Great Lakes K9 Solutions
Obedience & Training Services
GLK9Solutions@gmail.com

Carolyn Smith is a certified Master Dog Trainer who graduated from both the Professional and Master Dog Trainer programs at the Tom Rose School in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also a licensed Veterinary Technician with over 15 years of experience in the fields of small and large animal medicine. Most recently, in 2024, Carolyn completed the NePoPo® Silver and Gold schools.

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Carolyn’s passion for dog training began with her first mix breed dog she adopted when she was 14 years old. She trained him to be an animal assisted therapy dog, and the two of them enjoyed many years of visiting nursing homes and the local mental health hospital to spend time with patients. In the years since then, she has been involved with fostering dogs that with a little training were able to find great forever homes. She decided to turn her passion for dog training into a career in January, 2014, when she attended the Tom Rose School. While in the Professional Trainer program, Carolyn accomplished something very few students in the history of the school have been able to do. She achieved an excellent rating, also known as a “V”-rating, in the program. This means she passed all of her graduation requirements with an overall average of 96% or better. Those requirements included multiple written tests, pet obedience requirements, and working dog/competition training requirements. This is an extremely difficult rating to achieve in general, and Carolyn did it in 21 weeks. She also excelled in the Master Trainer program where she furthered her knowledge of tracking, specific odor detection, advanced obedience, cadaver detection, and search and rescue.

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To date, Carolyn has trained well over 3,000 dogs, the majority of which have had serious behavior issues. She has a soft spot for working with insecure, fearful dogs who gain a new lease on life through an intensive training and behavior modification program. Carolyn enjoys helping clients learn how to clearly and effectively communicate with their dogs, increase their knowledge of dog behavior, and help them find the same joy she feels with a well trained dog in her life. ​

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In 2018, Carolyn was approached by a film producer to supply an upcoming Indie film with a dog. Her Malinois "Ice" landed several scenes in an award winning horror film titled "The Wretched." The two of them had a blast on the set, and are very appreciative for the experience!

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In 2019, Carolyn was nominated for, and won, the Simply The Best -Trainer Award through the Record Eagle in Traverse City, Michigan. She appreciates the support of the community which has allowed her business to grow more rapidly than she could've imagined! At the end of August, 2020, Carolyn closed down her business in Maple City, MI, in order to relocate to Lexington, KY. In 2024, Carolyn relocated back to Michigan is reopening a training facility in Maple City.

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When Carolyn isn't working with her pet training clients, she is running the human education classes for the veterans and first responders she works with through the non-profit Forgotten Coast K9. This organization trains veterans to train their own service dogs, as well as training service dogs for them.  In March of 2024, Carolyn took over all of the online human training, puppy selection and placement. As a veteran herself, she's very passionate about being able to give her time and use her skills to help these men and women regain elements of their lives that have been lost.

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Currently, Carolyn shares her life with 2 Belgian Malinois (Ice & Riot), 2 British Labrador Retrievers (Dexter & Mac), 2 Great Danes (Dewey & Titan), and the smallest addition of a long haired Chihuahua (Fig).