History
Liz is a graduate of the University of Iowa (BA, 1999). She worked in business, marketing, and human resources before she made a career change to the animal care and welfare industry in 2001. Since then, Liz has held a variety of titles including: animal shelter volunteer, volunteer coordinator, dog training & behavior specialist, humane educator, non-profit executive director, animal emergency response coordinator, animal care technician, adoption placement counselor, and animal services officer. Most recently and before opening Best Friends Dog Academy, Liz was the Supervisor for the City of Iowa City’s Animal Services division and the Director for the Iowa City Animal Care & Adoption Center, where she oversaw all aspects of animal welfare and law enforcement. During her animal sheltering career she created and managed numerous programs to enhance agency and community services including enrichment for shelter animals, advanced training programs for shelter staff/volunteers and shelter animals, community outreach and education, and collaborations with other agencies such as the prison dog program, rescue/transport program, and the Emergency Animal Response Team.
Training Philosophy
Liz teaches and trains with scientifically proven reward based methods, specializing in behavior modification for reactive and fearful dogs and aggression cases. Her training philosophies emphasize building an understanding of the “why” behind behaviors, establishing clear and kind communication between handler and dog, and cultivating an environment for both to succeed.
Services
Liz offers private dog training, behavior consultations, and workshops and seminars.
Private Dog Training
Private training is conducted in-person either in your home or virtually. Single lessons and packages are available.
Behavior Consultations
Behavior consultations are held at our facility or in your home. These sessions address more serious behavior concerns such as separation anxiety, on leash reactivity, resource guarding and other challenges that demand more time than a single lesson offers.
Workshops & Seminars
Liz offers in-person educational presentations on a variety of topics including:
- Canine body language
- Dog training
- Clicker training
- Cooperative care (for better vet/grooming visits)
- Dog park etiquette
- Enrichment & meeting a dog’s needs to minimize behavior issues
- A trauma Informed approach to helping dogs
- Addressing common behavior problem in dogs
Shelter Behavior Presentations
Liz offers in person educational opportunities for staff and volunteers. Typically these are a combination of lecture and hands-on. Below is a sample of topics offered. Please email Liz at [email protected] for more information or to inquire about a specific topic.
- Canine body language
- Fear, anxiety, and stress in dogs
- Dog park etiquette
- Helping dogs who experienced trauma
- Building resilience in shelter dogs
- Basic/easy dog training for shelter dogs
- Enrichment in the animal shelter
- Disaster preparedness/Setting up a volunteer animal disaster response team
- Behavior modification for shelter dogs
- Foster puppy best practices
- Addressing common behavior problems in dogs
- Shy/Fearful dogs
- Match making & meeting needs for forever homes
Paws to Train Voucher Program
The Paws to Train voucher program was created to provide a great way for a newly adopted dog to bond with and build trust in their new family. Adopted dogs that get off to a good start in a training program using positive reinforcement are more likely to stay adopted and live long, healthy & happy lives.
This program is a partnership between the Iowa City Animal Care & Adoption Center and Friends of the Animal Center Foundation. As part of this program, Best Friends Dog Academy offers a discount on our private training fee, and Friends of the Animal Center Foundation generously donates funds to cover a portion of the cost. The adopter pays only $40 for 1 private training session.
Certifications
Liz holds the following certifications:
- Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior, Certified Training Partner
- Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, Certified Professional Dog Trainer
- American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Certified Evaluator
- Certified Family Dog Mediator
Specializations
Liz specializes in behavior modification for reactive and fearful dogs and aggression cases.
Training Methods
Liz teaches and trains with scientifically proven reward based methods.
Customer Reviews
Joni J. – Liz is a super teacher for all creatures great and small, both pets and people. She taught me how to observe and understand the behavior of my pandemic pup, the signs of stress and fear or comfort, and how to use those clues to teach the desired behavior.
Liz began work with me and my new pup, Sunny, a week after Covid-19 isolated us, and she promptly shared her resourcefulness, knowledge, and positive approach to training. She introduced me to Zoom and taught individual lessons via my MacBook until the weather warmed for direct instruction outdoors. Zoom instruction worked great and we were able to learn while staying safe. Sunny started out as an anxious ‘scaredy cat’ and grew into a playful, confident pup. I appreciate the qualities that Liz brings as a teacher – intelligence, experience, patience and kindness. I feel fortunate to be able to work with and learn from Liz, a master trainer, and a wonderful person.
