Theophainia Brassard
I grew up on a horse farm with one of the best animal trainers I have ever known. My mother. On any given month we would have a new horse on our property that had been neglected or abused in some way. My mother devoted her life and personal safety to the training and rehabilitation of these animals. From an incredibly young age I understood that there was all too often broken understanding in the human/animal training relationship.
Truthfully horses scared the heck out of me when I was younger. I watched my mother get injured time and time again working with truly aggressive horses. Even then, I knew I still wanted to work with animals. While horses and dogs are obviously different in many ways, the most important comparison is that you must develop a relationship to co-exist safely. In the end, I still found myself gravitating towards the dogs on the farm.
After 17 years in that environment, I set off for college in Boston where I studied art art animal sciences at SMFA and Tufts. I started volunteering my time at the MSPCA in Boston. I took any dog related job I could get my hands on starting at the age of 19. I walked dogs in packs of 8-12 on off leash hikes just north of the city. Shortly after that I worked for a grooming shop in Cambridge Massachusetts where I quickly learned more than any book could have taught me about handling fear aggressive dogs. And most importantly I took an internship with a trainer who introduced me to a balanced training approach.
I was classically trained (so to speak) by the Animal Behavior College of CA. I was also trained carefully by the MSPCA that positive reinforcement (R+) Training was the only humane approach. For a long time I truly believe this was the case. You would have never caught me using or suggesting a tool such as a prong collar or e collar during my first years as a dog trainer.
One day my incredibly social 1 year old German Shepherd whom I had raised myself was badly attacked by another dog. I found myself lost when my own anxiety and fear accompanied by then skill set were no match for his reactivity and aggression towards other dogs. There I was... a certified dog trainer with an aggressive dog and yet no clue how to keep him safe other than to try and avoid other dogs... But we lived in Boston, and it just wasn't possible.
I was told by my peers that maybe I should consider moving out of the city, or finding a new home for him. I felt like I had failed him in his first year of life. This began my reluctant yet desperate search to find a trainer who knew what I was experiencing and how to address the behavior and not avoid it. I met with a few trainers who accepted my reluctance to a balanced approach. I settled on a trainer who had 2 large male German Shepherds. Viper and Prince. I will never forget the first time He was able to walk them with my dog after only a couple days with him. Once I saw it WAS possible. My outlook on training approaches changed dramatically on that day.
Just about every dog trainer I have ever met truly loves the animals they work with. While I truly believe that there is no one way to train a dog, I also believe there is a better way.
After a year of internship I devoted myself fully to training dogs. I chose to head West to San Francisco. Almost entirely based on the fact that there were allegedly more dogs than children in the city! While I had never been to California, I knew it was where I wanted to be to pursue my career and grow Refined K9.
After getting settled into my first apartment in the outer Richmond District, I attended local training classes with my dog to see what environment was best for us to continue to learn. But all to often I found myself being turned away because my dog had a history of dog aggression. While I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it, I still needed a safe place to practice and some continued support in said practice. After all, this is how many people sustain a healthy practice of any skill... in a supportive community.
When I found myself seemingly on my own I set out to change my predicament. I was going to create my own safe space where owners with dogs like mine could thrive.
But where to start?
In the beginning Refined K9 was a solo operation. Until one day I found myself in need of a second trainer to help me with some of my caseload. I was lucky enough to meet Jose Moreno. Jose is now one of my most senior trainers. But, back in 2009 Jose was in a similar place in his career, eager to learn more. We attended training seminars together and spent every moment together discussing cases we were working on and troubleshooting our individual approaches.
From there our demand kept growing and I added on more trainers who shared the same morals and approach to dog training. I added more services and classes that were supportive to my overall goal of creating a community for owners with difficult dogs. I was able to carefully create what I was looking for 15 years ago with my first dog. I’m beyond proud of what refined K9 has become and invite you to become a part of our community!
Theo’s pack includes:
Stark - Black German Shepherd in a Great Dane costume - Training in French Ring Sport
Omen - Black German Shepherd who thinks he’s part wolf but might pee him self if you startle him.
Gunner - The OG German Shepherd who started it all - RIP 2004 - 2018