KW Happy Dogs

Kirsten brings decades of knowledge and experience to helping improve behavioral problems with your furry (or fluffy, as it may be) best friend. Look no further, Kirsten is the best behaviorist you will find. Almost a year ago, my partner and I adopted a 9-month-old, abused and traumatized Great Dane, named Brünnhilde. We don’t know her history, but we know from her high levels of anxiety and her physical scars that she had a very difficult formative period and, now a teenager, she was large and strong (100+ lbs) and highly reactive to people and other dogs. She was very hard to control. We knew immediately we were in over our heads and needed an expert to help us. By way of many phone calls, we found Kirsten and began an incredibly rewarding journey. With Kirsten’s help, Brünnhilde learned to be a dog—a normal dog! We now love having Brünnhilde in our home; she has become our best friend, and she now even plays with other dogs! It has been an amazing journey, from questioning whether we could keep her, to being grateful that found Kirsten and stuck with it. In literal terms, Kirsten made it possible. During this journey, Brünnhilde and I have met with numerous dog trainers, behaviorists, veterinarians, and even veterinary behaviorists. If I have learned anything, it is that the world of helping your dog (and helping yourself) is complicated and hard to navigate. Kirsten is an invaluable resource—she has worked with dogs from all angles for many decades, knows the best veterinary behaviorists, and knows the landscape and how to get results. Finally, and maybe most importantly, Kirsten is a “positive reinforcement” trainer. I put that in quotes, because there is a lot of complexity in that phrase; the basic idea is that Kirsten is about building a relationship between you and your dog. Co-regulation is the foundation, and fun and positive training is the end and the means. Kirsten is about building the relationship with your dog—obviously that is the right idea and why we have a dog in the first place. I have limited experience with other kinds of trainers, they usually they call themselves ‘balanced’, but after seeing such incredible results with Brünnhilde, and growing my relationship with her, I am now firmly in the “positive reinforcement” camp. It just makes sense—have a better relationship with the animals you love.

We are so thankful to have found Kirsten. Her open and approachable demeanor on helping with our boys made dog training and socialization feel less overwhelming and so supportive! She was always available for any follow up questions and sent a super helpful summary at the end of each training visit with videos and tips. We have used her for both our dogs and are so thankful to have her and her team to help train our boys!

Highly recommend! Kirsten taught me all about my dog, how he sees the world and how I can support him and help him thrive in this busy and complicated world. Kirsten is a partner and collaborator for me as I learn to adjust my behavior and communicate clearly to my precious pup. I’ve seen Kirsten work with many breeds and she always finds a path forward for canine and human, together. It’s a beautiful and often fun process. Book her today for a better tomorrow with your dog.