Dae is the owner and trainer of Dog-Abilities, a professional dog training business, servicing the Northern
KY and Cincinnati areas since 2011. She offers private training, behavior consults, group classes, 4H Dog
Club classes, board and trains, and dog walking services. Dae is also a Certified Professional Dog Trainer
– Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP). She
also belongs to various dog training organizations, including IAABC, APDT, and PPG.
Dae’s dog training journey began 17 years ago when she decided to train her first puppy, a Boxer.
Together, they learned the power of positive reinforcement training. While in college, Dae became increasingly
interested in animal behavior, taking college classes, reading various books and articles on the subject.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a major in psychology, she decided to pursue both
her passions for psychology and animal training. This led her to working in boarding, training, and daycare
facilities, where she gained knowledge under other positive, skilled, reward based trainers, as well as
honing observational skills and hands-on experience with many different dogs.
Since 2004, Dae has been involved with APDT conference as Conference Staff and Task Force, and most notably
received the Ian Dunbar Member of the Year Award in 2015. Currently, Dae is the Social Media Director for
IAABC, running their Instagram accounts @iaabcpets (#petsbehavingwell) and @iaabcbehavior, as well as the
Facebook Pets Behaving Well group. Each month, submissions are taken for the Pets Behaving Well Contest,
showcasing animals of all species behaving well. Winners receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
Dae lives with 3 dogs—a Husky/German Shepherd Dog mix, a Parson Russell Terrier, a Border Terrier,
a house bunny, and foster Pitbull. Dae’s dogs actively work in search and rescue, therapy dog and
crisis response work, nose work, barn hunt, agility, and trick training. When she is not working with dogs,
she enjoys hiking and photography.