About Us
Meet Michael
After training dogs for most of his young adult life, Michael decided to turn his passion into his profession in 2007. He attended the Tom Rose School in High Ridge, MO and gained the theoretical knowledge as well as additional hands-on training. He graduated from the Professional Dog Trainer Program with flying colors.
Since graduation, Michael has developed his own training approach, combining elements of both, the traditional and the motivational method he was taught in school, and has also incorporated something very important to him: the use of your energy. His training involves a balance of praise and correction, and he is more than happy to explain that in greater detail during the evaluation.
Regardless of age or temperament, Michael loves all dog breeds. He believes that with proper education of the owner, any dog can be trained. While living in Germany, Michael saw that well-trained dogs were often brought to restaurants, malls and stores. It is his dream to achieve the same level of dog tolerance in the United States, but he understands this is only possible if the owners do the right thing, so he wants to help.
Michael has a natural bond with dogs; they are drawn to him and show him a high level of respect due to his calm confidence. This mutual understanding makes him comfortable around all dogs and able to fix even the most challenging behavioral problems.
Meet Sandra
Sandra was born and raised in Germany, and has been around all types of animals here whole life, starting with the horse farm her grandparents own. She loves all creatures, and the German background gives her a great appreciation for training and structure with any animal. She moved to the US in 2002 after meeting Michael. Since then, she has graduated from Meredith College with a BA in Psychology, BS in Biology and MBA, before completing her PhD in neurobehavioral Zoology from NC State.
For the past 10 years she has been fortunate to be able to work from home and raise her three children. Sandra is responsible for all of the administrative duties of Dog Academy and if you call, chances are you will speak to her. She is also in charge of animal husbandry for all the critters that live here, and is in charge of all the breeding and puppy raising logistics.