Marie has worked with dogs in a volunteer and professional capacity for over 25 years.

She started as a teenager walking dogs, basic training, and pet sitting. This progressed into her becoming a professional dog walker/runner and pet sitter in metropolitan and suburban settings. Combining her professional services with volunteer work in municipal shelters and a therapeutic horse farm increased Marie’s desire to become a skilled certified professional dog trainer and behavior specialist.

Researching what professional training schools were available in the early 2000’s, Marie opted to attend the accredited Starmark Academy in Texas. Starmark taught students how to train with all available equipment in addition to extensive classroom, scientifically-based, behavioral education.

After graduating, Marie returned to California and began work as a trainer and behavioral evaluator at a pet resort and started focusing independently as a specialist with dogs that had a bite history. At this time, she also volunteered with FEMA Task Force 6 to aid disaster dogs as well as learn and practice the search and rescue skills necessary to locate victims.

After moving to Virginia, Marie opened her own business working with shelters and individuals and was soon being referred by veterinarians and courts to help individuals concerning bite history cases or aggression concerns.

Upon relocating to New Hampshire, Marie decided to pursue further education to help pets and people prepare, respond, and recover/reunite from disasters. This led her to join the NH Disaster Animal Response Team (NHDART), obtain a BS in Homeland Security Studies, and become an active member of a local community emergency response team (CERT).

Additionally, Marie continues to attend in-person canine conferences, read a wide range of books and journals on scientific developments regarding advancing dog training techniques, and attend webinars.

Marie lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband, two kids, four dogs, and rabbit. She enjoys volunteering with her therapy dog locally and deploying with him as a certified animal assisted crisis response dog. Marie spends her free time camping, kayaking, skiing, paddle boarding, traveling, and general adventuring.