I grew up in the Salt Lake area and after high school started attending the University of Utah in 1996. In 1999 I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and moved to Portland, OR for a job in advertising. I worked as a Media Buyer in Portland for a couple years then moved to San Francisco and worked for a couple different agencies there in the same position (buying TV & radio time for clients of the company).
By 2003 I was tired of the corporate world and tired of the particularly superficial world of advertising – I didn’t want to stay late to work on a deadline, I wanted to go home and spend time with my family and my dogs! I decided to quit my job, move back to Portland and do something I had a passion for, working with dogs. While living in San Francisco, I spent most weekends volunteering at the Berkeley City Animal Shelter, walking dogs, doing adopt-a-thons, and seeing the suffering shelter animals have to endure (usually because their owners gave them up due to a solvable behavioral problem – which is why I wanted to get involved in training).
After a year of training to be a trainer, in 2004 I started my own business: Skye’s Dog Training and in 2005, after 300 hours of training and passing a four hour test (as well as needing excellent client & vet recommendations), I became a CPDT, Certified Pet Dog Trainer. Since 2004 I have been teaching classes from Puppy to Canine Good Citizen and doing private lessons for everything from housetraining to aggression issues using only positive, humane, dog-friendly methods.
In November 2006 my daughter, Austin, was born and I discovered I had a new passion in addition to my dogs – her! Once Austin was born I became a full-time stay-at-home-mom and a part-time dog trainer, which is why I only offer training on weekday evenings and weekends. The great thing I discovered about having a child is that the same positive reinforcement methods I knew about from dog training work perfectly on teaching Austin! I also think children make excellent dog trainers because of their patience and timing.
I discovered it is very difficult to live away from family (my parents & siblings) after having a child, so I decided to move back to Utah after being gone for 9 years. In June, 2008 I relocated my business to Salt Lake City. So, while it is sad to leave an established business behind on Portland, it is worth it to once again be back in Salt Lake and I am looking forward to working with the people of Utah and their dogs for many years to come!