Mari is a professional dog trainer in Fredericksburg with 12 years of overall experience and 9 years training professionally. She specializes in on and off-leash obedience with real-world reliability, puppy development, and engagement-building through motivation and play. With a strong background in animal care and veterinary medicine, Mari brings a thoughtful, structured approach that helps dogs learn clearly and helps owners feel confident handling them in everyday life.
About Mari
Mari has worked in the animal care field for 21 years and is a Licensed Veterinary Technician with an Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology. She has trained dogs professionally for the past 9 years and also competes and titles her personal dogs in dog sport competitions. This experience gives her a unique blend of hands-on training skill and a strong understanding of canine behavior, wellbeing, and learning.
Her training focuses on motivation, engagement, and building a real relationship between you and your dog. Mari uses play, structure, and clear communication to help dogs perform reliably, not just in controlled settings, but in real life where distractions happen. What keeps her passionate about this work is the connection with clients and seeing the long-term impact training has on a dog’s happiness and a family’s daily life.
What Mari Loves Training Most
- Building reliable obedience that holds up in real-world situations
- Helping owners develop engagement and a stronger relationship with their dog
- Puppy foundations that prevent issues before they start
- Using motivation and play to create focus, confidence, and consistency
Mari’s Training Approach
Mari believes clarity and consistency are the foundation of great training. When you are with your dog, you are always training, whether you realize it or not. Dogs repeat what works for them, so being fair, clear, and intentional about what you reward makes all the difference. Her goal is to help owners create habits that make good behavior the easy choice for the dog.
Training Tip From Mari: Clarity and consistency are everything. Dogs repeat what works, so reward intentionally and stay consistent.
Dog Sport Experience and Titles
Mari competes in a high-level dog sport that requires advanced obedience, agility, and protection training. Titles earned with her personal dogs include:
- Moana: Mondioring 3 Title
- Gru: Mondioring 1 Title
Ready to Work With Mari?
Mari offers Board and Train programs in Fredericksburg for owners who want real-world on and off-leash reliability, stronger engagement, and solid puppy foundations.