Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Pasko.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At the age of 8, I joined a club called 4-H. This organization introduced me to the wonderful world of dogs. My experience in 4-H inspired me to invest time into anything I could find related to dogs.
I donated my evenings and weekends to volunteer with and learn from the best dog professionals in the industry. I started competing in AKC dog sports such as agility, rally, obedience, and conformation.
I attended seminars and workshops to learn about anything related to canine behavior and training. The more I trained, the more I realized that this was what I loved most in life.
In 2008 I made a life-changing decision to join the United States Marine Corps. It was during this time I was able to tour Afghanistan and Djibouti, Africa. While in the Marine Corps, I excelled in my position as an ordnance technician on CH-53 Helicopters, and in addition to knowledge about weapons systems I trained and became Air Crew on helicopter missions. During my time in Afghanistan, I tested into the Marine Corps Female Engagement team, where we would conduct peacekeeping missions with women of Afghanistan. In 2012 I knew something in my life was missing and left active duty.
Immediately I found an internship with a dog training company that specializes in training dogs for off-leash obedience and solving problem behaviors. After the internship, I was hired as a full-time dog trainer. It was during my time in the military town of Jacksonville, North Carolina that I was able to train service dogs for veterans. I was able to impact other veterans’ lives by training and donating service dogs for veterans with PTSD and mobility problems.
In 2014 I moved to Mesa, Arizona, and opened Cadence K9. While running my business, I also decided to attend Arizona State University studying Business Technology and was even able to launch my first technology-based start-up company. During my time in Arizona, I was able to continuously expand my knowledge base by learning from the best in the industry (something I still do consistently).
My training style started to develop into something unique. I stress the bond and relationship with dogs and owners while also obtaining serious results. Helping dogs labeled as untrainable, as well as those with anxiety and problem behaviors became a specialty.
In Summer of 2016, I made the cross-country leap to Miami, Florida. I am attending Florida International University studying Management Information Systems. Renamed Happy With Dogs, we opened doors in 2016, and our programs are helping owners all over south Florida to enjoy life with their dogs.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Running a business is A LOT of work. Managing life, in general, is hard sometimes. I recognize that both my personal growth and happiness affect the business. For the first few years of Happy With Dog, I felt like a robot waking up at 7 am and working without a break until 11 pm. I noticed the toll it took on my overall life and business when I didn’t get the recovery I needed. Now, time to play with my pups, learning and growth takes priority in my life. I find balance is crucial to success.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our mission is to help dog owners enjoy life with their dog. We thrive on training for happy, confident dogs.
Happy With Dogs specializes in training dogs to become respectful members of society and in the rehabilitation of dogs with problem behaviors.
We place importance in our core values for those we hire, partner with, and work for. These include honesty, integrity, personal growth, open-mindedness, gratitude, commitment to mastery, and a sincere love of dogs. Continuing education is a passion for us and we believe applied knowledge is power. My staff and I continuously attend training and specialty seminars and are at the forefront of dog-training techniques and research. We are proud to be professionals in this industry. Happy With Dogs is continuously growing, learning and most importantly, saving the lives of dogs.
We Offer Training Retreat programs for puppies, on-leash obedience, off-leash obedience, service dog training, therapy dog training, and train and rehabilitate dogs with problem behaviors. We also instruct owners on how to train their dogs using lessons at our facility and group classes.
What are your plans for the future?
Stay Tuned… We are excited to be offering more activities for you and your pooch to do together in south Florida. Rather than the traditional obedience and agility, we are working towards bringing activities dogs LOVE to the area.
Pricing:
- Courteous Canine Training Retreat In our Courteous Canine’s program, we will work together to fix 2-3 issues like this in a short period of time. We will teach you the essentials to go from chaos to calm at home and on a leash. One Week Training Retreat Instagram stories so you can see your pups face and don’t have to worry about feeling out of touch. Unlimited private send home lessons to teach you how to use what your dog has learned so that you will have a smooth transition from our program to home life. Send home resources included so that you can reference the material learned in your lesson later. Unlimited Free Strut Your Stuff Class attendance after the program so no matter what bumps in the road you come across, we will be there to help. Access to community events so that you can have a great time as part of our extended dog family. $1775
Contact Info:
- Email: rebecca@happywithdogs.com
- Website: www.happywithdogs.com
- Instagram: @happy.with.dogs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happywithdogsMiami
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HappyWithDogs
- Other: @rebeccadogtrainer
Image Credits
Lucas Schauer -Happy With Dogs photos
