Dog Training in McMurray, PA

Alex has had eight years of rich animal behavior and training experience ranging from working with wild and domesticated animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium to working with shelter dogs as the Behavior Coordinator at the Washington Humane Society. Alex has gained certifications in training from Petco, Off Leash K9 Training and two diplomas from CATCH Canine Training Academy. While Alex has great experience training dogs, she also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Penn State University, which helps her not only connect and work with her dog clients but also her human clients! Since starting at Pleasant Valley Veterinary Clinic, she has gained valuable veterinary technician skills and knowledge that helps her navigate the very critical relationship between behavior and illness. Alex’s personal training philosophy is to “Train the dog in front of you”, which holds to Pleasant Valley’s core value of individualized gold standards. She believes that every dog is different, and she has to gear her training methods to meet each individual dog’s needs. She uses techniques such as positive reinforcement, classical & operant conditioning, counter conditioning, and correction to train her dog clients. Alex does not believe in “dominance theory”, and the idea of an owner needing to be the “alpha dog.” Alex has also trained her own dog Ayla, who has been the guinea pig for all of her training techniques. Alex enjoys watching anime and spending time with Ayla in her spare time.

Call our kennel number at (724) 941-5444 to speak to Alex and set up the best option for your pup!