Janet is very interested in strengthening relationships between pets and their people. She enjoys helping owners develop pet-friendly strategies that include both management and reward-based training techniques in order to cultivate enjoyable companions.

Janet is a graduate of Purdue University's 2004 DOGS Course, and holds a Counseling Certificate from the San Francisco SPCA's Academy for Dog Trainers. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Janet also belongs to the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and is a Therapy Animal Consultant (TAC) through IAABC. She was a speaker at the 2006 national APDT conference, and the 2007 IAABC conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Janet's long-time canine training partner is a Golden Retriever named Kaizen. Kaizen is named for a Japanese word meaning "continuous improvement." Kai enjoys competing in Agility and Rally, modeling, doing therapy work, and acting as demo dog for Janet's classes.

Kai and Janet volunteer with Hope Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, a national organization dedicated to providing emotional comfort and support to individuals and responders who have been affected by crisis and disaster (www.hopeaacr.org). Janet and Kai were members of a 12 team contingent invited by FEMA to visit the Katrina-affected New Orleans area in 2005.

In 2006, Janet added Piper, a sweet and calm female Golden Retriever puppy, and Keiko, an energetic Papillion (mix?) puppy adopted from the Richmond SPCA, to her pack. Both work as models and demo dogs while they are training for Rally, agility and therapy work.

Janet also has a strong feline side; she's been owned by cat(s) since the age of 6. She has a special interest in finding ways to enrich the lives of indoor cats, and in helping owners understand the enigmatic feline. Her kindle has numbered as many as 6 at one time, and currently includes Cally and Griffin. Janet is the co-creator of the patent-pending Gentle Leader® "Come With Me Kitty" Cat Harness and Bungee Leash by Premier Pet Products.