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Our Trainers
Nick
Marina
Marina
Nick has a Master's degree in psychology, is a certified AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator, and has his CPDT-KA certification. He has experience raising puppies and training dogs in basic obedience and behavior modification (aggression, resource guarding, etc.). Nick grew up with unethically bred purebred dogs who were trained with
Nick has a Master's degree in psychology, is a certified AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator, and has his CPDT-KA certification. He has experience raising puppies and training dogs in basic obedience and behavior modification (aggression, resource guarding, etc.). Nick grew up with unethically bred purebred dogs who were trained with a mix of positive reinforcement and force training, but he crossed over to 100% LIMA-based training practices four years ago when he started training dogs for a rescue that strictly opposes aversive or "balanced" training techniques. He is also certified in Pet First Aid and Cat/Dog CPR.
Marina
Marina
Marina
Marina is a certified dog trainer (CPDT-KA) and has years of experience training rescue dogs. She grew up with a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix who was trained mostly (but not exclusively) with positive reinforcement training, but over the last several years she has been entirely force-free. She has experience raising puppies and training adult dog
Marina is a certified dog trainer (CPDT-KA) and has years of experience training rescue dogs. She grew up with a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix who was trained mostly (but not exclusively) with positive reinforcement training, but over the last several years she has been entirely force-free. She has experience raising puppies and training adult dogs primarily for behavior modification (aggression, resource guarding, fear/reactivity, separation anxiety, etc.) and she was the medical coordinator for the rescue we previously volunteered for.
Our Services
Positive Reinforcement Training
Positive Reinforcement Training
Positive Reinforcement Training
At Compassion for Canines LLC, we believe in the power of positive reinforcement training. Our trainers use rewards-based techniques to encourage dogs to learn new behaviors and commands. We believe that training should be enjoyable for both dogs and their owners, and our methods reflect this belief. We offer behavior modification program
At Compassion for Canines LLC, we believe in the power of positive reinforcement training. Our trainers use rewards-based techniques to encourage dogs to learn new behaviors and commands. We believe that training should be enjoyable for both dogs and their owners, and our methods reflect this belief. We offer behavior modification programs that are designed to help dogs overcome unwanted behaviors such as aggression, separation anxiety, and fear. Our trainers use a combination of training techniques to help dogs learn new coping mechanisms and develop positive associations.
Friendly and Experienced Staff
Positive Reinforcement Training
Positive Reinforcement Training
Our staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about helping dogs and their owners. We are committed to providing excellent customer service and ensuring that both dogs and their owners feel comfortable and supported throughout the training process. Both of our trainers have grown up with and helped train family dogs for more than 2
Our staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about helping dogs and their owners. We are committed to providing excellent customer service and ensuring that both dogs and their owners feel comfortable and supported throughout the training process. Both of our trainers have grown up with and helped train family dogs for more than 20 years. They both grew up with unethically bred dogs but now support only ethical rescues and breeders.
Education and Certifications
Positive Reinforcement Training
Education and Certifications
Our trainers stay up to date on the most recent canine behavior research and are experts in the behavioral sciences. Nick has a Master's degree in Psychology, and Marina is a psychiatric nurse. Our staff has been using science-based practices to train rescue dogs for more than four years. Marina and Nick are both certified trainers (CPDT-
Our trainers stay up to date on the most recent canine behavior research and are experts in the behavioral sciences. Nick has a Master's degree in Psychology, and Marina is a psychiatric nurse. Our staff has been using science-based practices to train rescue dogs for more than four years. Marina and Nick are both certified trainers (CPDT-KA). Nick is also an approved AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, and he plans to use therapy dogs in his career as a social worker.
Our Personal Dogs
Winston
Winston is a 5-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi who we bought after years of researching his breed, ethical breeding practices, and dog training, but we have realized since that our research still wasn't enough. Winston is the sweetest dog in the world and excels at therapy work, but he also has generalized anxiety as a result of some combination of genetics, socialization, and training. Because of this, he needs daily medication for his anxiety. As a herding breed, Winston loves to chase our other dogs through the house and yard, and he loves to play with a flirt pole.
