Meet your trainers
Rachele is a UC Davis graduate with a BS in Animal Science and a minor in Communications. She interned with the Yolo County SPCA for 3 years and gained experience with fearful and reactive dog behavior. Rachele has helped dogs in shelters as well as in foster homes build confidence and reduce reactivity.
She also has an adorable foster pitbull of her own, named Coco, with fear and anxiety struggles. Rachele began working for Dogkind as an assistant trainer in August of 2019. In her free time, Rachele likes to teach her dog Coco new tricks, bake, or perform in musical theatre productions. Her favorite training to do is cute tricks like “spin” or “high five,” which her dog has mastered. But she especially loves to train fearful dogs because it is so exciting when a dog makes progress towards leading a happier, fear-free life."
Jack is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UC Davis. He is pursuing a BS in animal science with a specialization in companion and captive animals. Jack worked with the Yolo county SPCA for two and a half years as a dog behavior intern and is most interested in helping fearful dogs. He is especially enthusiastic about those afraid of new people like his own pup, Gracie.
Melissa went to school at UC Davis, planning to pursue a career as a veterinarian but it wasn't the right fit. Instead she graduated with a degree in Plant Science, but quickly realized that plants can't interact with you and they aren't nearly as cute as dogs. She met Kelly when she came out for a consultation with her dog, Bones.
He would bark and lunge at anyone that wasn't part of Melissa's family and she was completely frustrated with no idea what to do. As she learned how to help Bones, Melissa was fascinated by learning about dog behavior. She started a dog behavior internship with the Yolo SPCA and was excited to learn even more.
Danielle was born and raised in Hong Kong. She has been around animals and worked them with them her whole life. She realized her passion of working with animals at the age of 6 when she rode a horse for the first time. As a recent graduate in Animal Science from UC Davis, Danielle is currently working on her veterinary technician license. She hopes to practice fear free handling/training in a broader sense and educate others in it as well. Danielle is an active intern/volunteer with the Yolo County SPCA and helps care for the dogs and cats. Her duties include giving medications and vaccinations to the foster animals. She also volunteers as a foster parent for the SPCA all year-round. She helps to potty train the young puppies under her care and trains them in basic manners like "sit" and "down".
Consumer protection warning: Dog training is an unregulated industry. There are no minimum educational requirements. The American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior has published the following position statements to guide dog owners in choosing a trainer: