Meet The Trainers
Shannon
Owner/Trainer
Shannon has over 10 years of experience in the Animal Industry. She graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science & Technology from the University of Rhode Island. She has interned with Animal Control, volunteered in the shelter, and worked as a Veterinary Technician at a local animal hospital. She was then employed as an assistant trainer to a well-established trainer. There she worked with dogs all breeds and sizes, in training that ranged from basic obedience to working with severe behavioral imbalance such as dog/human aggression. She also worked at a kennel as a dog daycare manager for 5 years. There, she worked with dogs of all breeds- creating and controlling large socialization groups. It was between working as a trainer and as a daycare attendant she saw how she wanted to create a business using a combination of the two. So in the summer of 2016 she started booking her first clients and A Balanced Dog was born.
In her free time, Shannon enjoys participating and competing in various sports with her dogs. From weight pull, to dock dive, disc, agility, barn hunt, and fast CAT. Shannon plans to get involved in GRC with her newest puppy this year.
Shannon is also pet first aid and CPR certified through Pet Emergency Education and she’s a professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals.
Alice
Trainer
Alice has always had a natural and calm ability to communicate with dogs. She often practiced different training techniques on her dog Kaiya to build a solid foundation by learning commands, desired behaviors, and utilizing training tools to hold her accountable. After Alice adopted Shelby who was extremely dog reactive, and Remington who was rehomed 5 times at 10 months old, she recognized the need for balanced dog training. She has successfully focused her time on providing her dogs with clear, consistent communication, structure, and boundaries to become much more calm and confident dogs.
Prior to being a dog trainer, Alice was a United States Marine for 5 years and a Veterinary Technician for 4 years. As a result, she has extensive experience practicing various techniques to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in her aggressive/reactive patients. When a 1-year-old Golden Retriever patient kicked her and fractured her sternum, she decided to make it her job to help families learn how to communicate effectively with their dogs to help set them up for success. Alice believes that this is one of the most important aspects of her job and she enjoys meeting new families and helping their dogs be a better member of the household.
Continued Education
We have and continue to attend many seminars throughout the years because just like in dog training, there’s always more to learn! Training never stops!
Shannon with Ivan Balabanov
Shannon & Alice with Jay Jack, Larry Krohn, and Joel Silverman
Shannon with her dog Tanner working with Jay Jack
Meet The Pack
Tanner
Tanner is the guy everybody wants to be. He is very balanced in his energy and demeanor. It’s like he’s cool without trying and dogs often try hard to get the “cool kid” to like them! Tanner helps us with the more difficult females (and males). He is not afraid to correct any unbalanced or rude behavior fairly to help dogs find more balance.
Piper
Piper extremely sweet. She is very social and respectful of everyone she meets. She helps the new dogs come out of their shell. Piper is the first to tell everyone “don’t worry, it’s lots of fun here!” She has developed into a very well balanced dog for the rest of them to follow.
Colby
Colby is one of our smallest members of the pack, but he is also the boss. At 14 years old, he’s not interested in any rough-housing and dogs immediately understand and respect him. There is just something about him that dogs just know from the start that they have to respect him despite his size!
Kona
Kona is our helper with just about every dog that comes through here. She is actually my parents dog who lives next door! So whenever we are looking for someone to walk by down the street or a distraction to walk with, we call her up! She will be seen in many videos as the distraction for dogs to work through reactivity or excitement with.
Baz
Baz is the newest member of the pack! We can’t wait to watch him grow up and provide us with lots of puppy content in the meantime!
Addie & Millie
We often get dogs that like to harass their cats at home. Our resident cats are very dog savvy. They are not afraid to get close and test dogs, as well as put them in their place! They also often attend our group classes.
What we’ve achieved:
In 2022 we opened the doors to our new 2 floor facility we had built on our property! It was a lot of work, but now we have a beautiful space for the dogs to stay, train in, play in, and hold our classes and consults! We had 73 dogs go through our board and train program. We began offering puppy classes in our new facility as well as many of our advanced and distraction classes. We also had many day training dogs as well as opened up private sessions, something we hadn’t offered since before COVID!
In 2021 we had a total of 75 dogs go through our board and train program. A huge jump from the 47 we had previously. Our wait list was up to 5 months long during the spring/summer! All of the people who got dogs during COVID began realizing their need for training! We added day training as a service as well. We also began a new advanced group class for our higher level dogs to be able to practice more difficult training. Last, we started the beginning stages of building our new facility that will be ready in 2022.
In 2020 we had a total of 47 dogs go through our board and train program. Despite COVID restrictions causing us to have almost no boarding reservations, we adapted and trained more dogs than ever. We also moved from our old location in Richmond to a much bigger property on 5 acres! Shannon became a professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals.
36 dogs went through our board and train program in 2019. In April, Shannon was able to leave her part time job to go full time here with A Balanced Dog! We began offering daycare as a service as well as offered private sessions and group classes.
