History
“I’ve loved animals ever since I was a kid. I started training dogs when I was 7 – although my dream was to be a dolphin trainer – by intuition with a very grumpy family dog. Inspired by TV shows and movies with animal actors that I would analyze non-stop, I dreamed of being able to teach all those things to my pets and be able to go everywhere with them, but there was no place to learn that in my native country, Venezuela. So, when I was 7, I noticed that, despite his grumpiness, that dog liked food very much and I accomplished teaching him to sit, lay down and high five by feeding him when he did what I wanted. This revived my dreams since, even though nobody told me how to do it, it had worked!
Then, when I was 8, Ponqui arrived, a very special dog to whom I taught basic obedience that years later, when she was old and could barely hear, I had to reteach from zero using only visual cues with my hands and body. She was the second dog I trained and her temperament opposite to the previous taught me that, just like us, each dog has their own personality and methods must be customized.
When I was 12 I thought my dream of having a “truly” trained dog was coming true since I was able to save enough money to hire a trainer for Cindy, another family dog. I had never been so excited until the classes began and I noticed that what the trainer was doing was the same as what I had been doing (with better handling skills, of course). This engouraged me so much, until one day that person vanished without finishing the course and having taken my money. At that moment, I decided that I would make my dreams come true on my own. I read A LOT and bought TONS of books and magazines, although some of them were too expensive for a 13 year old so I would go to the book store and hide to read them. Nevertheless, I would have never accomplished anything if it wasn’t for the best teachers in the world: my dogs. I even succeeded in teaching some cues to a bunny. Later, I gained access to lots of more information thanks to the internet and was finally able to teach Cindy the pending commands and tricks like high five, playing dead and jump through a hoop.
Later on, Kya came along, a puppy as cute as stubborn that taught me many more things and we learned to work together performing a bunch of tricks for kids and adults in many events where her son Key joined us. He, besides being trained for advanced obedience and tricks and starring in TV commercials, was raised as a therapy dog who later became a service dog.
I also had the chance to witness other “professional” trainers and that encouraged me much more since I was able to notice the abundant use of old-school techniques focused on punishment, impositions for the owners, dependance on collars or other objects, dominance theory and that classic cold handling from many years ago that, to my astonishment and ignorance of the owners, were considered appropriate. This strenghtened my visions and wishes to completely change the culture of the entire country by educating dogs, owners and trainers about positive training and avoiding those techniques being accepted anymore. We accomplished the mission! Today, thanks to Canine University, Venezuela uses mainly positive training techniques and the public asks for it.
I also got certified by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, the main organization for positive trainers in the U.S., becoming the first Venezuelan to obtain such title and, with tons of hard work, I fulfilled most of my goals: I have dogs trained in advanced levels by myself, my profession is dog training besides having a college degree in Modern Languages, being a translator, doing graphic design jobs, among others, and I can go anywhere with my dogs. I also trained chickens – yes, and they’re amazing at tricks! – at Terry Ryan’s Legacy Canine – Chicken Camp in WA, as well as preparing and handling animal stars for photo shoots, TV commercials, trick shows, therapy sessions, service work and more. Lastly, my team and dogs were the first to ever have the pleasure of visiting the Ronald McDonald House in Venezuela. An accomplishment that wasn’t possible before due to the lack of properly trained therapy dogs and handlers.
I fulfilled my dream of getting certified as a marine mammal trainer too with ABC Animal Training and Dolphin Discovery in FL, where I got the chance to work with different species like dolphins, sea lions, seals, penguins, crows, rays, flamingos and more, some of which even had disabilities, were elderly or had other conditions.
However, every time my dogs come with me to the bank, the store, etc., people express how much they wish their dogs behaved so well. I’ve also worked with families with kids as enthusiastic as me when I was little and, just like me, they have no place to learn these skills.
Now, the Canine University of Denver, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico and Panama offers everyone access to what were nothing but dreams for so long. I want people to realize that their dogs CAN INDEED behave just as well with patience, love and perseverance, and, little by little, to boost the canine culture in America with more responsible pawrents and more super dogs“.
