Dog trainer with over decade of experience builds pet-client bonds
By Bren Belmonte, September 29, 2026
When Katie Hunt, an animal health science student, was 8 years old, she learned how to train a service dog to shake hands. Hunt has since raised six puppies to become guide dogs.
In addition, she established a dog training business, Dog Training by Katie H, assisting with pet-client relationships.
Hunt said her interest in dog training stemmed from her parents raising guide dogs in the past and her desire to own a dog. They encouraged her to attend trainings and information sessions as a future service dog trainer.
To expose guide dog puppies to the outside world during training, she has taken dogs to airports, national parks, hotels and musicals. Hunt has worked with more than 40 dogs of different breeds, including Labrador retrievers and other retriever mixes.
“We want to set these dogs up for success,” Hunt said. “So, these dogs can go places where pets can’t go because as a guide dog, people are going to bring them everywhere.”
What prompted Hunt to start her business in 2020 was the neighborhood attention she received while walking her group of three to five dogs in her Mountain View neighborhood. Neighbors like Sharisse Kokernak noticed the obedience of the dogs.
Kokernak, a client of six years, said Hunt helped her English Labrador retriever Shiloh with a proper food reward system and found solutions for her frequent barking. Hunt used a free shaping technique by providing a small treat in increments when Shiloh did not bark.
As a self-proclaimed balanced trainer, Hunt said she incorporates cooperative care between her and the dog to foster a safe session.
While analyzing a client’s behaviors, Hunt reads the dog’s body and emotions through its ears, eyes, tail and general body posture to determine emotions, Hunt said. For example, Hunt said when a dog is panting, in some situations, that does not mean the dog is hot. Instead, it could mean stress.
For dog training pricing, Hunt can be contacted through her Instagram as rates vary for each service and duration of time. The duration of time varies for each dog, since they start training at different ages or come from different environments.
“I want to make sure the dog’s enjoying it, and I want to make sure the dog understands what I’m teaching it,” Hunt said.
According to Hunt, she sets customizable goals for the owner and dog by establishing a schedule to ensure progress for the next session. In the future, Hunt aspires to host informational seminars for dog training to continue expressing her love of educating.
At the end of each training session, Hunt emails written progress updates to the client including videos.
“The summary was really important because it reinforced what she said and also gave us a list to handle sequential ways to handle the walk, feeding of the dog, playtime and discipline,” Kokernak said.
Apart from the dogs she trains, Hunt has her own multipurpose service dog. Henley, a 5-year-old purebred yellow Labrador retriever provides deep and light pressure therapy, can pick up light items, and helps locate her car and the door of her apartment.
Henley applies deep pressure therapy by keeping Hunt’s heart rate low and acting as a weight on her lap. For light pressure therapy, he is conditioned to place his head on Hunt’s foot when she taps it, granting her a “grounded” state, according to Hunt.
“We have created a bond so unique, super strong,” Hunt said. “It took a long time for me to figure out what he wanted. It was a lot of trial and error with him.”
Buck, a 2-year-old German shepherd Malinois mix, owned by biology student Reyna Moore, is currently training with Hunt to be a service animal.
According to Moore, Buck is working on basic obedience, as some of his flaws are acting overexcited around strangers, leash pulling and occasional whining.
“Katie taught us how to give (Buck) a lot of structure, and I feel like that’s made him a lot calmer,” Moore said. “He’s not as jittery as he used to be, and I’ve taken him to farmers markets where it’s packed, and he’s able to walk through them.”
Hunt started Buck on a slip lead leash and moved to a prong collar to teach him not to pull on his leash.
Moore said she observes an improvement of Buck’s calmness and ability to follow commands such as sitting up, down and him not being distracted by others, focusing only on Moore.
“Katie does a really well-rounded evaluation of the dog at first,” Moore said. “She’s very unbiased. She doesn’t judge you for where your dog currently is.”
Charging $80 an hour for training Buck, Hunt sets goals for the owner and dog. By making sure goals are met, Hunt has 24/7 client communication, answering any questions or comments with quick responses, according to Moore.
As Hunt works with pets like Shiloh and Buck, she said her goal is to pursue training dogs and educating owners on their pets’ behaviors. She also has plans to become a veterinary technician after CPP.
