Meet the Trainers
| Our Furry Friends |
| Cherie Inherited Some of Her Connection With Animals From Her Mom and her Aunt |
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| Cherie Maitland - Training Director, Behavior Specialist, trainer, prior Pet Partners and Lend a Heart Therapy Dog Team, CGC Evaluator, and owner of Our Furry Friends since 1999 - is an animal lover and educator from way back. She moved to California from Vermont in 1984. Her varied work background includes personal coaching and counseling, small business management, accounting, teaching and running kids after-school and summer camp programs. Cherie began working with dogs at the SPCA as a volunteer in the 1980's on the California Coast. In the early 1990's she was introduced to the world of humane horse handling and Natural Horsemanship. It made so much sense to Cherie to train and guide a horse by understanding their point-of-view, that she sought out people who were doing the same thing with dogs. She assisted with dog training classes, behavior problem appointments and went back to the shelter as a volunteer adoption counselor and dog handler. She studied and trained with a variety of other trainers from a wide range of philosophies. After adopting a "problem" dog, (who became the wonderful dog you might have known as Pepper,) Cherie needed the behavioral expertise of several local, prominent trainers. After years of studying with and assisting other trainers, and working with dogs at the shelter, Our Furry Friends was born in 1999 in Santa Cruz, California. Cherie helps families teach their dogs to be well-behaved members of the family. She teaches effective and humane methods for basic obedience and a wide variety of other types of classes including Agility For Fun, Training for Therapy Dog Visits, Helping the Cautious Canine, Feisty Fido and more. Ms. Maitland also offers classes to help people prepare to take and pass the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. Cherie is also an approved AKC CGC evaluator. Cherie helps with more serious problems including fearfulness, anxiety, aggression towards people, dogs and cats, nuisance barking, and safety with kids and dogs. She hails more from the new school of training, incorporating learning theory and understanding canine psychology (see Philosophy & Methods) to teach people to be great dog owners, handlers and leaders. When needed, other approaches are incorporated, because she believes that there is often something valuable to learn from most approaches and that flexibility and tailoring methods to a specific owner, dog and situation is crucial. Cherie's instincts about what people and their dogs need to be a better team, combined with her practical knowledge and step-by-step teaching style is extremely effective. |
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Training With Respect & Understanding
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She now lives in the Sierra
Foothills with her beloved dogs,
and cats, and her 3 horses, live on
a nearby ranch. Over the years,
Cherie has taken 4 dogs through
the process of becoming
Registered Therapy Dogs, and
one of her dogs is now her
Registered Service Dog to help
her with her anxiety of flying and
her heart condition.
Contact her to discuss your dog(s)
and your training needs and get
started on an educational and
satisfying experience with Our
Furry Friends.
Foothills with her beloved dogs,
and cats, and her 3 horses, live on
a nearby ranch. Over the years,
Cherie has taken 4 dogs through
the process of becoming
Registered Therapy Dogs, and
one of her dogs is now her
Registered Service Dog to help
her with her anxiety of flying and
her heart condition.
Contact her to discuss your dog(s)
and your training needs and get
started on an educational and
satisfying experience with Our
Furry Friends.
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