Kayla Hall – Puppy Class Instructor, Dog Trainer
Dog Gone Problems Puppy Class Instructor and Dog Trainer Kayla Hall’s first dog was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Tucker. The pup arrived under the Christmas tree when Kayla was 5 years old and the pair quickly became inseparable. “He was easily one of the best dogs EVER,” Kayla remembers. “In fact he is one of the reasons I made up my mind as a child that I wanted to work with dogs when I grew up.”
Prior to working at Dog Gone Problems, Kayla worked as an Adoption Coordinator at the Nebraska Humane Society. This position was a real eye-opener for her in regards to training and common issues people may have with their dogs. After seeing so many dogs surrendered to NHS and shelters every year due to correctable behavior problems, Kayla has become extremely passionate about preventing that from happening to any dogs or puppies on her watch!
That desire led Kayla to apply for a position as a Puppy Class Instructor at DGP in late 2019. After several months of training, Kayla started leading her own puppy classes at our 132nd and Giles location.
Shortly after completing her puppy class trainer training, Kayla decided to add her own dog to the picture, rescuing a precocious Golden Retriever puppy she named Archie.
Kayla posing with her new bestest buddy, Archie
Kayla found it invigorating to apply all the newly acquired puppy class trainer knowledge to her own 4 legged friend. “There’s definitely no better way to apply and practice the skills I’ve learned over time than by training my own puppy,” Kayla exclaimed. “Even with all of my previous experience with dogs, finally having a young dog to train myself has shaken my world up a bit, and helped me in a multitude of ways.”
Kayla even found having her own puppy helped her relate to her puppy class parents and in home clients. “It’s also a great ice-breaker with a client when I’m able to say my puppy can be a challenge sometimes too!”
After a few months of additional training combined with shadowing DGP founder David at his in-home Dog Behavior sessions, Kayla started conducting in-home dog training. Kayla now spends her days conducting in-home dog training sessions and continues to teach puppy classes in the evening.
Kayla walks a few clients through a settle exercise with their new puppy
In the summer of 2020, Kayla completed her Loose Leash training and now holds a class on weekends training dogs to stop pulling or lunging on the leash. Quite the busy schedule for young Kayla.
Fortunately, Kayla’s puppy Archie shares her with a 3-legged cat named Felix, “and they live to torment and play with each other,” she said. “They keep me on my toes, for sure.”
When Kayla is not working, she can be found reading books or watching movies, with her favorites being anything by Studio Ghibli. The rest of her free time is split between chauffeuring Archie to play dates or spending Sundays cooking dinners she hasn’t tried before with her boyfriend.
Kayla left the Dog Gone family in November 2021. We wish Kayla, Archie and her entire family the best!
