Kara M Schaeffer

     My drive to be a dog trainer comes from wanting to give people the same incredible experience I have had while training my own dogs. I love what I do is because dogs don’t have a voice. I know I have the power to give them that voice by teaching their owners how to communicate with their dog. That moment when you realize you can truly understand your dog is simply amazing. When you realize not only do you understand your dog, but your dog also understands you, as well as what you want. The possibilities are limitless.

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     I have been a dog lover since a child. I became interested in training dogs when I got a puppy that behaved terribly. In a attempt to help my puppy I immersed myself in dog training books. I was in absolute awe when I realized what could be accomplished in such a short period. I then reached out to local trainers to learn more. I helped local Binghamton trainer Carolyn Georgariou film her lessons and spent time learning more about dogs.  I decided to go to school for dog training, I graduated from  Anthony Jerone’s School of Dog Training and Career INC in Queens NY in 2009.  Since graduation I have spent most of my time volunteering with Amigo Search and Rescue Dogs, a non-profit K9 Search and Rescue Team.

I am now a operational search and rescue K9 handler with the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue, providing free assistance to help locate missing people all across NY as well as PA and NJ.  I certified my first SAR K9, a rescue German Shepherd in 2013. I currently have two operational search dogs certified through NYSFEDSAR , Malala is a German Shepherd who is a dual purpose air-scent K9 who is certified in both live find and wilderness human remains detection. Krillin,  my Dutch shepherd is certified advanced/crime scene human remains detection dog.  Gandhi my other German Shepherd is near certification for live find. I am now a tester for live find/air-scent dogs for NYS and I have spent countless hours helping others train their SAR dogs as well.

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I have a passion for working dogs, however I absolutely love helping regular pet owners with obedience and behavior issues.  I find continued education a necessity as a dog trainer and attend seminars on various topics related to dog training yearly in order to ensure I can give clients up to date training guidance on a variety of topics with various tools and methods.  

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Qualifications

• Graduated from Anthony Jerone’s School of Dog Training and Career, Inc in 2009.

• Operational K9 Handler with Amigo Search and Rescue Dogs INC Non-Profit K9 Search and Rescue team

• Certified K9 Search and Rescue Handler through the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue in both live find and human remains detection : K9 Malala - Live Find (air-scent) & Wilderness Recovery (human remains detection)     

• K9 Krillin- Advanced/Crime Scene Human Remains Detection

• K9 Gandhi- Live find (air-scent)

• K9 Air Scent (live find search dog ) Evaluator for the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue

• Dog evaluator for the Delaware Valley Humane Society in Sidney NY

• AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator 

• K9 First aid certified

*Continues education yearly by attending seminars on various topics including but not limited to dog behavior, obedience, canine reactivity, aggression, bite sports, odor detection and K9 search and rescue training, The dog world is constantly evolving, it's important trainers stay up to date on the latest techniques.