About Me

My name is Mackenzie Brown. I am the owner and operator of Sit For Success Dog Training. I have always loved animals, but grew up in a pet free household which pushed me to learn about and love animals all the more! When I was 14 that I adopted my cat Nelson. He was found as a kitten on the side of the highway by some friends who unfortunately were not able to find his owners or keep him. He was already born deaf so outside was not the place for him. He was soon welcomed into our home.

When deciding on a career there were so many options for working with animals. I completed the Veterinary Assistance program at St Lawrence College to get me started where I graduated with honours. After graduating, I volunteered with the dog trainers at Oakville Humane Society where I ended up adopting a little Miniature Poodle named Harriet. She was a special rescue. Until she was 2 years old she lived in a small apartment with 15 other Miniature Poodles where she likely never got to experience going outside or meeting new people. This made a lot of things difficult for her because it meant anything new was very scary. She was shut down, afraid of absolutely everything and at 2 years old, didn’t understand how to use stairs. I had no idea how much she would end up teaching me about working with fearful animals.

Wanting to gain more education, I went to Pets Beautiful School of Styling to become a pet stylist. When I got into the grooming field I started to notice how rough some groomers could be with the animals to get them to stand still for the process. I didn’t want to be that kind of groomer. So I brought positive reinforcement and force free methods to grooming and opened up my own salon. It wasn’t long before I was teaching aggressive and anxious clients how to relax with me, stand still, and enjoy being groomed!

I wanted to do more. I knew how much I had enjoyed dog training from the humane society, with my own dog Harriet, as well as when working with my grooming clients. I found Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy and I travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to learn how to start working with humans and their pets with day to day training problems, where I graduated with distinction.

I began working with clients in their homes, helping them educate their dogs and learning new skills. I wanted to continue expanding my education so it wasn’t long before I took the exam and became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT- KA). I added on becoming a Certified Fear Free Animal Trainer as well. This course teaches trainers specific knowledge on how to reduce fear in pets at the vet clinic as well as in a grooming salon. It’s important to me to continue my education and make sure I am always up to date on modern training methods and theories since the behaviour sciences are constantly evolving.

Committing to using force free and positive reinforcement has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my career. In all my experience with animals, I’ve never seen it be necessary to hurt, intimidate, or startle an animal to teach them the behaviour you want. I hope to show my clients that whether it’s at the groomers, the vet clinic, or in your home, you don’t need to use punishment or intimidation to get your pet to work cooperatively with you!