Heather Adams, KPA-CTP, CBATI

Owner and Head of Student Success

Heather with Jack, Jilly Bean, and Leo

My dogs and I love to hike, camp, canoe, and compete in agility and sheep herding. Check out the slide show below to see some of our adventures!

It's important to be a great dog trainer, but it's just as important to be a great teacher and coach for human students too. I’m here to encourage and support you but also push you a bit out of your comfort zone when needed so you and your dog can get the results you want. My mission is to bring my passion for dog training and teaching people together, to help you bring out the best in your dog. I take my role as “Head of Student Success” seriously! Our programs are designed to maximize your success and we only choose the best trainers to work for us.

Other relevant tidbits:

I'm a graduate of the Teacher Certification Program at the University at Buffalo and have practical experience teaching biology and science to all age groups.

My B.S. degree is in wildlife biology with an emphasis on animal behavior from the SUNY College of Environmental and Forest Biology.

I worked for over 20 years as a wildlife biologist all over the country.

I’m probably just like you. I grew up with dogs and love having them as part of the family. Kinda considered myself knowledgable about dogs and thought nothing of adopting my own dog when I was on my own! That was Sadie, a one year old mix from the shelter. She was great! So loving and sweet, but had a mind of her own.

Never came when called, pulled me down the street so hard I thought I’d get my arm ripped off, killed squirrels, destroyed things in the house, humped the couch pillows and the cat… and the list goes on. I tried every training method out there until I found what worked the best.

I had so much success training her and my other dogs that I wanted to help other dog owners achieve the same thing. So, I became a professional dog trainer by graduating from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior in 2008.

Since then I’ve had the great joy of helping hundreds of families enjoy their dogs more by making sure they actually listen!

It’s been very fun and rewarding along the way.

Sarah Block, KPA-CTP

Senior Trainer

We are so excited to have Sarah join our team! She also graduated from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior. She has a Veterinary Technician degree and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Medaille College.

Sarah’s passion for training dogs started when she worked at an animal shelter. Her work improved difficult behaviors and recovery from trauma and anxiety that are so common with rescue dogs, increasing their chances of getting adopted. Her shelter experience has also given her valuable experience and expertise on the development and learning stages of young puppies, which is key in helping families train their own puppies and surviving those sometimes difficult puppy phases!

She has been honing her skills as a trainer for over 10 years with her own dogs, participating and competing in obedience, rally, agility, dock diving and scent work. Her philosophy that any dog can become a great family pet with the right training and understanding combined with her positive spirit and clear way of explaining things are what makes her a great trainer and teacher. Our students love working with her, training their dogs to be great family pets!