Engineering Change: Canine + Equine Training, LLC

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Engineering Change: Canine + Equine Training, LLC

Kind and effective dog training in West Lafayette, Indiana

Women-led, inclusive business 🌈

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http://www.engineeringchangetraining.com/

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Engineer turned Dog Trainer

My name’s Kassie, and I’m an engineer. And a dog trainer. And a horse trainer. And an animal lover. And a freakin’ workaholic.

Yep, it sounds a little odd. For a long time, I managed a team of engineers as my day job. Evenings and weekends, I managed dogs. And horses. And goats. And other farm animals. And a home renovation. And a small business. I only recently took the leap and went full-time with training.

I’ve always been a through-and-through animal lover. I asked for my first dog when I was 3 - my parents compromised and got me a cat when I was 5. We got my first dog, a little rat terrier that we named Ginger, when I was 9. She was the sweetest, sassiest dog, and she put up with SO MUCH from me as I grew up.

I’ve also always LOVED horses. Remember that horse-crazy kid in your third-grade class? Every class has one. That was me. And I never grew out of it. I started lessons at 7 years old, and I got my first horse at 10. My first horse was an untrained, but very very sweet, four-year-old. He didn’t know much, but boy, he loved me. I took lessons and trained him myself, and we went on to win several state championship classes together in 4-H when I was older. He was the start of everything for me. I became known as the person to talk to when you were having trouble with your horse. There was no behavioral problem I wasn’t willing and able to tackle. I would ride anything. I took on client horses for months at a time and rehabilitated even the toughest of problem behaviors.

Through all this, I’ve always been someone who has to learn as much as I can. I was a frequent patron of my public library, and even worked there through high school and college. When I have downtime, I’m researching and reading. Always. I’ll get obsessed with a topic, however off-the-wall or odd, and I want to learn everything I can about it. I was on my 4-H Horse Bowl team - essentially Jeopardy with horse related facts - and won our state competition every year. Knowledge was and IS my best friend, and I never want to stop learning.

I got Abe, the first dog that I adopted on my own, in November of 2016. I went to look at him because of his name. I graduated from my college’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering department, which was colloquially abbreviated ABE. I drove 3 hours to the shelter to meet him. As soon as I saw him and heard his story, I knew I had to have him. He was terrified and would have to be essentially dragged out to the potty area. Once he’d go, he’d drag the kennel attendant back to the safety of his kennel. When he was pushed or cornered, he would flip a switch and go after you - he felt like he had to. He was the most severe fear aggression case I’d seen.

I did a ton of research before bringing him home (no surprise there) and made a plan to address his behavior. This dog is the reason I’m a trainer today. Addressing his behavior led me to so many different resources, most of which I still tap into today. Abe is now a happy, well-adjusted, well-behaved dog. His struggles are far behind him, but he continues to help other dogs and people every day by what he taught me.

Now that I’m a trainer, my goal is to facilitate the best relationship possible with the dog and to allow the dog as much freedom as possible. I do this by utilizing the correct tools and logical methods (I am an engineer, after all) to make the process as easy on the human, and as fair to the dog, as possible.