About Our Trainers

Susie Aga

Owner/Trainer

Susie Aga CPDT is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Aga 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 is also the host of a talk show called “The Animal Hour". It is on every Tuesday at 2pm on AM 1620. You can listen to the show on-line at www.radiosandysprings.comor tune in here for a live broadcast via Media Player: The Animal Hour. You can also call in for our sessions on Q & A or just to add your thoughts on the topics at hand. The number is 404 -943-1620. Feel free to email her at susie@atlantadogtrainer.com.

Susie is also 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 is also a regular expert guest on Dog Cast Radio based out of London England and listened to world wide. Listento an interview on "aggression" .

Being a Behavioral Specialist Susie was chosen on several  occasions to be a guest speaker at Georgia State University.  She is a reoccurring 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 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. Aga was asked to join HOPE an Animal Assisited Crisis Response organization. She is a team leader and evaluator for the organization and manages handlers and their dogs on disaster call outs. Her dog Hezikia is a certified therapy dog and frequents 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. 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 seven 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

Angie

Lead Trainer

Angie is an Aggression Management Specialist who has been working with dogs for over a decade. She apprenticed with Atlanta Dog Trainer and graduated to being a Canine Behavior and Training Specialist. She has worked tirelessly to achieve an understanding of aggressive dog behavior and educate owners on how to manage their behavior. Angie is completing her Bachelors of Science in Biology and educates herself on new training methods and techniques by going to various seminars and reading as many books on animal behavior as possible. She has studied pack mentality and operant conditioning extensively and is very knowledgeable on all types of behaviors and there solutions.

Angie is our lead trainer and works with impaired animals such as deaf, blind and dogs with loss of limbs. Her experience includes working with the impaired dogs and their owners to teach their owners how to get the maximum potential out of the dog. Angie's teaching also ensures the dog will have a lifelong relationship of happiness with their family.

Ms. Tennyson is also our lead trainer that works with "Hands for Hire" a company that trains high functioning impaired individuals to gain skills to live a happier live and become a part of the community. She is the head of the new animal training division and it is quickly becoming the most popular program they offer.

Angie is also the co-host of our radio show The Animal Hour where she interview a number of guest on animal behavior and solutions for easy and hard to define issues

Angie's life has certainly gone to the dogs; she lives with three dogs and spends her time doing dog related activities. She spends her personal time on moderating a breed specific web site. She is constantly fostering hard to handle dogs in order to make them more adoptable. She fosters for different organizations and takes in the worse cases and rehabilitees them then finds forever homes for her proteges.

Angie is a strong animal advocate and she has done a great deal to educate the public on how to handle abused and rescued dogs. She lectures at school, neighborhood meetings, women's clubs, animal shelter and pet stores to educate children/adults about how to handle a dog's behavior issues and give realistic solutions. She also lectures on the importance of socialization and understanding pack mentality and she works constantly to educate adults as well as children on animal behaviors.

Sonja Theils

Manger of Atlanta Dog Trainer Pet Resort

Sonja has been with Atlanta Dog Trainer for some time and we are proud to have her manage our new project and look for many wonderful years ahead for this growing partnership.

Sonja is the board and train department director and head trainer for all the dogs that come into our pet resort board and train program. Sonja skills for dog training are excellent. She is constantly striving to continue her education through, seminars, workshop and volunteering for any project she can learn or be assistance to.

Sonja has an inborn love for all animals especially dogs, horses, and cats. She has been studying dog behavior and behavior modification for 15 years. She is a graduate of Animal Behavior College and is a certified behavior modification and obedience training specialist. Sonja apprenticed with ADT and is now an obedience trainer and an aggression management rehabilitator. She also holds a master level title in agility with her dog Neige.

Sonja teaches our agility classes as well as the obedience courses. Her agility classes are such a part of her client's lives now we have had one advance class run continuously for 2 years due to her warm and nurturing style. She is very involved and the all her level classes are constantly meeting at agility trials as a group of friends and competitors. Sonja will help anyone whether they join a class for fun or are looking for a sport to continue with their dog. He amazing teaching skills will captivate even the most novices of owners and their dogs to want more...

