ABOUT

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Hi, I'm Zoë!

I help busy Orange County families enjoy life with their dogs — no more leash-pulling marathons, jumping on guests, or puppy chaos.

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My background is a little different from most dog trainers. I graduated from Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training and Management program in 1991 and spent the 90s training animals for film and television — including two years as the falconer at Medieval Times, flying birds of prey in front of live audiences.

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Here's what working across species gave me: timing. With exotics and horses, your timing has to be accurate for safety — a late or sloppy cue around a thousand-pound horse or a bird of prey isn't just ineffective, it can get you hurt. That pressure forged a level of split-second precision most trainers never need to develop. Horses also taught me to read the tiniest shifts in body language before they become big problems. Most dog trainers have only ever trained dogs, so they've never been held to that standard. With your dog, it means faster learning, fewer repetitions, clearer communication from the very first session — and a trainer who stays calm and reads the situation when things get tense. It's also why I'm good with the hard stuff: fear, anxiety, reactivity, and dogs that haven't clicked with other training.

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In 1995, I started offering private training and group classes for families — and I've been doing it ever since, right through raising my own four children. So I understand the juggle: kids, schedules, and a dog who's still learning. My training fits real family life — practical, doable, and kind to everyone in the house, two-legged and four-legged.

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