Barbara Larkin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), having received accreditation in 2004. She received a Counseling Certificate for Canine Behavior Problems from San Francisco SPCA in 2006, and has been a Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) since 1996. Barbara has been teaching dog training in the Jackson, WY area since 1989, starting as an assistant with a local training club.

After attending an APDT Conference in 1996, Barbara embraced the force-free techniques promoted by APDT. From 1996 to the present, Barbara’s ongoing education brings the most recent developments in canine learning and behavior to her clients and their dogs. Barbara spends her leisure time taking her Labrador on fishing trips, golf outings, and hiking in the Tetons. The high point of the year for Lucy the Labrador is her annual expedition to South Dakota for the pheasant hunting season.

Always an animal kid, Krissi was disappointed thinking working with animals wasn’t in the cards if she didn’t want to be a vet - back then in the Stone Ages, that seemed like the only option. She moved to Jackson in 1994 with the sole intention of skiing as much as possible, but after volunteering with local shelters for several years, she helped to establish the Animal Adoption Center in 2004. While working here, Krissi first recognized the importance of a dog’s behavior as it related to adoptability, and set out to learn about canine behavior and humane training. Subsequently, she enlisted the help of Jackson Hole Positive Training and founded the Animal Adoption Center’s first Training and Behavior Program in 2006.

Two years later, she came on board as a trainer at JHPT and has helped countless owners better understand and communicate with their dogs in the last 15 years. She has penned the Jackson Hole News and Guide “Good Dog” column since 2013, spreading the word about canine behavior and learning to the community.

Meanwhile, her passion for rescue did not subside. After leaving the Animal Adoption Center, she began volunteering for Western Border Collie Rescue as a foster in 2008. She now helps coordinate operations for this regional all-volunteer foster-based non-profit. She assumed the role of Behavior and Training Manager at Second Chance Humane Society in Ridgway, Colorado for the winter of 2020-2021 to help develop their Behavior Program. The past few years, Krissi has been collaborating with Aska’s Animals and has helped with bulding the foundations of Aska’s Animals Canine Behavior Program.

Krissi is dedicated to improving the lives of dogs and the people who love them by promoting better understanding. She strives to continually learn more about how understanding behavioral influences and educating humans can create a better world for dogs. Basically, she is a complete dog dork!

Krissi lives on her small farm in Victor, Idaho with four Border Collies of her own, a rotating cast of foster dogs, and a gaggle of sheep.