Mandi's credentials and certifications

When your pet is in my care you can rest assured that I will take every measure possible to help keep them safe. However, if the unexpected happens, I know how to react to give your pet the best chance possible.

AKC Farm Dog involves your dog performing a series of 12 exercises that are typical for a farm environment such as being in close proximity to livestock (who are always penned to avoid any altercations); jumping and staying on hay/straw bales; walking on unusual terrain; and jumping over logs.

The SPOT test is an evaluation of a dog's ability to handle common, everyday situations, and the owner's ability to control and respond to their dog in a variety of situations. I am able to set up testing areas and evaluate dogs and their owners for SPOT.

I am certified by AKC to evaluate for programs such as Canine Good Citizen, Trick Dog, Virtual Home Manners, AKC STAR Puppy, CGCA or CGCU. 

I am highly trained and experienced in working with reactive and aggressive dogs. This makes Golden Paws an excellent choice for positive reinforcement based behavior modification programs.

UPDOG is one of the fastest growing disc dog sports in the world. I am an approved judge for the sport for everything except freestyle.

I am certified by AKC to teach basic canine fitness classes for FIT DOG Level 1.

Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior teaches effective force-free training in all of their courses. Karen Pryor Academy is a leader and gold standard in the field of animal training and in the science and application of marker-based positive reinforcement, or what is popularly called “clicker training".

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I'm a graduate of the Dog Trainer Foundations course. 

The ATT tests how a dog reacts to a variety of stimuli. Desirable traits are that the dog will be emotionally stable, inquisitive, cooperative, appropriately social for its breed, biddable and demonstrates the ability to recover from a startling situation in a reasonable amount of time.

AKC FETCH is a pass/fail activity in which dogs are scored on their ability to retrieve objects. I am an approved judge for FETCH events.