Kara Hollars

Lead Instructor

Kara has been working with dogs for as long as she can remember. Her first introduction to "formal" training was when her mother took her to a class with their Chocolate Lab puppy, Hannah. After watching the trainer work with the class and seeing how much progress the class made, Kara was hooked. Her training dream was put on hold during her formative years, but she continued to work with dogs all through school. At 16 she began volunteering at a local shelter, at 18 she began working with her first mentor, and the rest is history. Her experience with rescues has greatly assisted her in working with dogs of all ages and all walks of life.

​The decision to begin developing her own programs came when she began seeing holes in courses offered by others in her field. She realized that attempting to treat symptoms instead of fixing the root problems was a big issue, so she began developing a whole-life canine instruction program. By creating personalized programs starting with The Ultimate Puppy, then moving onward through Companion Dog and Family Dog programs, she has helped many families rest easy knowing that their canine has received instruction on ALL the skills necessary for them to be a great companion. For those with specialized goals, she created specialty programs like Comfort Canines (Therapy Dogs), Behavioral Help, and The Happy Life.

Her own dogs are Canine Good Citizens, Therapy Dogs, Trick Dogs, and Demo Dogs. Zoey, her oldest, is particularly good about working with excitable young puppies that need manners and dog-reactive canines that are just beginning their behavior adjustment training.

She is a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), is a Canine Good Citizenship (CGC) Evaluator for the AKC, and is always working on continuing her education via seminars, courses, communication with other trainers, and other such activities.

During her free time, Kara enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, or sitting down with a good book, depending on the time of year.

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Joshua Hollars

Co-Instructor

Josh has been working with dogs for over 20 years. He, like Kara, has been working with dogs for as long as he can remember, and like her he began "formally" working with dogs by volunteering at his local shelters. He began his training journey as an Assistant Trainer, and is now a Co-Instructor. His expertise has been invaluable in setting up the PFDT programs, but his true calling can be seen when he's working with fearful, reactive, or "difficult" canines.

Besides training, Josh enjoys volunteering with Kara at local hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Together they volunteer their time fostering, training, and rehoming dogs in need, as well as assisting in the training of others in their field.

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