The DogSmith Founder
Click here for The DogSmith Training Philosophy
The DogSmith is the unrivaled Dog Training, Dog Walking & Pet Care Licensing company in the United States. Established by Niki Tudge, a Certified Dog Trainer and Dog Behavior Consultant with extensive corporate experience in Executive Management, Leadership, People Training Skills and Customer Service.
Niki is also the Founder of The Pet Professional Guild, the only force-free pet professional association in the United States and DogNostics Career Center the educational arm of The DogSmith system. In 2015 Niki was also appointed as the President for Doggone Safe, a non profit organization advocating for dog bite safety.
Niki has combined her "people" teaching and dog training skills with her commitment to animal rescue and substantial business knowledge to create a proprietary system of education known as ARRF® supported by an operational implementation process called MTR®.
Niki is equipped with a unique combination of business experience, dog training and dog behavior expertise, a background in exceptional customer service, certification as a trainer of trainers and many years consulting to animal rescue groups. She has combined these essential skills and experience to create an unrivaled business opportunity that is designed to provide pet owners with the absolutely most effective method to train and care for their pets while giving back to the community in real and measurable ways while providing a dream life for DogSmith business owners.
Professional & Educational Credentials:
- MBA - Oxford Brookes University 2004
- Author People Training Skills
- Author Get Coaching Now
- Author Big Training in a Small Business
- Author A Kids' Comprehensive Guide to Speaking Dog!
- Author A Lexicon of Practical Terms for Pet Trainers and Behavior Consultants
- AuthorPet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the Bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People
- Pet Professional Accreditation Board. Professional Canine Behavior Consultant - Accredited. PCBC-A
- Association Animal Behavior Professionals CDT, Certified Dog Trainer
- Association Animal Behavior Professionals CDBC, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant
- Dip, ABT.
- Dip, CBST.
- Certified People Trainer HCITB, TS1, TS2 & TS3
- Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Manager
- Certified Project Facilitator The Acuity Institute
- Pet Care Services Association CPCT CAPCT
- Living and Learning with Animals for Professionals, ABA certificate course, Behavior Works
Published Articles on Dog Training, Dog Behavior Consulting & Business Coaching:
- Barks From The Guild - Industry Trade Magazine for the Pet Professional Guild
- Monthly Pet column Walton Sun Freedom Link Newspaper
- Coastal Style Magazine, regular contributor, Pet Column
- Walton Sun, Pet Column Dog Talk
- Coastal Pets Contributor
- CARE Community Animal Rescue Publication
- Pet Butler Newsletter Monthly
- Bay Families with Dogs Website
- Alaqua Animal Refuge publication
- Expert Author Ezine
- New Barker Magazine
- Southern Child Magazine
Niki Tudge & Gizmo the Terrier
Current Positions:
- Founder & President DogSmith Services Inc
- Founder & President The Pet Professional Guild
- Founder & President DogNostics Career Center
- President Doggone Safe
- President Pet Professional Accreditation Board
The DogSmith Has Been Featured in the Following Publications:
- Walton Sun newspaper, Sept 2007
- Panama City News Herald Newspaper June 2007
- New York Times Newspaper September 2006
- The Niceville Advertiser June 2007
- West Hawaii Today October 2002
- Coastal Style Magazine 2007
- 850 Business Magazine 2008
Training and Development, Business Leadership & Coaching Experience:
- Florida, 2005 to 2007 - Regional Training Director for a collection of Luxury Hotels & Resorts.
- Hawaii, 2000 to 2002 - and Director of Six-Sigma. Multi-million dollar project management for a leading fortune 500 company
- Hawaii, 2003 to 2005 - Director of Operations for a Five Diamond Resort
- The Caribbean, 1990 Regional Training Consultant at Sandy Lane Hotel Barbados, Pegasus Jamaica, Forte Hotel Guyana, and Forte Grand Hotel Egypt.
- Southern Africa,1999 Business Consultant and Project Manager, Travel Industry and Game Reserves, Gauteng, South Africa and Nigeria.
- The Middle East 1994 Business & Management Training Consultant in Cairo, Jordan, Cyprus & Abu Dhabi.
The DogSmith Company Information
The DogSmith was founded specifically to answer these questions for you, once and for all.
1. Can I train my own dog to be a great pet dog?
2. Do I have to use harsh and punishing methods?
3. Can my children have the same control over our pet dog as my 180 pound husband?
4. Will I enjoy training and will it enhance the relationship we have with our pet dog?
5. Will I have to carry food and treats around for the life of the dog to persuade them to work for me?
6. Can i fit a dog training schedule into my very busy life?
Today, The DogSmith stands alone as the only national licensing company that offers both Force Free, learning-theory based dog training services coupled with professional pet-sitting and dog-walking services. Whether you're a dog owner looking to solve a specific behavioral problem, a dog lover simply wanting to gain more control and clarity in your relationship with your dog, or a family burdened by the question of how to take care of your pets while you're away from home, The DogSmith is the only call you'll ever need to make.With Niki's extensive credentials leading the way, we established a dog training and pet care company that would completely redefine what you can expect from your relationship with your pet dog.
“Absolutely, without exception, I oppose, will not recommend, and generally spend large amounts of time telling people why I oppose the use of shock collars, prong collars,
choke collars, and any other type of device that is rooted in an adversarial, confrontational interaction with the dog.”
~Karen Overall, MA, VMD, PhD, Dipl. ACVB, CAAB