All About Me and My Dogs

Hey, y’all! My name is Brittany. I was born and raised in the mountains and hills of Tennessee where I spent most of my childhood hiking, camping, or on the water. I honestly can’t even remember a time where I wasn’t obsessed with being outside. When I became an adult, I knew the mountains is where my heart was and wanted to see more of them! So, I picked out a town on the map in North Carolina, packed up my car and tent supplies, and found a campground.

As soon as I reached the town, I felt at home, so I quickly set up my tent and started looking for a job and a place to live. I spent just over a month living in my tent, and as amazing as it sounds, it’s important to add in that it rained almost every day that summer in that small mountain town. My tent even caved in one night from the amount of rain! So needless to say, I was ready to live in a house again. After 3 long, snowy winters, I realized that maybe I wasn’t a cold weathered person. So, I upped and moved onto a sailboat in Charleston, SC. Talk about the beach bum life! It was amazing. I was able to wake up every morning to incredible sunrises and dolphins playing in the marina. Whenever I had the time, I was able to throw my kayak in the water straight from the sailboat and enjoy my day going all around in the marshes.

It was in Charleston that I became determined to land a career path working with animals. I accidentally discovered dog training. Where I grew up, everyone had dogs, usually a lot of dogs, but I didn’t know of a single person who had trained their dog (does that sound a little too country? Well.... haha). Since my previous employment as a Certified Early Childhood Educator required having an extensive understanding of child psychology, I found myself so intrigued with animal psychology. After a few weeks of working as an apprentice, I was hooked. I immersed myself in everything dog behavior and training. For a person who prided myself on “speaking dog” from always choosing canine companionship over humans as a kid, I couldn’t get over just how much there was to learn! That was in 2014, and I am still fascinated with all the new things I learn about dogs every day!

After meeting my Charlestonian husband, he kept talking about Clemson (he went to school there). A few camping trips later, and we started discussing moving. The pieces all started coming together, and we moved to Seneca in 2018. We absolutely love living here! But there was a problem, it’s almost too beautiful. I was noticing myself struggling to stay focused at the job that I love because I wanted to be hiking or kayaking. And then the idea of starting a dog hiking business dawned on me! Now, I am able to combine all of my passions into a job that I love even more!

I have two dogs, Max and Emme. I adopted Max in 2015 when he was 10 months old. I was his 4th known owner at that time. Sadly, he had developed numerous behavior problems that made it very challenging for him to stay with any one family for too long. If you can think of a behavior problem, chances are he had it. But as a newer trainer, I was determined to help him. He has made leaps and bounds of progress! But he still has some social anxiety that makes him more comfortable sleeping on the couch than always going out with us. You may see us out with him from time to time but not as often as you will see Emme.

Emme is an Australian Shepherd born in late November 2020. We were very tedious about finding an ethical breeder who raised puppies according to the high standard of Puppy Culture (created by the amazing Jane Messineo Killian). We weren’t set on a particular breed, just a breed that would enjoy our lifestyle. So Aussie was definitely on the list. Emme is a little shyer than most puppies, but she does warm up if you give her just a few minutes. However, she has been such a joy in our family. She has been fun to train and so much fun to take on the trails with us! We can’t wait to meet you and your dog(s) and learn more about you! Happy adventures, y’all!