Nikki’s passion for dogs began when she was 11 years after watching the Disney movie “Big Red”. After watching that movie, she decided that what she wanted to do when she grew up was “raise and train Irish Setters”. Ok. a limited profession but what you want from an 11 year old!

After moving to Los Angeles in 1986 she got a job working in a training/boarding kennel and that was it. Finally her life career could begin. This kennel gave her the opportunity to not only learn all about taking care of dogs but also how to train dogs based on each breed and individual’s unique personality and needs.

Very quickly she was given the job of an in-home trainer where for 18 years; she traveled all over the country and the Los Angeles area working with people and their pets.

In 1990 she met her mentor in the dog show world, Jay Collins. Jay had a 9 month old German Wirehaired Pointer bitch whose name was Autumn that he wanted shown. Well it wasn’t exactly an Irish Setter but hey, got to start somewhere, right?? Autumn was the perfect dog to learn the ropes with, she was very correct for the breed, a sweetheart to work with and with her help and the help of lots of wonderful dog show people along the way quickly became CH. Jay-Mar’s Autumn Reign CD SH. This began her love for the competition dog world and to date, Nikki has shown, bred, and finished 30 GWP’s, including national specialty winners. Her dogs have also been successful in the obedience world, agility world and in hunt tests, and field trials. Always wanting to expand her knowledge she has also shown many other breeds in conformation and teaches a handling class for owner/ handlers and their dogs. She also has cavaliers that are very busy in their own right being agility and therapy dogs.

Never forgetting her first love of working with dogs and people, Nikki has incorporated everything she has learned over the years to begin her own company TOTAL DOG TRAINING.

There is nothing that she can’t or won’t work with. From picking a puppy to grooming a difficult dog to teaching a competition dog that he is the best out there. Nikki’s passion for the dogs and her ability to adapt to any training situation makes her very popular with her clients (both human and dog). She is consistently learning about the latest training techniques and always willing to watch and learn from those that have more experience then her. Her philosophy is very simple: The day you feel you know it all in the dog world is the day you should stop training dogs.