My name is Lara Gardner and I work with dogs and horses. As a child, for some reason, all the dogs in the neighborhood used to follow me wherever I went. I collected dogs like other children collected stamps. Most of the time they just followed me home without any persuasion on my part. When I moved away from my parents, I didn’t take any dogs with me, but the desire for them never waned.

When I finally settled down, dogs moved in with me, and I started training dogs for other people. I was a Barbara Woodhouse type trainer. I used choke chains and lots of treats. My own dog passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. I believed (and still do) that there were no bad dogs, but I trained using an operant methodology according to the desires and needs of humans and not so much based on the desires and needs of the dogs.

I also didn’t believe that I could really make a living as a dog trainer (or as a horse trainer, my other passion) so I went to law school like a good human citizen in order to obtain a “real job.” I never really stopped working with either dogs or horses, but I did stop trying to earn a living at it.

These many years later, a lot has changed. I have devoted my life to working with horses and dogs. I have studied and continue to study dog behavior and help dogs by starting with what the dog needs because I find that the needs of the humans sharing their lives with dogs are met as well.