Meet Your Trainers
Cara Pease (Owner and Trainer)
Cara was born with a love for her dogs, her actual first word was "doggie". She grew up with hound dogs, and in 2010 rescued her first pitbull mix, Mischa, which led her to start rescuing and fostering dogs from then on. To date she has fostered over 50 dogs and currently has 4 of her own. In 2011 Cara started working for a pet grooming and dog day camp in Easthampton, Ma which jump started her career with dogs. In 2015 she became a certified Animal Control Officer and in 2020 moved to Hutto, Texas to attend Starmark Academy School for Professional Dog Trainers. After a lot of dedication and hard work, Cara graduated at the top of her class with the certification of Master Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist. She worked briefly at a training facility in Arkansas and then decided to move back home to Western Massachusetts to start her own company. She is currently a professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), an American Kennel Club (AKC) evaluator and is working on several titles through the AKC with her personal dogs!
Courtney Cummings (Board and Train Trainer)
Courtney is a dog trainer and lifelong advocate for rescue dogs with a passion for helping dogs and their people build better lives together. She primarily works with board-and-train clients and brings years of hands-on experience working with dogs of all sizes, breeds, ages, personalities, and behavioral needs.
Courtney began fostering dogs in 2020 and has welcomed countless dogs into her home through fostering and in-home pet sitting. Her journey into dog training grew naturally from her experiences with her foster dogs—including a dog who resource guarded and another who struggled with severe reactivity early in her fostering journey. These experiences motivated Courtney to learn as much as she could about canine behavior, training, communication, and the many tools and methods available to help dogs succeed.
As she continued fostering, Courtney became increasingly passionate about understanding why dogs behave the way they do and finding practical, individualized approaches that set both dogs and their families up for success. After adopting her own dogs, she began regularly attending training classes—not only to support her own dogs, but also to continually grow as a handler to her fosters.
Courtney has furthered her education through mentorship with Cheri Wulff Lucas, workshops and educational programs with Cheri Wulff Lucas, Training With Bria, and Mirror Image K9, as well as online membership programs through Pack Life LA and Jay Jack. She believes that good training is an ongoing process and continues to seek out education, new perspectives, and opportunities to expand her understanding of dogs.
All three of Courtney’s dogs—Laya, Milky Way, and Pork Bun—are former foster dogs who ultimately became permanent members of her family. She has also introduced Milky Way to the world of dog sports, participating in Barn Hunt, Happy Ratters, Fast CAT, and Dock Diving. Milky Way has earned five AKC titles, giving Courtney additional experience working with dogs in structured training and performance environments.
Courtney first connected with Cara online several years ago through the dog-training community and participated in several of her programs before eventually becoming a trainer for her. That relationship has allowed Courtney to continue developing her skills while working hands-on with dogs in a professional training environment.
At the heart of Courtney’s approach is the belief that every dog is an individual. Her goal is not simply to teach dogs commands, but to help them develop the skills, confidence, communication, and understanding they need to be successful in everyday life
