I am a Certified Dog Trainer in Dallas, Texas who specializes in helping your adopted Shelter dog or puppy get settled in. I use modern, humane, positive methods. I will come to your home to help you with obedience training and behavior modification. I also teach Obedience classes for puppies and dogs.
Did you adopt or acquire a cute canine, and are now thinking “What have I done? This untrained, unruly dog is too much for me!”
Is he running uncontrollably around the house? Jumping on everyone and everything? Biting you, growling, or grabbing your kids’ stuff? Won’t go in his crate? Embarrassing you by barking at others when walking on leash? Piddling in the house– even though you just took him out?? Does he pull your arm out of its socket, leaving you exhausted, when all you wanted was a quiet, friendly stroll in the cool of the evening?
I can help! Since I moved to Dallas twelve years ago, I’ve enjoyed walking and working with some of the biggest, most unruly dogs at Operation Kindness, a No-Kill Animal Shelter in Carrollton, TX. Prior to that, I volunteered at Dog Adoption and Welfare Group (DAWG) in Santa Barbara, CA. I’ve trained my own dogs using compulsion (not anymore!), clicker, and positive reinforcement. I love dogs and puppies, enjoy being a Dog Trainer, and helping people solve their problems and understand their pets. I’ve attended seminars by the best trainers in the nation on Aggression, Aggressive, Reactive, and Fearful Dogs, Behavior Modification, Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT), and Understanding Canine Body Language.
I am a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Biological Sciences, and my dog trainer certification (ABCDT) from the Animal Behavior College in Santa Clarita, CA. I’ve worked as a Clinical Medical Technologist and Program Manager at different universities in California and Texas.
Most importantly, dogs are my passion, and I have owned numerous dogs- pitbulls, dobermans, terriers, and Heinz 57s. I enjoy multi-dog households.
Let me train you to be the Leader of your Pack and achieve Harmony and Happiness with your dogs.
Karen has performed miracles with her own rescues – you should ask to see her before and after photos. If I lived in the Dallas area and needed a certified dog trainer she would be my top choice, hands down.
Karen helped me train my dog to not react fearfully/aggressively to other dogs while walking in our neighborhood. She was amazing–she understood what was going on with him and she knew just how to handle his fear of other dogs and what would help him overcome that. She uses only positive reinforcement methods, which was important to me. Today, my dog is 95% over that problem, thanks to Karen.
Love the site, Karen. Wonderful!! I wish everyone could see the miraculous job you’ve done with your dogs. They are a delight and so much fun to socialize with. I know for a fact they weren’t not even close to being the way are now as when you first rescued them.
Karen knows her business. No doubt since I’ve seen it first hand.
Karen,
Just wanted to thank you for the great tips given on Sunday regarding jumping up and over excited dog when time to go out. Winston is a new man….er dog.
Looking forward to learning a lot more from you.
Thanks again.
Pam
Today was the first day of training for Penny with Karen Kennedy.
We worked on not being reactive and for her to focus on me and be “ok” with other dogs, any bikers, skateboarders, etc. Penny did well and Karen gave me lots of tips! I am super excited since this brings me one step closer to having Caysie for a sleep over!
I highly recommend her! Thanks Karen!
I appreciate your kindness to me and Gus so much! It’s people like you who so willingly go above-and-beyond for others that make this a better world for people and animals!
I recently adopted a big dog from Operation Kindness and was given Karen’s name as a reference. Being a first time dog owner, I called her right away for tips. She not only gave me great tips, she was so accomadating and offered to come to my house and help me handle my new dog. She was prompt, loving towards my new four legged baby, and within a few minutes of training, my dog was responding with proper behavior! I was amazed, and I was so grateful. She taught my pup some simple commands that I use everyday now. I highly recommend Karen to anyone who is needing some behavior modification for their dog. She is great! Thanks so much, Karen!
Another great training session with my good friend, Karen Kennedy! She is helping us have a harmonious home where humans and canines are equally happy! She is life changing!
Karen really helped me train my rescue husky on simple commands, walking on a leash, and breaking the cycle of resource guarding. She is extremely knowledgeable and comes up with creative and affective ways to train your dog. Highly recommended!!
Karen has been instrumental in helping me train my new rescue. She was patient with all of the participants in the class I attend and taught each of us the correct way to train our new pets. She is knowledgeable and was always able to answer our questions. In 5 short weeks my dog has mastered all of the critical commands (sit, down, stay, leash walking, leave it, come) and more. I have also gained the foundational knowledge needed to continue doing additional training. And of course, she is great with dogs. During our group training sessions she consistently demonstrated her ability to connect with all of the dogs in our class.
Thanks Karen!!
Karen, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and love of animals. I really learned alot in your class. Thank you for all the advice.
Adrian
Karen is terrific and really helpful training me and my dog (that I rescued from Operation Kindness). Thank you Karen for helping me with Danny Boy!
Karen, thank you so much for all your help and advice! I have had so much more fun with Ellie because of all the things you taught me!
I appreciate all your encouragement and individualized attention to each of us! The class was fun and an adventure of learning!
Thanks so much! God bless you!
I cannot thank you enough for helping me train Max when we brought him home from Operation Kindness a couple months ago. You sure know dogs & helped me gain the confidence I needed for this Big Boy!
It was wonderful watching you work so patiently with him for an hour on just getting him to go in his crate with ease and like it. I also loved how you taught him the command “leave it” and have learned a lot from you!!!
Thank you for what you do & for your knowledge and love of these wonderful animals. I’m lucky to have you so close by for whenever we need a refresher or a new thing to work on and Max is even luckier, especially when we run into you on the street and you always have a treat bag hanging from your neck!!!! You are really special. . .
Karen knows everything you could possibly imagine about dogs. She has great suggestions and ideas about how to change certain behaviors and to help your dog be as wonderful as he or she could be. Henry had already gone through some training but needed some refreshers. I was so surprised by how quickly he picked up on everything he was learning after just one hour with Karen. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Julie, but really, I don’t know everything about dogs! They are my life’s passion though, and I love going to seminars, reading books, and watching DVDs by the experts to learn all I can. I love it when a little tidbit that I’ve heard or read pops into my head so that I can help a current client. Also I’ve worked with or lived with so many dogs, I’m happy to share my experiences. Henry is so lucky to have you as his mom.
Thank you Karen for all your help. I was so frustrated with Mia’s running and barking in the house that I seriously considered returning her to the shelter. A friend suggested I try a professional trainer. With only one hour session, Karen gave specific suggestions and hints that will make our home happy again.
Karen is knowledgable, kind, and very understanding of dogs and dog owners. I would recommend her to anyone who is frustrated with their dog’s behavior.
Thanks so much for the photos and for all your help. It’s helped Penny to get used to other people and other dogs, and it’s given Lisa and I LOADS of help in giving Penny the best start in life we can.
I have been a dog lover and owner all my life. This was my first true Rescue Adoption so I came back to Operation Kindness to Karen’s class to train our puppy. I cannot say enough about her patience, knowledge and genuine caring about the dogs in her class. It shows in everything she does. I think the most important thing to me in looking for a trainer is one that loves dogs and wants to see them happy and lead the life they were meant to have in their “forever homes”! Thank you Karen for being the special person you are.