Mel Heber began professionally training in 2007 while working with the Dubuque Regional Humane Society. There she was able to work with a variety of people as well as dogs and cats. She began to see patterns in the troubles new adopters might have after bringing home a new family member, many of which were fairly easily solved or prevented with the proper instruction. Mel has years of experience creating and leading obedience classes, as well as meeting with people one-on-one to help them solve behavior problems. Mel has helped dogs plagued by fearfulness, reactivity, and simple over-exuberence and impulse control problems. She has consulted on numerous litterbox issues and new-pet stress with cats, helping new adopters to make it easier for their pets to adjust to a new family member.
Mel is a member of the IACP (International Association of Canine Professionals) and has been certified as a CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed) (she let her membership with them expire due to philosophical differences). She is an ABC Mentor Trainer, an AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) evaluator, and an evaluator for K9to5 National Therapy Dog Registry. Her business, Paw In Hand LLC, is fully licensed and insured.
Mel lives in Dubuque, IA with her family, both two-legged and four-legged. Among her family is her husband and three boys. They currently have two dogs- Zelda, a Golden mutt and Carrot, a pitbull mix- as well as a shorthair tabby cat named Friendly.
Mel has a lot of experience with fostering both dogs and cats in her home through the Dubuque Humane Society, and has cared for over 35 adult dogs, puppies, mama cats with kittens, and litters of kittens to get them ready for adoption.
Mel enjoys training her dogs in area searches (like drug detection dogs) and trailing (sniffing out where another pet went by following the scent leftover in the air) as well as draftwork (pulling a wagon or cart) and obedience. She loves teaching her dogs tricks to keep them busy and to fulfill their love of learning. Both of her cats also know basic tricks such as sit, high-five, and come.
Beyond cats and dogs, Mel has also worked with training fish, amphibians, and reptiles. She always loves a challenge, and especially loves transforming a troublesome pet into a much-loved companion with a harmonious relationship with its family. To do this, she realizes it is just as important to teach the family as it is to train the pet. Mel places a lot of emphasis on patience and communication by body-language, as well as methods such as classical and operant conditioning to get the desired result.
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