Kim is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Sciences, and a certified Professional Dog Trainer from the Tom Rose School for Professional Dog Trainers in St. Louis, Missouri, completing both their Professionals and Masters courses. For over 10 years, Kim has worked in rescues, humane societies, high volume boarding/training/daycare facilities, and as a Bed Bug Detection Dog Trainer. She has also competed in both the sport of Schutzhund (IPO) and AKC obedience with her dogs.
Kim has always had a deep love for dogs and an enduring interest in their behavior and training. As a young girl she wanted nothing more than a dog of her own and began reading every book she could get her hands on to prove she could properly care for one. When she was 10, her family brought home a Sheltie, Jake, whom she worked with to teach him basic obedience and tricks. One dog not being enough, however, she spent the following years working the neighborhood dogs teaching them basic commands and learning about their behavior. As a child, she was seldom seen without a dog or a book about dogs.
She went to college with the dream of becoming a veterinarian. In taking classes on canine behavior and management and working at the local Humane Society, she realized her passion for dog training and behavior modification. After college she continued working with dogs in shelters and daycare facilities, spending her free time broadening her knowledge by reading books, picking the brains of other trainers, and working with dogs in rescues. She started her professional training career while working with a pest control company to train their dogs in bed bug detection. Afterwards she decided to pursue formal schooling in dog training at the Tom Rose School in 2015. While at school, Kim trained her dogs to fulfill many requirements that were graded to real world working and competition standards, including AKC obedience, agility, and IPO obedience/protection/tracking. She has also completed all of the scent detection requirements, including several narcotic, explosives, and weapon searches. Immediately following graduation, she was hired as a dog trainer at a large and well known boarding/training facility in St. Louis, where she spent a year honing her craft. After moving to Tampa and working with a small private training company, Kim met Lewis and started up TLC Dog Training together.