About Us
Pet Ki Do means "the way [do] of your pet's energy [ki, or chi]." The concept of Pet Ki Do reflects my 10+ years of intense study of various Asian martial arts and my lifelong love of animals.
At the core of my work is the belief that it is essential to follow the "Three Rs" fo dog training: Recognizing, Respecting, and Responding to all animals as unique individuals, and to "meeting them where they are" for training. An agility champion, a puppy, an aging family pet, and a working or therapy dog will each bring something different to the TTouch training process. Naturally, when we work with animals we have certain goals in mind (such as greater touchability, less anxiety, improved focus, a calmer attitude, and so on), but the speed at which we move toward those goals is set largely by the animals themselves. Time after time, we discover that being patient enough to let the animal choose the pace is actually the quickest path to lasting success.
Although most of my animal clients are dogs, I have also used TTouch on cats and kittens, rabbits, a cow and her calf, horses and mules, chickens, lambs, a guinea pig, a hedgehog, large and small lizards, and a parrot. TTouch has been used successfully by certified practitioners on animals of all species, shapes, and sizes for more than 30 years.
In the summer of 2011, I joined the faculty of AnimalSense Dog Training & Behavior Consulting and CanineLink, both in Chicago, where I present the TTouch method to dog trainers in training and offer workshops for the public.
In addition to my TTouch work, I train and certify new dog-handler teams for SitStayRead (a highly successful dog-based literacy program in Chicago Public Schools), am a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator for the American Kennel Club, and assist dog trainer Elizabeth Hammond Foubert (A Treat to Train) on an as-needed basis. I am a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers; three of my articles have been published in The APDT Chronicle of the Dog. I am also a charter member of the Pet Professional Guild, and am trained in pet first aid and canine CPR through Heartworks CPR. I am an avid reader of nonfiction books about animal behavior and positive training methods (see the Links & Books page). Last but certainly not least, my own dog and I have enjoyed countless hours of positive training and weekly tracking sessions in local forest preserves and corporate parks since 2005.
Below left: A German Shepherd, previously terrified of thunderstorms, is able to watch a storm calmly, thanks to a TTouch body wrap.
Below right: Less than fifteen minutes later, the same dog sleeps peacefully as the storm rages just outside the door, a few feet away.
