Puppy Training

Amy Hammonds

As the daughter of a veterinarian Amy has worked with dogs since the age of 13. This background instilled in her the importance of education and customer service. With over 20 years of dog training experience Amy prides herself in using only positive reinforcement to train dogs as well as their owners.

Always staying current with the latest in trends and developments in the industry, Amy is a member of the Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE) and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). Amy regularly attends seminars to expand her knowledge and remain relevant.

Amy works with all kinds of dogs from puppies to reactive or shy dogs. Her philosophy begins by understanding how to best communicate with each dog, then she works with their owner to help them build a bond based on consistency and support.

Amy will be teaching classes and offering private training as well as board & train services in her position as Directorof Training at K9 University Chicago. She will work with all trainers to develop a broad range oftraining services that assist any dog and their owners as they work to improve communicationand strengthen their relationship.

Grace Huffman

Grace has been around dogs throughout her life. In many ways her life is centered around dogs. From training dogs, to relying on Medical Alert Service Dogs for daily tasks, to competing in National Agility competitions, dogs have been teammates, companions and life partners.

Grace’s home pack currently consists of four dogs each with their own special skills and gifts. She trains and competes in agility with her two Miniature Schnauzers Gus and Bernie, who qualified for nationals in his first year of competing! As well as her Standard Poodle, Rafiki, and her Sheltie, Bella, who is a NADAC Champion. Rafiki is also a working Medical Alert Dog and training for Water Fowl retrieval in her spare time.

At K9U Chicago Grace will teach all levels of Agility Training from puppies to competition and will be teaching group obedience training classes. Grace uses only positive training methods and believes in having fun while learning new skills that enhance the bond between dogs and their owners.

When not at K9U Chicago Grace volunteers with shelters and rescue groups in Naperville to help the disabled connect and train service dogs. She also founded Beard & Golden a hand-made custom clothing company providing dog gear and accessories.

Victoria (Tori) Comerford

A Chicagoland native with a degree in Zoology from SIU, Carbondale, Tori comes to K9U Chicago with a diverse background caring for and understanding animals. This has provided her with the experience to not only train dogs but teach owners how to positively strengthen the bond they have with their dog.

Tori believes in the power of communication as a valuable skill that helps dogs become secure and well socialized. This starts with understanding dog body language and the subtle cues they send to express their feelings of fear, confusion, frustration and joy. Her work as a trainer starts with sharing this knowledge through fun games and exercises that allow dogs the chance to fundamentally be dogs while nurturing and rewarding new behaviors.

Tori has experience working with all types of dog breeds and families who have needs that range from welcoming new puppies to older dogs with specific challenges including reactivity and other behaviors that require training to desensitize the dogs to certain objects, noises or other dogs.

Tori will be teaching all levels of obedience training as well as working with daycare day train clients, our board & train camps and providing private training sessions.

Dawn Louis

A St. Louis native, Dawn comes to Chicago after graduating with honors from Lindenwood University. After receiving her degree in Biology, Dawn was a primate keeper for the St. Louis Zoo where she worked with apes, monkeys and lemurs. Training dogs was a natural extension of her education and personal interests, having been around dogs all her life. Her experience also includes working with veterinarians to rehabilitate wildlife.

Dawn is training dogs in our Day Camp and Puppy Obedience classes. She also loves spending time with new parents in the Puppy Play sessions on Saturday morning and is happy to share socialization tips with everyone who attends.

In her free time Dawn has enjoyed being involved with many different dog rescue communities and looks forward to making new friends and finding specials was to help Chicago area dogs in need find their forever homes.