Lana
Lana is a 5-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog. Bernese (not Burmese) Mountain Dogs were bred to be an all-purpose farm dog (herding, carting, alpine rescue, etc.) in the Swiss Alps, along with the other three Sennenhund breeds (Greater Swiss, Appenzeller, and Entlebucher). Lana is about 5 months younger than Winston, and she thinks she is a lap dog. Lana is also trained for therapy work, and she absolutely loves to swim. We had already learned a lot more about ethical breeding and raising practices prior to getting Lana, so she is a bit more even-tempered than Winston, but she will headbutt your phone or drink out of your hand to make you pet her (we could easily train her not to do this, but it's cute, so we haven't).
Stanley
Stanley is a 3-year-old longhair Miniature Dachshund. Dachshunds are spicy little dogs who were bred for badger hunting in Germany hundreds of years ago (Dachs+hund literally means 'badger dog'), and Miniature Dachshunds were bred to be smaller for rabbit hunting. These dogs need to be strong enough to fight badgers and rabbits but small enough to fit into their burrows, so they have short legs and long muscular bodies. Despite their dauntless origins, Dachshunds should have a stable temperament and get along with other dogs as well as humans, and Stanley fits this description to an extreme. He absolutely loves playing with other dogs of all shapes and sizes, and he is excellent with all kinds of people, including babies and toddlers. This is not surprising, because he was raised with Puppy Culture, but he definitely defies the incorrect stereotype that Dachshunds are aggressive.
Arya
Arya is a 2-year-old mutt. Sometimes we call her a pit mix to illustrate how misleading and inaccurate it is to lump them together, but her breed composition (via Embark) is 59% Siberian Husky, 30% APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier), and 11% GSD (German Shepherd Dog). Arya was born in the passenger seat of a Ford Raptor in our driveway; we were heavily involved in a rescue at the time, her mom was minutes from euthanasia at DACC (Detroit Animal Care and Control) when she was picked up, and the foster stopped at our house for supplies when she noticed puppies started popping out. Six weeks later, at an adoption event, we saw potential adopters holding her, and we looked at each other because we both knew we would end up adopting her. So now we have this dog who looks like a coyote but acts almost 100% like a husky (talking, using her paws, opening doors, etc.), and she loves other dogs so much that she completely ignores other dogs' "corrections" and turns the other way.
Mila
Mila is a 1-year-old Borzoi. Borzoi have been around for a few hundred years and were initially bred from greyhounds (1,000+ years old) and central asian livestock guardian dogs (landraces almost as old as greyhounds). The greyhound part was for speed and agility, and the LGD part was for sturdiness and strength—Borzoi are not quite as fast as greyhounds but they are big and sturdy enough to take down large game such as deer, boar, and bear. Just like any other sighthound, Mila tends to be overdramatic about everything (if she stubs a toe, if something mildly startles her, etc.), but she loves humans as much as she loves chasing other dogs around the yard (and reciprocating this behavior).
Simon
Simon is our most recent foster dog, and he will be 2 in February. He is probably a pit mix, likely with some Labrador (he has webbed toes and a wet mouth), but we will not know for sure until his DNA test results come back. Simon needs tons of physical and mental exercise, and he has severe arousal issues but they have improved dramatically since he started taking anxiety medication. Because of his high exercise/enrichment demands and his strict medication schedule, it is unlikely we would ever find him a suitable home (large, fenced-in yard, multiple other dogs to play with, and extensive training experience would all be necessary). In our experience, if he were adopted by someone who is less than perfect, he would probably end up dumped in a shelter and euthanized for "biting" someone (because of his arousal-induced mouthing behavior). In order to prevent this, we decided to adopt him; he is extremely happy here and probably would not be happy anywhere else, and we all love him.
Sansa
Sansa is a 5-month-old Yakutian Laika puppy. Yakutian Laika are an ancient primitive Arctic breed from northern Russia, and they were originally bred for a variety of work, including hunting, dogsledding, and herding reindeer. Their DNA can be traced back to Asian village dogs (an ancient landrace) and the original descendants of the common ancestor of wolves and dogs. Yakutian Laika are intelligent, playful, and talkative, and behaviorally they are somewhat similar to a Siberian Husky except Yakutian Laika tend to be more affectionate and biddable. Arya acts like a more affectionate and biddable version of a Siberian Husky, and that is what we love most about her, so as we have learned about Yakutian Laika over the past few years we have begun to think of them as a purebred version of Arya. We found an opportunity to bring a Yakutian Laika into our home, and now we have a smart, fun puppy who has opinions about everything. We named her Sansa after Arya's sister in Game of Thrones.
Dog Days in Pictures: A Capture of Canine Joy
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