Featured Employee: Amber Vaughn

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, it is common at this time of year to express our gratitude and appreciation for those around us. In that spirit, we’d like to highlight our featured employee, Amber Vaughn!

Since joining our team over five years ago, Amber has played a pivotal role in almost every area of our business. She has played a key part in working with several of the police and military K9 teams we have trained, helping to keep our communities safe as part of law enforcement efforts. In addition, Amber has worked in our Service Dog division, and also regularly offers group classes at our training center in Harmony, NC, including Search and Rescue.

Amber had a passion for dogs from a young age. Knowing that she wanted to pursue a career training dogs, but unsure on precisely which path she wanted to follow, Amber enrolled in the Master Dog Trainer program at the School for Dog Trainers. This comprehensive 24-week program covered all aspects of dog training, and upon graduation, Amber joined us at Highland Canine.

Originally a member of the Service Dog team, Amber then spent several years in our working dog division. During that time, Amber was instrumental in training Darwin, a German Shorthaired Pointer who was the first conservation detection dog in the United States trained to find bumblebees.

READ MORE: Women & Working Dogs, Part 3: Amber Vaughn

More recently, Amber rejoined our Service Dog team, and can regularly be spotted on weekends offering our popular Search and Rescue group classes. Amber’s introductory classes are excellent for new entrants to the world of SAR, while the more advanced classes are great for those looking to push the capabilities of their dog even further (check out our calendar to see upcoming group classes in your area).

In this article, we changed things up a little! While we did include some questions about dogs, we also asked Amber to provide us with some insight on chores, food, and a couple of questions about her time at Highland.

Thank you, Amber, for all that you have done and will continue to do – both for our team, and the human-canine teams you work with!

What is your favorite dog breed. Amber?

My favorite dog breed is the Border Collie. I like how enthusiastic they are.

How did you first learn about Highland Canine?

I first learned about Highland Canine while touring another dog trainer school. They were talking about how challenging the School for Dog Trainers was. I did my research after that on the company and school, and decided I was up for the challenge.

If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It’s not a meal, but I could eat ice cream every day for the rest of my life.

What is your favorite training activity to do with dogs?

My favorite dog training activity is trailing.

What chore do you enjoy the least?

I hate doing laundry the most.

What has been your proudest moment at Highland Canine?

There are two things I am very proud of while working at Highland! The first is training a USAR dog for a team in Haiti. The second was having the opportunity to train two bumblebee conservation detection dogs.

What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?

Something most people don’t know about me is that I love arts and crafts. I do a lot of creating when I’m not working dogs.

What is your favorite aspect of working at Highland Canine?

My favorite aspect of working at Highland is the variety of training that happens here. There is always something new and different to get involved in.