Please allow me to introduce myself to you!

My name is Suzanne Parker, and I am a Certified Dog Trainer from Southern California, I have been living, learning and enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest for the past 6 years. We moved from Southern California to live in a great little town called McMinnville in Oregon. The town is located approximately an hour and a half outside of Portland, in the heart of the Willamette Valley. I started my Dog Trainer business about 5 years ago in this great community, and have built a successful business, with a great reputation. I am a Relationship-based Dog Trainer. What does Relationship-based dog training mean? Quite simply put, it means that I value the relationship that we build with our dogs first, and foremost above all else, and that we start first with building trust with our dogs. It all begins with trust and clear communication. I use a combination of methods to help you learn to build that trust in each other, then we can begin to teach and train. I will teach you how to clearly communicate with your dog, as well as a lot of watching and listening to understand what your dog is communicating.

Big Changes in 2025

We have decided to move back to California in early 2025, and I am torn. I am excited to get back to my family, friends, and former clients in Orange County, but sad because of the relationships, friendships and dogs that I will greatly miss in McMinnville. My website and all of my marketing will look a little odd while I am transitioning over the next couple of months. My business name will be just my own personal name. However, everything is in the process of transferring from Mcminnville Dog Trainer to Suzanne Parker, LLC. My official move date is May 1, 2025 back to California, however I will be coming down beginning the first week of February 2025 to begin teaching my classes and offering my dog training services. My last classes will be taught in McMinnville January 2025.

My Experience

My Dog Training experience spans over 26 years. I spent the first part of my career running (both literally and figuratively) my own successful dog trail-running business in Orange County, California. I ran packs of dogs and puppies on trails for at least 8 miles/day, 5 days a week. These dogs and puppies were all first trained by me to run off leash, recall to a hunting whistle, were all highly socialized (with 12+dogs daily), and had to have excellent obedience skills and manners. They were also rattlesnake avoidance trained annually. None of these dog’s had aggression issues, all of them were high energy, working breeds and they all NEEDED a job, so we would hike, play and run. Most began as 8 month old puppies, and I had the pleasure of having them for many, many years. I learned so much over this time about dogs in every capacity, and I loved being able to work daily with my pack dog. It was the best job in the world, and I feel so thankful to have had the opportunity to have that experience. I quite literally lived with my pack of 12-14 dogs daily for 20 years of my life. They taught me how to communicate with them, animal behavior skills I never could have learned in any other environment, that I feel gives me a unique advantage in Dog Training. Prior to owning Tails on Trails, and OC Tails on Trails I had the opportunity to be mentored by an amazing Dog Trainer, and Certified Animal Behaviorist. I had accidentally stumbled upon my calling and my passion while training my very first puppy. I had a TOUGH-as-nails, female Rottweiler named Sierra. I had zero idea what I was doing, and this puppy clearly knew it, and she took full advantage of my lack of knowledge. Thankfully the Trainer I hired was amazing and gave me the knowledge and the tools to readjust my relationship with this incredible dog. By my final session he said, “You have incredible timing, you understand what I teach you with ease, and you are intuitive in your training with Sierra, you may want to consider becoming a Dog Trainer.” I chuckled a bit, stood a little taller and felt a little more confident; 2 weeks later I began mentoring with this incredible Dog Trainer. I feel blessed(dog blessed) to have been able to experience his methods, benefit from his years of experience and vast knowledge. It changed my life and my world.

Certifications and Affiliations

I am a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals, and just submitted my required materials to update my CDT(Certified Dog Trainer) credential. I am an AKC approved dog trainer and evaluator. Currently I am working on taking the CPDT-KA test in the Spring of 2025. Continuing education is important to me, and I make it a goal to take at least 2 classes per year to keep up with new dog training methods and techniques. I also love investing my time and money to shadow other accomplished dog trainers, that have a specialty, style or skill set that I do not. My job is to make sure that I can help my clients, and their dogs, and my belief is that you need to continue to educate in your realm of professional knowledge, stay current and never stagnant. The science of Dog Training is ever evolving and the one size fits all method never will work. I strongly believe that every dog, and every person learns differently. My job is to find how to teach both the dog and owner, and help them achieve their goals.

My passion is helping people and their dogs!

The two modalities that I love the most are training in group class environments, and teaching in a 1 on 1 environment. This includes behavior modification for all dog training issues, other than true aggression (dogs that have bitten dogs or humans). I love watching the faces of both dogs and people suddenly tune onto each other as if a lightbulb suddenly turns on and the dog or puppy says “oh hello there!” The connection is essential for communication, and clear communication is essential for building the relationship.

Reactive Dog Training

My absolute favorite thing to help with is Reactive Dogs. I have 2 formerly reactive rescue dogs. My dog Max, my Fox Red Labrador, and my French Bulldog Batman. You can read Max’s journey on the Reactive Dog Bootcamp page. It will give you a clear understanding of why this is such a personal passion, and joy for me to teach. I offer a weekend Bootcamp, or a private 1 on 1 option to help you! Please check the details on my method and see if this is an opportunity you might be interested in.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this and to get to know me and my services that I offer. I here to help you and your dog, and look forward to the opportunity.

Woof and thank you,

Suzanne Parker, CDT