Mackenzie’s first professional training experience was in 2001 with Tooey, a lesser sulpher-crested cockatoo. That was her introduction to clicker training and shaping behaviors, and thus to training as a cooperative task shared by learner and teacher. When she began training dogs professionally in 2011, Mackenzie found that cooperation just as compelling. Facilitating partnerships between dogs and humans and seeing teams become extensions of one another made her love the work.
Training Philosophy
Mackenzie describes her goal as simple:
to create joy. Training should be a joyful experience for both the human and the dog. She believes that great things are possible when everyone is having fun, and when training is consensual.
Services
Busy Dog offers a variety of training services, including:
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Puppy Classes:
Social & Confident Puppy, Puppy Skills, Dream Teen, AKC Star Puppy
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Good Dog Classes:
Good Dog Basics, Really Good Dog (Intermediate), Good Dog Outdoors
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Canine Good Citizen:
CGC, CGCU, CGCA
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Drink With Your Dog:
Brewery Manners, Coffee Shop Manners
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Kids Classes:
Busy Kid, Busy Dog, Junior Handler Agility, Fun and Games Workshop
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Scent Work:
Intro to Nose Games, Nose Games – Birch, Please, Intro to Shed Antler Retrieves
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Parkour:
Intro to Parkour, Intermediate Parkour, Fit Dog Parkour Walk, Online Parkour- Getting Started
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Agility:
Intro to Agility, Agility Fundamentals, Advanced Fundamentals
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Tricks:
Tricks for Titles – Novice, Tricks for Titles – Intermediate, Tricks for Titles – Advanced
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Freestyle:
Freestyle Foundations, More Freestyle Fun!
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Private Lessons:
In-home and outside of home
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Online Classes:
Getting Started in Dog Parkour, Beginning Mat Work
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Scholarships:
Financial assistance for those who need it
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Gift Certificates:
Available in various denominations
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Fit Dog Club:
Free monthly Fit Dog Train Hike
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Parkour Meetups:
Free bi-monthly parkour outings
Certifications
Mackenzie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), receiving her accreditation through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT). She is also an IDPKA-certified dog parkour instructor and evaluator, an AKC CGC and Trick Dog Evaluator, and a certified Drink With Your Dog Instructor and Evaluator.
Specializations
Mackenzie specializes in dog parkour, agility, tricks, and freestyle. She is also experienced in puppy training, obedience, and Canine Good Citizen.
Training Methods
Mackenzie uses positive reinforcement, rewards-based training methods. She is a force-free trainer and believes in building a strong partnership between dogs and their humans.
Customer Reviews
- “Inara was largely unsocialized and inexperienced in her first year. She was still mastering walks, stairs, and eating out of bowls a year ago. I’m beyond grateful Busy Dog has provided so many safe and novel encounters for her. Thank you for creating such a wonderful training environment!” -Katie Martz
