YOUR K9 TRAINING SPECIALIST

About the Owner: Melinda Cerisano ABCDT

As a child, my earliest dream was that I would become a dolphin trainer. I have had the opportunity to participate in activities behind the scenes at MARINELAND of FL St. Augustine. Learning theory in animals has always fascinated me. Growing up in Virginia, further dolphin studies were out of the question. At 8 years old I became completely entrenched in the horse world. I became obsessed with competition, with or without the horses. I participated in various sports in high school and college. I went to the University of Utah and earned a B.S. in Athletic Training/Physical Education. I believed that my calling was to be a coach and teacher. My education in Athletic Training is about developing an athlete. This is not any different than developing physical tasks out of our canine companions. It is simply developing the art of teaching a skill to a mammal. During College, on a break, home visiting parents, I was out in an isolated area jogging. The family dog was with me, wandering along the horse path off leash. As fate would have it, this dog, a German Shepherd, saved my life that day. I have never been able to forget how a dog is a true example of a best friend who will be willing to lay her life down for you. From that day forward, I vowed to live the rest of my life with a canine companion.

As career plans marched on, I have had a lot of teaching experience since those days. I have taught many different subjects... from various sports, flying, horse behavior, and... security. I continued to compete in horse sports such as three-day eventing and F.E.I Dressage up until 2003. I have dabbled in the sport of Schutzhund over the years and am currently bringing up a puppy with the hope of getting her titled. Schutzhund is a dog sport that includes tracking, obedience and police protection work, all as one event. My dogs hold my heartstrings.

In the last decade, I started to be conscious of the fact that I was uncomfortable with existing training methods in the horse world. I did not see the same stresses in dog sports that I saw in the horse sport of dressage. I went to SeaWorld of San Diego for answers. I have since participated in the "Trainer for the Day" educational program several times. Hey, if the Orca can comply, what is confusing our horses? Training theory, of course! It was these opportunities that familiarized me with marker training and positive reinforcement. I had been familiar with food luring, but there was a lot more to learn in order to grasp the complete picture. As I learned in college and through athletics... you must have rules, techniques, and fundamentals of a task, to execute a task. This means that any being, human, predator or prey animal can learn if presented fairly... in small progressive building blocks. You must allow that being to understand and comprehend what you are asking. You must be able to read their body language to know if there is ambiguity and if there is, you must be able to take steps backward in order to proceed forward again. This is about understanding and interpreting behavior. It is about progressing through a teaching method. It is about coaching owners as handlers. The more I researched, the more I realized I was not turing back. My ability to work with animals was blossoming into a new reality. My Schutzhund Dog could open doors and my stallion can be ridden without a bridle... and he enters into the horse trailer from 30 feet out, all on his own.

It became clear to me that I could take this talent and find ways to help animals. I decided to focus on the dogs, and thus became a graduate of "The Animal Behavior College." As a Behaviorist and a certified obedience instructor, I could now keep dogs out of the shelters by re-training. I could eliminate the suffering that both dogs and their owners go through when there is an inability for harmony to exist within the home. If a dog just learns to sit, stay, come, and if there is the proper pack leadership within the home, the dog is never in jeopardy of being re-homed or taken to a shelter. It is imperative that training is done from both ends of the leash. Besides, there is nothing better than being surrounded by "Man's best friend" while engaging in a career.

"A GREAT TEACHER IS A PERSON WHO CAN BE UNDERSTOOD BY SOMEONE WITH WHOM THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON"
-VICKI McBRIDE