About Us
Our mission is to build confidence in dogs and their guardians so you can both worry less and enjoy life more.
We have approximately 8 to 15 short years with our dogs. Stress, anxiety, fear, frustration, and insecurity can take a toll on health and happiness, shortening that time and diminishing your memories together. You and your dog deserve peace of mind, to feel in control, and to have predictability and harmony in your home. We want you both to worry less, so you can enjoy your precious time together.
For both people and dogs, CONFIDENCE happens when you know what to expect, how to achieve your goal, and believe your efforts will be rewarded. This is why we don’t just train dogs – we teach people how to reach their dog training goals. When you both embark on the learning journey together, your bond strengthens and you learn how to confidently tackle problems as a team. We achieve this through positive reinforcement training methods that are free of force, fear, pain, intimidation, and coercion. We choose this method because it is ethical, effective, efficient, and works for every dog.
Your Trainers
Lisa Corcoran, VSA-CDT
Lisa is a lifelong lover of dogs, learning new things, and solving puzzles. Her background is in Psychology (B.S., Virginia Tech; M.A., Catholic University of America) and she currently works in the veteran mental health research field. Lisa is a graduate with distinction of the prestigious Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training & Behavior and has been granted official status as a VSA-Certified Dog Trainer (VSA-CDT). Since 2017, Lisa has volunteered weekly at shelters and rescues to rehabilitate dogs looking for good homes.
These experiences help Lisa understand why both her canine and human clients do what they do. Lisa’s detail-oriented nature helps her to identify the cause of your dog’s behavior problems, and her creativity leads to a solution that works for both you and your dog. If you’re looking for a total dog nerd, Lisa is the trainer for you.
Mike Corcoran, CSB-D
Having grown up with dogs that displayed fearful and aggressive behaviors, Mike made it his mission to specialize in helping dogs like these be more confident and content in their surroundings.
Mike’s educational background is in Computer Science (B.S., Mary Washington College; M.S., George Mason University), which gives him a unique perspective of dog behavior problems as being similar to bugs in computer software. Combined with his experience as a rifleman in the United States Marine Corps, where he learned that true leadership doesn’t rely on using fear or punishment, Mike brings a systems-based approach to dog training.
Mike is a Certified Shelter Dog Behavior Consultant (CSB-D) through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and recently completed Michael Shikashio’s Aggression in Dogs course.
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