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Experience
With the last name
“Barker”, Brandi was destined to work with dogs!
A lifelong animal lover; she formally began training dogs
in 2001 when she completed her apprenticeship at the Anti-Cruelty
Society. In the classroom, she honed her interpretation of
canine body language, developed a toolbox of effective behavior
modification techniques and fine-tuned her communication skills
with dogs and people while only using reward-based techniques.
Knowledge
Brandi completed her Master's degree at DePaul University
in Developing Behavior Management Practices to Enhance Understanding
in Human/Animal Relationships and is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer. Brandi's unique
achievements gave her a solid foundation in animal learning
theory, ethology and operant and classical conditioning. She
uses this knowledge in conjunction with the active listening,
relationship development and creative problem solving skills
she acquired from a decade in the corporate world. Using compassion
when diagnosing behavioral issues and designing personalized
behavior modification plans to fit her clients’ lifestyles,
Brandi provides Chicago canines and their people with tangible
training solutions.
Commitment
Brandi is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and
has been published in Chronicle of the Dog and has worked
with over a thousand of animals. She has additional experience at The Anti-Cruelty Society, PAWS,
Brookfield Zoo and Discovery Cove. Her philosophy incorporates
attainable goals into every day life with a lot of patience,
fairness and fun…for humans and dogs.
The inspiration for her work
has been her tennis-ball loving best friend named Finn. His
exuberance and antics once made the main character of “Marley
and Me” by John Grogan look like a saint. Now, he’s
maintained much of his playfulness but walks politely on leash;
greets guests with proper manners and can be trusted not to
chew up anything Brandi may misplace on the floor. |