She has broad knowledge working with a diversity of dogs in a variety of situations. She has been a foster mom for Miniature Pinchers for many years. Sonja also donates her time to help abused and neglected dogs. She volunteers her training services to help shelter dogs so they can be placed in a good home.

Sonja lives with her 5 dogs Neige, Alaia, Nyles, Gizmo and Mora.

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 beatof his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
(unknown)

Trish Carpenter

Trish Carpenter Head of our dog boarding at our Freemanville Road location and lead dog daycare associate.

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 family have fostered over 80 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 manages the Boarding facility here at Atlanta Dog Trainer, as well as the Doggie Daycare program. She is the Aggression Management Co-trainer along with Ms. Aga, & assists her with hard to define, severe aggression cases & other dangerous behaviors that require the skills to be able to manage aggressive dogs. Trish is the co-host of The Animal Hour radio show, & she participates with Ms. Aga in her lectures on Behavioral Psychology at Georgia State University. In addition she is responsible for group training classes, private lessons & in-home instruction. 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

Rick Carpenter

Head Trainer of our Board and Train at our Alpharetta location. Rick has been a devoted animal rescuer and foster parent to over 80 dogs over the past ten years. Involved with Labrador rescue as well as Pit Bull rescue, Rick has made it his motto that "Although we may not make a big difference to the overall problem, we make a huge difference to the ones we rescue."

After years in the homebuilding business, Rick answered the call to toss aside traditional corporate America and follow his passion. He now is the Head Trainer of our Board and Train program as he and his wife Trish maintain residence at our Milton facility. There Rick takes dogs into a program of socialization, obedience and overall reinforcement of good behavior before returning them to their owners who find a new and vastly improved and happier dog.

Rick also co-hosts "The Animal Hour" Radio Show on America's Web Radio. Here, Rick discusses numerous animal topics with guests throughout the world of rescue and wildlife preservation as well behavioral issues in dog training.

Rick also assists with the boarding of dogs at our Milton location as well maintaining an ongoing relationship with all of our "day care dogs" that have become so familiar with him. He also gives evaluations of behavioral issues & hard to manage dogs, and teaches group classes in basic obedience. Rick also maintains an ongoing devotion to furthering his education and training by attending numerous workshops and seminars. He has been a guest lecturer at a Behavioral Psychology class at Georgia State as well as being our instructor for our "nose work" classes. This is a new and innovative tool to teach both confidence and socialization to dogs by utilizing their in-born sense of smell to explore different and progressively more challenging environments.

I have always heard to do what you love and love what you do. Until this opportunity I felt that was only for the more fortunate. However as demanding as the daily rigors are for this job at no time have I ever seen myself back in a more traditional situation. As a rescue person first I know all too well the emotional ties that are created with an animal that is in need of help and love and it gives me enormous gratitude to return a dog to its owner knowing that I have provided the dog with the tools to be a great canine citizen. Likewise, we can never solve the problems facing our canine companions but instead, we celebrate the victories.

Amanda Self

Amanda Self has worked with animals all her life & becoming a professional dog trainer was a natural fit for her. She apprenticed under Susie Aga for a year and graduated to a training and behavioral specialist . Amanda works with fearful and aggressive dogs & has had much success in managing those behaviors. She works with fearful dogs in order to socialize them and teach them coping skills to deal with their fears. She teaches group classes, gives private instruction and trains dogs in the board & train program, where they learn basic obedience and manners. She has worked with the Atlanta Humane society in order to evaluate dogs' temperament in order to determine if they are good candidates for adoption. She attended Karen Pryor’s Clicker Expo , Nicole Wildes Helping Fearful Dogs seminar & plans to continue to expand her knowledge of canine behavior. Amanda is also a frequent co-host on the Animal Hour radio show.

Amanda enjoys walking dogs in the parks and neighborhood village socializing and teaching dogs to meet and greet properly. She builds great foundations for housebreaking , crate training and pee pad training. She works with hard to manage dogs on chewing, jumping , leash aggression and separation anxiety. She can also be found a few times per week at one of her favorite dog friendly restaurants in town with at least two dogs in training. She has five dogs of her own ,two Yorkers, a Pomeranian, a long haired Chihuahua, and a lab/golden mix. Amanda says training dogs to behave at home, be an enjoyable part of society and training their humans makes for a happier environment.