitors by greeting, welcoming and directing to appropriate personnel.
  • Updated and recorded customer or client information to maintain accounts.
  • Oversaw office inventory by restocking supplies and submitting purchase orders.
  • Processed payments and updated accounts to reflect balance changes.

Education

Canine Trainer And Behavior Specialist - Dog Training

Starmark Academy School For Dog Trainers
Austin
04.2022

Skills

  • Confidence working with a wide range of challenging dogs
  • A passion for focusing my skills on behaviorally challenged dogs
  • Comfortability with public speaking, confidence in explaining my training to community members, and enjoying getting to know each client
  • Patience and understanding with animals that need more help
  • A confidence in my intuition for what an animal needs and what their potential is
  • Comfortability training many different behaviors, tasks, sports, and modifying unwanted behaviors
  • Creating an individualized training plan for each dog
  • Quick reflexes when in unsafe situations, dog fights, etc

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Behavior and Training Specialist

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
04.2023 - Current

Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist

Homeward Animal Shelter
05.2022 - Current

Adoption Counselor

Homeward Animal Shelter
12.2020 - 01.2022

Receptionist

Wags Stay N Play
10.2018 - 01.2020

Canine Trainer And Behavior Specialist - Dog Training

Starmark Academy School For Dog Trainers

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Emma Smith