Our
Story
It was a 6-month-old adopted Siberian Husky named Gunnar that served as Bobbi- Lynn’s "lab" dog. There was not an ounce of Labrador Retriever in him, nor were there inhumane, cruel or unusual experiments performed on him. Jumping on the furniture, house-training, manners and dog-dog aggression were a few of Gunnar’s challenging traits, so there were many hurdles to overcome.
Bobbi-Lynn tried many different training methods before settling on a gentle leader and a clicker to best help Gunnar. Once she learned correction wasn’t as important as her relationship with teaching Gunnar, she taught what he needed to learn (instead of the hundreds of things he couldn‘t unlearn). Her oaf grasped the concept and easily gave up his bad habits in favor of good behavior; thus the power of positive reinforcement.
It just so happened that during this time Bobbi-Lynn segued from a career in Hollywood film production into the wonderful world of animal training. Not only did Gunnar become a Canine Good Citizen within 1 year, he also became a therapy dog whereupon he enjoyed the affections and stories of the infirmed. Gunnar also became the Life of Riley demo dog that encouraged others to train their dogs what was needed, including basic agility for fun.
Bobbi-Lynn has earned certifications as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator from the AKC, CPDT-KA, an international training certification from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and enjoyed being ½ of a therapy team with two of her Siberian Huskies, Siam & Gunnar (retired at 13-years-old). She has accumulated hundreds of hours of seminars, workshops and lectures from animal behaviorists and educators to keep abreast of the latest science-tested methods used in the fear free world of animal training.
As with Gunnar, all Life of Riley Dog Training clients are taught using dog friendly training methods. Using gentle methods, with a passion for training dogs, and educating people to effectively communicate with their beloved dog is the cornerstone of Bobbi-Lynn’s methodology. It simply brings out the best in both human and canine relationships.
Bobbi-Lynn has trained service dogs, therapy dogs, and proudly volunteered for Pets- for-Vets, a national non-profit helping our veterans adapt back to civilian life with a companion animal, a licensed a Dogs & Storks presenter, and has worked with K9 Youth Alliance ("Kids Helping Dogs Helping Kids"). She has been training dogs since 1999 using positive reinforcement methods, but continues to educate herself on new training aids finding new ways to further the human animal bond.