Your Atlanta Dog Trainer Instructors
Susie Aga
Owner/Trainer
Susie Aga CPDT is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. She is also a Certified Canine Behavior & Training Specialist receiving her certification from Triple Crown Academy, a world leader in pet education. She has 20 years experience with dogs and is recommended by over 45 Veterinarians in the Metro Atlanta area.
Susie was chosen by Turner Broadcasting to be their featured "Pet Expert". You can find her on their web site: Pet Expert Story.
From there, follow Susie Aga’ Pet Expert link and it will take you to puppy/doggie helpful hints page. Susie Aga hosted a talk show called “The Animal Hour" for four years. It was on every Tuesday at 2pm on AM 1620. You can listen to archived shows on-line at www.radiosandysprings.com .
Susie is the “Pet Expert” for Pet Doctor Online. She is interviewed by veterinarians regarding many behavioral issues and their solutions. The discussions are directed towards behavioral problems such as separation anxiety, cage aggression, and other hard to define issues facing many owners and their dogs. The shows are also archived for your convenience. Susie Aga has been a reoccurring pet expert for Nancy Grace on her new television show “Swift Justice“. She was also chosen to be the pet expert by the Weather Channel’s new show “Lightning Rod” where she discusses the effects of weather on dogs.
Susie is a regular expert guest on Dog Cast Radio based out of London England and listened to worldwide. Listen to an interview on “aggression”. Susie specializes in hard to define behavioral issues, fear induced behavior all all levels of aggression management.
Being a Behavioral Specialist, Susie was chosen on several occasions to be a guest speaker at Georgia State University. She is a recurring guest lecturer for the psychology department at the university. Her lectures on canine behavior and the similarities of conditioning behaviors in humans and animals are often included in the professors testing at the end their semesters. Susie has also been asked by several other schools such as The Howard School, in Decatur, to be the pet expert. She has been chosen to teach the professors at the school, behavior modification techniques she developed as well as training them in her obedience courses with their personal dogs. Susie was a columnist for Petlanta, Dog’s Life and Dog World magazines where she wrote a monthly article on training, pet tips, and other helpful hints for people and their pet. Her Articles on training and behavioral issue and their solutions are published on various web sites.
Susie is a AKC registered Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. She was asked to join HOPE an Animal Assisted Crisis Response organization. She was a team leader and evaluator for the organization and managed handlers and their dogs on disaster call outs for four years. Her dog Hezikia , recently retired, was a certified therapy dog and frequented hospitals, assisted living homes and anywhere else comfort from a dog might be needed.
Susie was the head trainer for the film “A Dog Named Fifi” featured at this years 2008 Film Festivals. Watch the web site for information on the doggie fashion show, where Susie will be the featured “Animal Wrangler” airing on the Turner Broadcasting Network [TBS] shown nationwide. Ms. Aga dog training skills have been seen on a multiple national commercials. To name a few companies that have employed her serivces as head dog wrangler in their promotion and commercials are Burger King, Purina and American Floorin .
She has completed her certification for CERTS and is an active member of The Community Emergency Response Team of Georgia. Aga is a certified FEMA [Federal emergency Management Agency] responder as well. Susie is a member in good standing with the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Her training includes, but is not limited to Basic through Advanced Obedience, Off Leash, Agility, Aggression Management and Behavior Modification. Susie’s specialized training includes Severe Behavioral and Aggression cases, Special Odor Detection, and Tracking Work.
She has six rescue dogs of her own and donates much of her time and services to Rescue Organizations. You can truly say her life has gone to the dogs and that is just the way SHE WANTS IT!
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judge by the way its animals are treated” – M. Gandhi
Trish Carpenter
Trish Carpenter, Behavioral and Obedience Trainer, Aggression Management Co-Trainer
Trish Carpenter has spent the past 10 years as a tireless animal advocate through several rescue organizations, primarily Labrador Friends of the South. She has worked with dozens of dogs in order to help them transition from a shelter environment into a stable family life. Her specialty has been socializing dogs into life as family members, and she & her husband have fostered over 90 dogs. Trish has also worked closely with local animal shelters in order to temperament-test dogs to assess which ones are good candidates for adoption. She is experienced in severe & hard to manage behavioral issues, such as separation anxiety, different types of aggression, fear- based behaviors, & behavioral problems that are the result of little or no socialization in the puppies’ crucial learning stages.
