Stasia moved to North Carolina from Clermont, FL. Having worked with a variety of animal species her entire life, she has trained dogs recreationally since she was ten years old (where she showed in 4H, began trick training and was involved in a number of obedience and agility classes). Stasia has been training professionally since college, where she utilized her knowledge of animal behavior to help other students work with their personal dogs.

After taking a short break to pursue a career in communications, Stasia realized that working with animals was her passion – one which transformed into a calling. She has worked in a kennel environment as a trainer and a technician, in addition to working as a veterinary technician for a mobile vet clinic in Florida.

Stasia graduated from the Highland Canine Training, LLC’s Master Dog Trainer program with honors, where she was certified to train search and rescue dogs, pet dogs and service dogs. She works with the aim of optimizing every dog’s potential and enabling their human owners to see the unexplored capabilities of their canine companion.

Stasia now specializes in the training of Search and Rescue dogs for individuals and SAR units. She trains trailing K9s, urban disaster dogs for FEMA certification, HRD K9s, wilderness air scent and mountain search dogs. Highland Canine offers a number of options for handlers or owners seeking SAR K9 training. Through private training, in-kennel SAR programs or group classes, dogs and their handlers are prepared to certify through us, preparing both for the job ahead.

Training doesn’t need to stop here, however; Stasia also helps build SAR dogs for handlers seeking certification through national organizations, and will develop a training program specific to the certification standards your chosen organization possesses. Stasia also works with operational search dogs in order to resolve problems teams are experiencing prior to recertification, or simply to improve accuracy on the field.

Stasia currently owns three dogs – Sophie, a five year old Labrador mix; Lylah, a two year old German Shepherd; and Castora, a Groenendael puppy who is in the process of training for live find SAR work.