About

Hey!

I'm Justine...

lover of power tools and coffee, who gets grossed out walking in toe-dividing flip flops.  (I know! So limiting.)

I'm also a mum of two teens, and two dogs:  ZIGGY (my one-eyed, 12lb feisty little love-bug) and JUICE  (an adolescent Working Cocker, whose name says it ALL!)

So, how did I get here?

Before becoming a dog trainer, I had a pretty cool career as a TV producer/director for Nickelodeon, VH1, and MTV. But in 2001, with dreams of starting a family and spending some quality time with dogs, (I obviously meant) babies, it was 'goodbye' fancy–pants job — and 'hello' grubby jeans and treat-filled pockets.

Four years later the kids came along — and shocker — they changed everything!  

It took all of a millisecond to figure out training dogs with kids in tow was NOTHING LIKE doing it kid-free.  Having taught training classes for years at this point, it was clear that...

parents desperately needed a *different* kind of help

that wasn't being offered ANYWHERE!

So, I started the Family Dog to change that.

The company quickly blossomed; from offering in-home training to later creating online programs for families worldwide, and now, teaching dog trainers to coach families in their own communities.

Right now, like most mums, I'm just trying to keep it all together!

You know, the usual stuff: trying to balance life, work, kids, dogs... and never-ending piles of laundry! 

Philosophy

My goal is to help families live happily and safely with their dogs — and have fun doing it.

Getting a dog is such an exciting adventure for a family — the training part should be fun for everyone — parents, kids, and the dog! 

The methods used in our programs are ALL 100% positive, fun, simple, and effective.   

To make a great family dog – you have to make your dog a real member of your family.  It’s nothing to do with being a boss, it’s actually more like being an awesome parent.  And since you're already killing it in that department — you're in great shape already!  

As a parent, you need to give your new dog  patience, protection, and guidance on how to be successful in their life with you — which is exactly what you're doing right now with your kids 🙂

Knowledge

I'm a CPDT–KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer), LFDM-K and Head of the Kids Division of Licensed Family Dog Mediators.

Never satisfied and always striving to be better — I keep learning.  Connected with the biggest players in the industry, I'm constantly educating myself to make The Family Dog's content and techniques better... and parents' lives easier.

Experience

I've been training dogs for over 20 years now. Since 2009 it's been "families only", laser–focusing on developing the most effective, efficient, and truly family-friendly training techniques.

In recent years, I've spoken at conferences in the US and UK, run workshops and webinars, coaching trainers worldwide on how to work specifically with families.

In 2015, The Family Dog also launched STOP THE 77, an online dog safety campaign for families.   Our mission is to educate parents and their kids everywhere on how to live safely and happily with the dogs they know and love AND lower the number of dog bites to children.