Trish works with owners and their dogs in private or in-home lessons, for either behavioral issues or basic obedience. She is the Aggression Management Co-trainer along with Ms. Aga, & works with hard to define, severe aggression cases & other dangerous behaviors that require the skills to be able to manage aggressive dogs. Trish also works with autistic individuals in order to assist them in learning how to care for their own companion dog, as well as coordinating the Hands for Hire program where adults with disabilities learn to train and care for dogs. She participates with Ms. Aga in her lectures on Behavioral Psychology at Georgia State University, and she is responsible for Atlanta Dog Trainer's puppy classes. Trish is also a Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. She will continue her efforts with rescue groups, including evaluations & assessments of shelter dogs, as well as follow-up training for those who are adopted.
“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.” – Unknown
Crystal Turner
Crystal Turner became a part of our team in July at our Freemanville Road location as a daycare associate and boarding manager. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, she started pet-sitting and dog walking at a young age. She worked at a Daycare/Boarding facility in East Atlanta before joining our team and she brought her experience dealing with rescue/foster dogs, daycare and boarding, and managing aggressive dogs. Crystal is constantly trying to learn as much as she can about canine behavior, aggression management and obedience training. She has rescued multiple dogs, and is the proud mama of Boo, a rescued Cockapoo, and Cubby, a rescued Border Collie. Crystal spends her spare time reading and working on obedience with her dogs.
Crystal is blessed to be able to spend her time doing what she loves and to be surrounded by dogs on a daily basis. She is extremely excited at any opportunity to learn more about dog behavior and psychology, and looks forward to continually adding her skills into the mix as well as learning new training methods at Atlanta Dog Trainer.
Ji Kim
Ji Kim is our Atlanta Dog Trainer Pet Resort Obedience and Behavioral Trainer. He works with our Board and Train clients, group and private lessons and in-home training sessions.
Ji has had an affection for dogs as long as he can remember. He has grown up with at least one dog as part of his family since he was a child. Ji understands how the bond between a person and dog leads to a lifelong relationship shared between both. Ji is the most recent trainer to join the Atlanta Dog Trainer team, having apprenticed with Susie Aga through the Atlanta Dog Trainer Academy.
Ji really enjoys working with different Rescue Organizations to rehabilitate dogs that need a little guidance to show their charming characteristics.and can often be found around town with his furry companion Nina walking in Piedmont Park, Leita Thompson Dog Park, Parkgrounds, Chattahoochee River Parks, or hiking and camping in North Georgia’s mountains. Ji believes that a dog that can go anywhere will go everywhere with it’s human companion
We have put a lot of time into Trooper and now we feel that we are able handle him better. With our hectic lives I know that we must carve out time each day to do Troopers training. When we rescued Trooper we did not know that he would have so many issues. We considered and almost went through with turning him over to Great Pyrenees Rescue. When we look back at what we started with in July to what we have now, I get very emotional. Trooper has made some amazing strides. Ji has shown us all the good traits that Trooper has and how to strengthen our bond with him. We enjoyed having Ji at our house and hope that we can recommend your services and Ji to anyone who ask.
Mary Ann B.
We recently adopted a rescue dog sent to Atlanta Dog Training for socialization. Ji was outstanding, and completely turned “Arlo” around. We sent our current dog to spend a week with Arlo for boarding, and what a wonderful, caring experience that was! Both highly recommended.
Bob A.
I took a medium sized, very active female dog to Ji Kim, a trainer at Atlanta Dog Trainer. She is 9 mos old, and never had been leash trained. Ji was very patient with her, and when I picked her up at the end of her stay she was walking happily and reliably on a leash. The entire staff was kind, considerate, and professional. A very positive experience in every way.
