Meet Kaleigh

I’m the trainer, caretaker, and dog person behind Good Dog Pet Services.

I’ve always loved dogs, but my career with animals started unexpectedly. While serving with AmeriCorps and living in communal housing, I couldn’t have a dog of my own, so I started pet sitting. What began as a way to spend more time with animals quickly grew into a career in animal welfare.

From Pet Sitting to Shelter Behavior

After AmeriCorps, I became the Volunteer Manager at Longmont Humane Society in Colorado, where I spent three years developing my animal handling and behavior skills. I had the opportunity to learn from skilled trainers and become a stronger handler so I could teach volunteers how to safely and effectively work with shelter dogs.

Working in a shelter taught me something that continues to shape the way I train today: every dog has a story, and behavior doesn't happen in a vacuum.

As Volunteer Manager, I developed my coaching skills by guiding volunteers with diverse experience levels and comfort around animals. I learned to meet people where they were, build their confidence, and make complex information approachable, skills that continue to shape how I work with training clients today.

Five Years Changing Shelter Behavior

After moving to Las Vegas, I joined The Animal Foundation as Behavior Manager, where I spent five years overseeing behavioral assessments, individualized training plans, and programming focused on improving shelter dogs’ quality of life and adoptability. I developed a large-scale dog-to-dog socialization playgroup program, expanding opportunities for enrichment, social interaction, and stress relief.

This experience gave me an incredibly deep understanding of dog behavior and taught me to look beyond what a dog is doing to understand why they’re doing it.

Why Professional Certification Matters

Experience matters, but so does education and accountability.

I first earned my Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) certification in 2022 and later advanced to the Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA) credential in 2025.

Anyone can call themselves a dog trainer. Professional certification doesn't replace experience, but it provides an additional layer of education, testing, and demonstrated skill behind the work I do.

My goal is to bring you both: years of hands-on experience with challenging dogs and professional training knowledge you can trust.

Meet Truffles

I've Been There Too

I don't just understand challenging dogs because I've worked with them professionally. I've lived it.

I have two rescue dogs of my own: Buster, a six-year-old cattle dog mix, and Truffles, a three-year-old pit mix. Truffles was on the euthanasia list when I met her at the shelter. She fit right in with my dogs and, unsurprisingly, became a permanent member of the family.

But life with Truffles hasn't always been easy. She has stranger danger, defensive and territorial aggression toward people in our home, significant prey drive, and leash reactivity. I've struggled with her, too.

Through careful management, fulfilling her natural drives, and clear communication and consistent expectations, Truffles has made tremendous progress. She now is a blood donor for the Las Vegas Blood Bank. She is living her best life and thoroughly enjoys her off leash freedom with perfect recall.

Living with her has given me an even deeper appreciation for what it's like to love a dog who can be incredibly sweet and wonderful one minute and leave you wondering, “What on earth are we going to do about this?” the next.

So when you come to me feeling frustrated, embarrassed, or exhausted by your dog's behavior, I want you to know something: I've seen it all and you're not alone.

I Train YOU, Not Your Dog

One of the biggest things I learned from working with shelter dogs is that training isn't really about training the dog. It's about teaching people how to communicate with their dogs. I can teach your dog to sit, walk nicely on a leash, or respond to a cue but those skills only become useful when you understand how to communicate with your dog outside of a training session.

A big part of my work is teaching clients to recognize body language, understand what motivates their dog's behavior, and identify what their dog is communicating. I'll explain the why behind the behavior so that you aren't simply following a list of instructions: you actually understand how to help your dog.

And then we’re going to work together to build your relationship with your pet, establish boundaries and expectations, and focus on how to drive meaningful, lasting change in their behavior.

Training Without Judgment

I want my clients to feel seen, supported, and ready to work.

My job is to meet you where you are, help you understand what's happening, and give you practical tools to move forward. Whether you have a newly adopted rescue, a off the wall adolescent, or a dog who has developed some challenging behaviors, we'll build a plan around your actual life with your dog.

Because I believe every dog has the potential to be a good dog and every person has the potential to become the kind of handler their dog needs.

Sometimes you just need someone to show you how.