Our Team

Kathryn Gordon, M.S.W., KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA has enjoyed training dogs since childhood.  She has titled in Obedience, qualifying for both the Nationals and the Regionals, but she has focused on handling search and rescue (SAR) dogs, primarily in the area of human remains detection (HRD), nationally certifying multiple dogs in land cadaver and crime scene detection with both IPWDA and NSDA.  Kathryn and her dogs have deployed on various cases in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.  She stays current on research related to scent detection and canine behavior and training.

Since her social work days, Kathryn has enjoyed helping people learn new skills, so teaching people dog training is a great fit. She has taught weekly puppy and basic manners classes, as well as scent detection classes, since 2012—developing one of the first and most successful nose work programs in Michigan before moving to the Ann Arbor area. Kathryn’s students have had success at shows, winning many titles and awards. Over the past few years, Kathryn has been invited to give multiple full- and half-day seminars on scent detection and canine olfaction in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.
 

Kathryn loves working with dogs and their people on behaviors that are creating difficulties in the human-animal relationship.  She has successfully completed Dr. Susan Friedman's Living and Learning with Animals course and has completed the Aggressive Dog Master course with Michael Shikashio.   She offers private lessons and behavior consults upon request. She has a special interest in behavior cases involving reactivity, aggression, and fear.  She is also a certified AKC CGC and trick evaluator.

Kathryn currently partners with a Border Collie named Ffion in human remains detection and agility.  She is working with a new puppy, Gruffudd, on HRD, agility, and herding.