MEET THE OWNER

Since as long as her friends and family can remember, Tracy has always had a love for animals. Growing up, her biggest love was the family rottweiler named Ruffer. Ruffer was acquired around the time Tracy was a toddler and grew up alongside her. The only commands Ruffer knew were sit and lay down but otherwise had no formal training. She was fiercely protective of Tracy therefore her family could never take her in public with her lack of training and unpredictability. After Ruffer passed away, Tracy promised herself that she would learn as much as she could about how to train dogs. Tracy wanted them to be not only a pet but a companion she could take anywhere with her.  

Tracy’s love for dogs is what drove her to enlist in the Marine Corps as Military Police/K-9/Corrections in 2012. Her goal was to get into the K-9 unit and learn as much as she could. The military decided she was better used in Corrections and she was unable to transfer into a K-9 unit during her enlistment. Upon completion of service at the end of 2017, Tracy’s drive and passion to work with K-9s grew increasingly. This desire led her to search for programs or schools that would give her the best hands-on training and came across Starmark Academy for Professional Dog Training. While at Starmark academy she learned how to train basic and advanced obedience, manage and modify basic and advanced behavior problems, train dogs to do agility, and teach advanced clicker training tricks. She also has training experience in the basic foundations of kennel management, police K-9 and protection, scent discrimination, search and rescue, and assistance dogs for the handicapped. Upon completion from Starmark Tracy received her certification as a Canine Training and Behavior Specialist.