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| Lorraine and Dolly |
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Lorraine
Martinez earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of
Washington-Seattle. She began exploring the application of her
educational training to animal behavior while doing post-doctoral
study. At that time she adopted a beautiful Shepherd
mix named Grace and began a search for scientifically supported
evidence-based
treatment options to treat Grace’s aggressive behavior toward unfamiliar
dogs.
This search proved to be a distressingly confusing task since the
mis-information about treating canine behavior and emotion issues
available to
the public was vast. By applying her
knowledge of emotions and behavior to an analysis of canine actions, she
discovered a natural niche in the dog training and animal welfare
world.
In
addition to Lorraine’s education in behavioral psychology, Lorraine joined the
Greater St. Louis Training Club in 2004 and began volunteering as a trainer
after completing the course offered by the Certified Pet Dog Trainers of the
club. After developing a specialized
training program for dogs with fearful and aggressive behavior, she joined the
staff of the Humane Society of Missouri from 2007 to 2010 as the Behavior and
Training Department Supervisor. In
that position she oversaw a large-scale training program offered by the Humane
Society of Missouri, where she developed and taught a variety of classes,
including family dog training, Canine Good Citizen preparation, tricks and
specialized classes on behavior issues.
She was instrumental in developing seminars designed to debunk common
training myths and introduce people to modern, force-free training methods that
minimize stress on the dog and enhance the human-animal bond. She created a program to train and support
the dog walking volunteers so they could address common behavior issues in the
shelter using low-stress, reward-based interventions.
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Dog Training Specialization
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Lorraine is a
Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, completing the rigorous
Karen Pryor Academy's Dog Trainer Program. She is dedicated to
fostering the
professionalization of the dog training field and encouraging objective
assessment of a dog trainer’s knowledge and skills. Toward this end she
has passed an independent assessment of her knowledge of the science of
dog training provided by the Certification Council for Professional Dog
Trainers. She is also a professional member of the Association of Pet
Dog Trainers, a membership organization of trainers committed to
becoming better trainers through education.
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