Mission

Logo for Pawsitive Pet Coaching featuring a woman and a dog with a green paw print background, established in 2026, with the tagline 'Teach. Connect. Thrive.'
Logo for Pawsitive Pet Coaching featuring a woman and a dog with a green paw print background, established in 2026, with the tagline 'Teach. Connect. Thrive.'

Positive Pet Coaching helps families build lifelong relationships with their dogs through science-based, positive reinforcement training that is affordable, practical, and enjoyable for every member of the household.

Unlike traditional dog trainers who focus on teaching dogs, Positive Pet Coaching empowers owners with the skills and confidence to become successful trainers themselves.

Meet Your Trainer

A woman with curly black hair in braids, wearing glasses with tortoiseshell frames, smiling, dressed in a sleeveless black top, with a tattoo on her right arm, and a necklace with small red and gold elements.
A woman with curly black hair in braids, wearing glasses with tortoiseshell frames, smiling, dressed in a sleeveless black top, with a tattoo on her right arm, and a necklace with small red and gold elements.

Hi! I’m Collette.

I’ve been training dogs for almost ten years, though I never imagined it would become a business of my own.

My journey started in 2017, when I volunteered to help train therapy dogs while earning my biology degree. Truthfully, I was mostly looking for an excuse to get some extra puppy time between classes. Then I met Dolly.

Dolly was a therapy dog who didn’t particularly want anyone to pet her, which, as you can imagine, made her chosen career a little complicated. She was incredibly sweet, but painfully shy, and I had no idea how to help her feel safe.

That changed when I was introduced to a retired dog trainer at my university. Within minutes, he showed me how differently Dolly responded when we stopped focusing on what we wanted her to do and started paying attention to what she was trying to tell us. I was fascinated.

He eventually connected me with a private dog training facility, where I had the opportunity to learn under experienced trainers and eventually teach classes of my own. That experience led me to become a lead PetSmart dog trainer, a role I held for three years and an atmosphere I still miss every day.

Since then, I’ve continued training privately for friends, family, and their referrals, often for little or no charge simply because this is work I genuinely love. Over the years, I’ve worked with everything from rare breeds to lovely shelter mutts, and I’ve volunteered my time training shelter dogs to help prepare them for successful transitions into their forever homes.

Through all of those experiences, I’ve learned one thing: the best dog training doesn’t just train the dog. It teaches the people who love them.

That belief is at the heart of Pawsitive Pet Coaching.

I use positive reinforcement, classical conditioning, and practical, everyday training to help pet parents understand their dogs and build skills that actually work in their homes.

I believe training can happen while making dinner, taking a walk, or playing in the backyard. Most importantly, I believe you shouldn’t need a dog trainer forever. My job is to give you the confidence and tools to continue long after our sessions end.

A young boy holding a black and white puppy is standing next to a smiling woman in a blue PetSmart uniform, who is holding a certificate of achievement for puppy training. In the background, several people are gathered, some with dogs, inside a PetSmart store.
Two white puppies with black markings inside a kennel behind a chain-link fence. One puppy is sitting on the floor, looking at the camera, while the other is sitting near a raised bed, looking through the fence.
A woman with glasses and braided hair smiling while holding a black and white dog wearing a Christmas-themed sweater. They are in a festive setting with a decorated Christmas tree, snowflakes on the window, and wrapped gifts in the background.