Kathryn Gordon, M.S.W., KPA-CTP, CCPDT-KA, believes that training dogs should be fun and force free! Like Ken Ramirez, the current head of the Karen Pryor Academy, she believes that “training is about teaching animals to live in our world successfully.” For Kathryn, success is an animal who feels safe, has choices, and is happy, along with a pet owner who has fallen in love with their canine companion.

As a former social worker, Kathryn has training and experience with helping people to learn new skills. She loves to instruct people who are struggling with their relationship with their dog because of the dog’s behavior issues or simply because they have not yet learned how to communicate effectively and humanely with their four-legged companion. Watching a dog and human develop into a mutually rewarding relationship is immensely rewarding.

Kathryn has experience in several different areas of dog training. She started out in the 1990s preparing dogs for obedience trials, qualifying for both the Nationals and Regionals. In 2011, she started training dogs for search and rescue, nationally certifying and recertifying three dogs through IPWDA or NSDA. She currently works with Ffion, a border collie, as a certified as human remains and crime scene detection dog team through NSDA. Kathryn and Ffion also compete in dog agility, and play around with freestyle, rally, dog tricks, and frisbee. Kathryn also has significant experience working with behavioral issues ranging from leash reactivity and aggression to anxiety.

Kathryn has trained search and rescue handlers and taught weekly obedience and scent detection classes since 2013—developing one of the first and most successful nose work programs in Michigan.  As a Karen Pryor Academy Clicker Training Partner, Kathryn approaches training with the philosophy of “catch your dog doing something right and reinforce it.” This method of training promotes a close human-animal bond, clear communication, and animals who learn fast and retain what they learn. For dogs struggling with reactivity, anxiety, or other behavior struggles, and their humans, Kathryn provides science-based solutions that are humane and effective.

Kathryn has been called upon to provide independent evaluations for human remains detection K9 teams across the state.  She stays abreast of scientific and legal literature related to dog behavior and scent work and attends numerous trainings and professional conferences on the subject, including the University of Pennsylvania clinical and veterinary conference, the K9 clinic at the Forensic Osteology Research Center in North Carolina, and the AKC US Detection Dog Conference.  Kathryn has given numerous well-received talks and full and half-day seminars to groups in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida on canine physiology related to olfaction, scent theory, search strategies, and handling skills.