About The Empowered Dog & Angela Monteith
This is the fun story about how The Empowered Dog came to be in existence and how I got my start as a dog trainer. I'm not very good at telling short stories, but I'll do my best.
When my husband and I decided to become a family, he had two dogs. And, don't shoot me, but back then (2004), I wasn't really a dog person. I liked dogs, don't get me wrong. But I didn't love them. They were an inconvenience that ended our evenings out earlier than I wanted. Growing up, I never had a dog that was mine. They were my mom's, or my dad's, and now my husband's. When one of his two dogs was reaching the end of his life, my husband started talking about the "next dog". I didn't think there needed to be a next dog, but my husband and son had me outvoted. I wasn't about to win this argument. It didn't get past me that I would end up being responsible for the "next dog" so I started plotting how to get a dog I actually wanted. A cool dog. A smart dog. My husband's dogs, while sweet, weren't very clever.
At the time, I was a drive-thru teller for a local credit union. Every Friday, this gentleman came through with his paycheck and his beautiful gray dog named Jacie. I quickly realized Jacie was not like the other dogs. She was clever. She was also stunningly beautiful. After a few weeks, I asked her owner what her breed is. Weimaraner. From then on I knew that was what I wanted. After many tireless hours of research to make sure we didn't make a huge mistake, I convinced my husband that he wanted a Weimaraner too. I picked out a dog trainer. Having a large breed made me nervous, and I wanted to get it right from the start. Then we found our puppy.
This is Kona. She was born in January 2008. And she stole my heart faster than I could ever have imagined. Once I realized how much I was able to teach her, and saw how excited she was to see me and to make me happy, then it all clicked.
"Oh... THIS is why people love dogs, so much."
The bond was like nothing I had ever experienced. Needless to say, I never looked back.
Kona is my heart dog. She's been very challenging and forced me to learn and grow more than I thought possible.
The next year I began working for the dog trainer that I hired. She mentored me and guided me, but I mostly stuck to office work. I fostered a dog that one of the clients wanted to return to the shelter. We quickly discovered she was an amazing dog with a terrible family. She needed a little rehabilitation, socialization, and structure. After we found a home for her and then we brought home our own little puppy from Animal Care and Control.
Kava presented a whole new range of behaviors for me to learn about. Eventually he came to be a certified Canine Good Citizen, therapy dog, and my full-time work partner. He sadly only lived to be 8 years old, but they were an incredible 8 years. He was a one-of-a-kind sort of dog, master at socialization, and loved everyone he met. He was a pro at helping me rehabilitate dogs, including all of our foster dogs that came along in the years following his arrival.
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Shortly after we acquired our third dog, Kodi, my boss started grooming me for training. I resisted at first, but she convinced me that after 3 challenging dogs, and a moderately difficult foster, I had a knack for this training thing and I needed to use my gift. My journey as an official dog trainer started in October of 2010.
Due to medical and personal reasons, I had to part ways with my mentor in 2015 to take time to recover. After much deliberation and at the request of several people, I decided to start my own business and thus The Empowered Dog was born.
In August and September of 2014, I completed my level one SATS trainer certification with a focus on Perception Modification. Through this training, I was finally able to cure Kona's thunderstorm and fireworks phobia. Perception Modification is my specialty and is defined as "a process used to empower dogs to cope with stress and manage their emotions". I saw that empowerment through Kona's eyes, and that is how I chose my business name.
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I love all of my dogs, but Kona is the catalyst that set my life on a new path... a path of helping dogs and owners live in harmony together. She has driven me to learn more and be the absolute best I can possibly be for every dog and human that crosses our paths. And that is why she is the dog featured on my logo.
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My current crew is made up of Kodi the Vizsla on the left. Kona the Weimaraner in the middle back. Sterling the Weimarner on the right. And Quinnleigh the Staghound in front.
