MEET THE TRAINER
Tanzi Leary (she/her/hers) is an award-winning dog trainer & behavior consultant recommended by 30+ Baltimore metro area veterinary clinics and veterinary behaviorists, shelters, rescues, and colleagues in multiple surrounding states for over a decade. She is "dog crazy," meaning she loves dogs not just as individuals but also as a species. She has dedicated her career to learning about how they move, communicate, think, learn, and more.
Prefer watching videos to learn about Tanzi Leary? Visit the YouTube link above or below.
She's a Cornell grad and, since 2012, has worked with 1000+ people and dogs of all breeds, sizes, ages, energy levels, and abilities. Her family dogs have ranged from Jack Russells to Irish Wolfhounds and everything in between. She's had dogs from rescue, shelters, and from breeders.
She is married, has two adult children, and has 1 dog and 1 cat. She has had up to 3 dogs in her family at one point as a mom with young kids, so she knows what it's like to get many family members to cooperate with very little free time for training practice. She works with many empty nesters and retired clients who have had many dogs, but their current dog has issues they've never handled before.
After your consultation, she'll create a custom behavior plan to consider your household's goals and your dog's mind, body, breed propensities, and unique perspective to optimize routines and the environment. Then, she'll use associations and reinforcers like food, play, touch, safety, agency, and praise - never pain - to teach you and your dog and improve communication. You'll fall in love with your dog all over again! She will help you understand how your dog is feeling and what predictions they make about the world, which might help us understand why your dog does what they're doing instead of what you want them to do. Then, she will teach you how to get your dog to relax and focus so they can cooperate with you more easily.
Training Methods
Her techniques are based on setting dogs (and people) up for success and training using the least inhibitive, functionally effective (LIFE) training model. She is more interested in helping you and your dog live together harmoniously than training skills that don't have a useful function.
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She does not use shock, choke, or prong collars or hit, pull, kick, spray, or throw items at dogs. Not only is that unnecessary, but it can also create side effects of anxious and aggressive behavior. (Don't worry; she will help you stop using these methods if you are taught to use them by someone else.)
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She believes in giving dogs as many choices as possible and helping to create an environment that leads them to make choices humans prefer.
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She believes that although breed and breed mix can certainly influence a dog's behavior, each dog is a unique individual with its own genetic, ontogenetic, and epigenetic makeup plus learning history, and thorough information must be gathered for success.
Credentials & Continuing Education
Did you know dog training is a completely unregulated industry? You want someone who puts the time and effort into pursuing continuing education and getting multiple credentials from professional associations with members worldwide.
Tanzi holds (or has held, in some cases if she opted not to pay fees to renew) multiple dog training and behavior certifications and credentials earned over a decade, and she has trained thousands of dogs in shelters, group classes, and privately.
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"Certified Dog Behavior Consultant" (CDBC) through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, with a 95% score on this rigorous exam,
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"Pat Miller Certified Trainer" (PMCT1) by famous trainer Pat Miller via examination and demonstration of training methods in three intense academies where Tanzi was the high-scoring student in her classes each time
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"Certified Separation Anxiety Pro - Behavior Consultant" (CSAP-BC), meaning she has taken a lengthy course, including certification with Julie Naismith, certified dog behavior consultant and author of Be Right Back!, to learn how to work with dogs that experience separation anxiety. She has also taken courses on this topic from Dr. Moira Hechenleitner.
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"Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed Level 1" (CPDT-KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers,
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She has allowed this certification to lapse to avoid continuing to pay annual fees.
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"Fear Free Certified Professional" (FFCP) certification from the Fear Free Pets organization to assist clients and veterinarians with handling techniques to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in dogs during visits.
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She has allowed this certification to lapse to avoid continuing to pay annual fees.
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She takes continuing education classes year-round to stay current regarding the most recent dog training and behavior developments. She has completed Dr. Susan Friedman's intensive Living and Learning with Animals (LLA) course and countless courses from AVSAB, Behavior Vets NYC, and the Pet Professional Guild.
Accolades
In 2022, she won the #1 spot in Sniffspot's Top Trainer contest for Baltimore and Maryland and ranked #3 in the US. In 2023, she won the #1 spot for Baltimore & Maryland again. You can see several other awards and reviews on the Rave Reviews page, too.
