Dog Training Tucson

Lori is Highland Canine’s Arizona dog trainer. Her love of dogs began around seven years of age, when her family purchased a miniature poodle puppy for $20.00 in a parking lot. Her family named the pup Baby, and although Baby was meant to be her brother’s dog, she began developing behavioral issues as she got older. At around eight years old, the behavioral problems became so severe that Lori’s brother said that she could have Baby if she would be willing to fix them.

Lori began working with Baby and started to see results. Even at such a young age, she recognized these changes and her relationship with Baby grew significantly stronger. At 21, Lori acquired Luna, her first ever Standard Poodle. She trained Luna as a therapy dog, teaching some mobility service tasks to accompany this role, and spent a great deal of time providing therapy with Luna in assisted living homes. Lori has also trained Luna in trailing, where dogs will trail one specific human odor to its source.

Lori is extremely passionate about the training of working dogs – such as police K9s, detection dogs and search dogs.

“It is amazing to watch them do what they are naturally capable of once you learn how to channel that energy,” says Lori. “This same philosophy can be applied to many pet dogs as well. Dogs are capable of doing amazing things, and many of them never have the opportunity to live up to their full potential.”

Lori’s experiences with her miniature poodle, Baby, in addition to her other early experiences working with other aggression cases, instilled in her a passion for behavioral modification from a young age. This passion inspired her to pursue an education in dog training and become a certified Master Dog Trainer.

Lori has experience training pet dogs, working dogs (such as police K9s and search dogs), service dogs, and doing behavioral modification in dogs displaying undesirable or aggressive behaviors. Lori’s ultimate goal is to resolve the detrimental miscommunications that human owners have with their dogs. “By fixing these communication issues, you can build a better relationship and bond. This leads to a huge improvement of life quality for both, which ultimately allows owners and their dogs to live a much better life together. Many times, dog owners are unknowingly reinforcing the behaviors that they don’t like in their dogs. This can make problems so much worse, which leads to a lot of frustration. Once you understand how your dog thinks, resolving behavioral issues becomes a lot easier.”

Lori currently lives in Tucson, AZ with her standard poodle, Luna.