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Head Trainer Lynne Gifford IACP CDT has been working with dogs for over 20 years starting at the young age of 9 years old when she trained her then aggressive Doberman Pinscher. She completed various obedience classes, and worked with a wide variety of neighborhood dogs. Many trainers claim experience based upon the company they work for, the franchise they train out of, or how many dogs they've personally owned. Not us. Lynne has personally trained over a thousand dogs of all ages, breeds and sizes, in a variety of capacities, over a lifetime of training dogs for clients.
In high school Lynne completed the Animal Care and Control course and went on to work at Six Flags Magic Mountain in the animal department. There she became an Animals in Action show handler where she worked with a variety of exotic and domestic animals including wolves, birds of prey, parrots, hoofstock (pigs, horses, the llama etc), coati mundi, and many others.
Lynne has since worked in various full time animal training positions including a continuing education and certification representative for what was then the largest dog training company in the U.S., head trainer for a full service training facility, senior trainer at another training facility, board and train instructor, ABTA trainer (privates, behavior modification and group instructor for Petco), and a studio animal trainer where she helped worked with dogs for commercials, print ads and movies. She has completed coursework in psychology at Ricks college in Eastern Idaho and continues to further her education by attending seminars, reading, and networking with other trainers on a regular basis.
She currently competes in Schutzhund with her German Shepherds and is a member of the prestigious SchH3 club (put all the titles on her own dog). She also has a registered therapy dog, and her young papillon is started in agility and conformation. She is a professional member of the IACP (International Association of Canine Professionals), the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), founder of LACA dog trainers list, and a pupforum columnist. She is a Certified Dog Trainer (CDT) with an internationally recognized association for Canine Professionals (IACP CDT). Lynne opened Blazing Trails K9 Academy in 2000.
Here at Blazing Trails K9 Academy we take an effective, balanced, common sense approach to training dogs. Training is based on ALL of the quadrants of Operant Conditioning. We believe that training should be fun and rewarding for both the dog and the handler, but that there should also be fair and reasonable consequences when a dog chooses not to behave in an acceptable manner. Consequences should be geared towards the dogs individual temperment, personality, age, breed, and other characteristics as well as towards the handlers ability. They should also happen in a fair manner. Positive consequences for good behavior, negative consequences for poor behavior. Negative consequences should only happen after the dog has a proper and adequate understanding of what is expected and is CHOOSING not to obey. Our working knowledge of dogs and their needs enables us to help owners see things from the dogs point of view, as well as helping the dogs understand things from the human perspective. Our love of dogs leads us to handle them with care and courtesy.
Need help with YOUR dog?
t: (661) 478-3326
e: trainer@blazingtrailsk9academy.com