Susan Oliver, DVM – Animal Clinic Inc. – I refer clients to Liz Ford without any caveats. She has helped dogs and their humans with many different types of behavior concerns. She takes the time to learn about each dog and its human family. She uses gentle, safe, kind, research-based methods to shape dog and human behavior. Her goal: for both the dog(s) and the people to live their best life together.
Alex L. – I highly recommend working with Liz Ford for dog training. She is passionate about dogs and has an upbeat personality that makes the class engaging and enjoyable. Liz has extensive knowledge about training and behavioral situations with a wide range of experience. Her positive, reward-based philosophy is effective, which I personally share and find most suitable for our Belgian Malinois.
During our training sessions with Liz, we worked on rectifying unwanted dog behavior at home and started with basic scent training. Working with her was truly a pleasure.
Christine B. – We recently welcomed Liz into our home to teach us how to teach our French Bulldog. Her knowledge & teaching techniques were phenomenal. I would highly recommend her services to anybody looking for help with their dog. Her services have made a huge impact in our lives with our Frenchie.
Nick and Amanda M. – My wife and I did private training with Liz at BFDA for our anxious, reactive black lab, Beau. When we started this process, Beau was fearful of nearly all new people and environments. Liz helped us learn how to recognize Beau’s triggers and showed us how to more effectively communicate with Beau to improve his confidence. With some consistent effort and lots of encouragement and support from Liz, our relationship with our dog has completely changed for the better and he is a much more calm and confident dog now. We couldn’t be happier with the results we have seen from working with Liz and would recommend her to anyone looking for help with dog training/behavior modification.
Lindsey S. – I am so grateful for Liz and the training she not only provided to my dog, Finn, but also to me. She focused on training me how to better train my dog so I could build my own skills and continue training him even after our sessions ended. She helped me better understand my dog’s behavior, how to best work with him to modify his behavior, beyond just simple commands like “sit” and “stay.” Liz’s training helped give me better insight into why Finn behaves the way he does and how to shape his behavior. She was excellent to work with, helped us reach our goals, and she was also kind, understanding, and encouraging. Seeing the change in my dog over the 6 sessions, and seeing how much it has improved my relationship with him, has been invaluable. i would highly recommend Liz to anyone, whether for basic dog training or for more advanced/behavioral modification training. I will be able to continue using the skills she taught me with Finn and any future dogs I have. Thank you so much, Liz.
Steph C. – I cannot recommend Liz Ford highly enough! She is approachable, thoughtful, and extremely knowledgeable, and the training sessions we did with her for our sweet but reactive Doberman are continuing to help us! Working one on one with Liz allowed us and our dog to feel comfortable and to try new things. You will not regret choosing Liz to help you better understand and support your dog!
Nicole K. – Liz is amazing. She has such a calm, friendly presence. The difference in our dogs behaviors from our 1st session to our last was so noticeable. She explains the processes and training procedures and follows up with additional documentation should we have questions or need reminders later on. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for help adjusting their dog’s behaviors.
Betty S. – What an improvement! Thanks Liz for your help and leadership. Our terrier Mick was a handful. After Best Friends (Liz) teaching us and Mick, we have a great companion and member of our family. We can’t recommend Best Friends enough, if you are having pet issues, you should contact her for your training needs!
Chris Whitmore, Director – Iowa City Animal Care & Adoption Center – We utilize Best Friends Dog Academy’s programs for individual behavior consulting as well as staff and volunteer training. Liz’s combination of behavior and training knowledge along with her shelter experience has made a positive impact on many animals in our care. She works one-on-one with staff and volunteers to help them understand each animal and develop behavior modification and placement plans that meet that animal’s needs.
The training and educational presentations Liz offers help our staff and volunteers learn how to more effectively and humanely interact with and help animals, particularly those that have special behavioral needs. Liz teaches the most progressive practices. Her presentations are always full of relevant content and she makes the learning fun.
I highly recommend Best Friends Dog Academy and Liz Ford to any animal welfare organization looking to make a more positive impact in their community.
Angela M. – City of North Liberty – Liz Ford with Best Friends Dog Academy is Johnson County’s resident expert on dogs and just an overall kind human. You can tell she loves what she does and is a lifelong learner when it comes to research and new information. When I asked local vets for an educator for our dog park etiquette trainings for the public and animal encounter safety trainings for staff, Liz was everyone’s first recommendation. She is easy to work with, prompt, thorough, has great rapport with participants, and is now my go-to resource for questions. I will – definitely – be hosting more trainings with Liz!
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