About Jessica Wheatcraft
CDBCCertified Dog Behavior Consultant & Professional Trainer
Hi, I’m Jessica Wheatcraft 🙂
My passion for mentoring and enhancing trainer education is one of your best resources!
My Story
My love affair with dogs began as a child – I wanted nothing more than to be around them all day and tried to convince my parents for years that we needed more than two dogs… they said no, of course.
When I was in high school, I began volunteering for a local shelter, and it was there that I discovered my heart was drawn to helping dogs in any way I could. Shortly after high school, I volunteered for the Prison Pup Program at the California Institute for Women, an organization that helped inmates train service dogs. Volunteers like myself would take the dogs in our homes for the weekend to help generalize their training to the real world to prepare them for placement.
In addition to my love for dogs, I also had a fascination for behavior and was a Psychology major the first few years I attended college. Having left home and feeling lonely without a dog of my own for the first time, I adopted a pit bull mix I named Harley. Harley led me into the world of professional dog training – she had behaviors I didn’t know how to modify on my own. In came Nan Arthur CDBC, CPDT-KSA, and KPA CTP, who I hired to help me in 2005. During one of our lessons, Nan asked me, “have you ever considered becoming a dog trainer”?
Honestly, it had never occurred to me. The more I learned about the science behind training, the more it dawned on me that I could merge my love of behavior AND dogs into a career. I was hooked.
I started with simple cases, teaching basic manners classes, and doing private lessons. As I learned more, I began to take on more challenging issues under Nan’s guidance and realized that I loved everything about behavior modification. I am so fortunate to have worked under Nan for seven years – I undoubtedly would not be where I am today had we not crossed paths.
My Approach
In 2013, I started my own business, Synergy Dog Training.
I built that business from scratch – and wow, did I learn a lot of valuable lessons and skills along the way.
My caseload was nearly all behavior cases, and I became a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through IAABC in 2015. I love solving the puzzles that come with behavior modification while improving the lives of people and their dogs.
In 2018 I expanded my business to include a team of trainers and began to share the experience I had soaked up through years of dog training and behavior modification. It was then that I discovered my other passion, which was mentoring trainers.
I love sharing what I know and helping others grow. Also, I wanted to pay forward what was given to me earlier in my career.
In 2021 my business was growing faster than I knew what to do with. I decided to merge Synergy Dog Training into an Instinct Dog Behavior and Training location to scale it further.
I love sharing what I know and helping others grow
In October 2022, I sold Instinct Dog Training so I could focus on what I love most – working with fellow dog trainers via case coaching, webinars, online courses and in person seminars.
My passion for mentoring trainers evolved into what you see here…
I look forward to connecting with you!