Carla Pacalo, Ph.D.

Must love…well, you know the rest…DOGS of course! Carla grew up with German Shepherd’s and the desire to know all the neighborhood dogs and even bring home a stray or two on occasion. Her journey into training began when she adopted a collie hound mix (aka mutt).  While sweet and loving, her new pup quickly showed signs of resource guarding and other problem behaviors. Perplexed, she spoke with her vet who referred her to Teresa and A Dog’s World.  She worked with Teresa on all levels…private lessons, board and train and reinforcement skills on midday walks to gain an understanding of how to deal with her dog’s issues.  Before long, her dog was improving and she was reading piles of dog training books and going to training seminars up and down the east coast.  She started assisting Teresa with her classes while taking a second residence in Ohio and working with Jim Akenhead at Signature K-9. She also spent an entire summer as a full-time volunteer at Angel’s for Animals shelter in Canfield, Ohio.  Her learning also included seminars from some of the word leaders in dog training: Ian Dunbar, Sue Sternberg, Pat Miller, Terry Ryan and a semester long university course.  With the most amusing being “Cinco de Mayo Chicken Camp in Ohio” where she learned the skills of classical and operant conditioning by working with a partner to train a chicken. Did you know you could teach a chicken to decipher color and weave in and out of obstacles. In 2013, Carla began working on her Ph.D. thesis and by then she was so invested in the dog world, she wanted to incorporate the topic into her Dissertation.  She graduated from Virginia Tech in May of 2014 with a Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Human Resource Development with her research involving learning style and small business entrepreneurship. The small business… a dog training organization.  While her first profession started in HR, talent development, coaching and learning in the Fortune 500 world, Carla hopes her new career will include more of the same in both the university and dog world.

Kelly Stevens Benedicto

Has been training dogs professionally with A Dog's World for the past several years.  Dogs and dog behavior have been a passion in her life ever since childhood.  She has worked with difficult dog behavior cases both personally and professionally, including dogs with medical issues and rescue cases.  She also supports local rescue organizations and has always adopted rescue dogs, wanting to ensure every dog has the very best home. Kelly is working on becoming a certified member of the Council for Professional Dog Trainers, and is also in the process of attaining her Masters Degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution; even bringing her conflict re-framing and resolution models to the training field with the focus of inter-species analysis. Because of this she dedicated to making sure that every dog owner has the absolute best relationship with their pet; no matter the breed, age or history." Kelly conducts our behavior consultations, conducts private lessons, teaches group classes and also helps in planning our dog friendly events.