Legacy Nicely Trained Dog has a strong background in obedience, police and detector dog work as well as working knowledge in behavior modification spanning back nearly 40 years. Jessica starting learning to train at the tender age of 8 under the guidance of her father a former K9 officer who left the police department to followed his passion of training police dogs and officers. At 13 she began to learn to handle and train police and detector dogs. She continued to learn and hone her skills as a K9 and detector dog trainer through her teens. During her college years she took courses in behavioral science, including animal psychology, horse production (had to train a horse) along with a graduate course in small animal nutrition. She would also come to the kennels on breaks to keep up her training skills. After college she came back to the kennels working under her father now as a professional trainer which included training police and detector dogs for agencies like DOD, Border Patrol, Military Special Forces and PDs all around the US. Her father who had earned a bachelors in Behavioral Science instilled in her the importance and drive to continue to study behavioral science and learn to properly apply it to training. Her unique and lengthy background in all areas of training, proven working knowledge of behavioral science truly separates her from other trainers.
Thumbtack does not show all of her reviews but they can be found on her website listed in contact information. Along with videos of her current non-working dog Ellie who exemplifies what a Legacy Nicely Trained Dog can do. You can also see videos of some of the other dogs she has worked with since leaving the K9 world on there as well. Whether you just want a well behaved dog or you want titles in obedience and nose work, LNTD has the experience and knowledge to get you there. Behavioral cases are taken and have special protocols bases on initial functional analysis. Some videos of those success cases are on her site as well.
As far as certifications there are no local state or federal standards for the certification of dog trainers in the pet or K9 sectors at this time. Any mention of a certification as a trainer is only as good as the school it came from. Some certifications awarded do not even require a passing score of any type of test. Listing as a "certified" dog trainer is typically done by those who are new to the industry. As far as listing as a behaviorist anything short of a masters degree is not a qualified behaviorist. Legacy Nicely Trained Dog has multiple PhD behaviorists and a Veterinary Behaviorist that she can consult with if any additional information or guidance is needed.