WAGS & WIGGLES STAFF TRAINERS

LAURIE ZURBORG, CPDT
Laurie is the founder of Wags & Wiggles. She is head trainer and owner of Wags & Wiggles, The Original and Co-Owner of Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux. Click HERE for her bio.







LYSA KNIGHT, CPDT
Lysa is co-owner and head trainer at Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux. Click HERE for her bio.













Ranaye Kahn, CPDT
Ranaye is our RSM Training Manager. Ranaye started as a client in 2004 looking for Agility classes for her Great Dane Tucker, and started our Wags & Wiggles Apprenticeship Program in 2005. With this program she successfully passed her CPDT Exam and is now one of our staff trainers. Prior to working at Wags she was a Sales and Marketing Manager for an HP reseller, but wanted to find a job that made her smile more on a daily basis. She has a background in conformation and showing Great Danes. She currently has two Great Danes: Tucker & Elizabeth Taylor. She enjoys doing agility and spending time with her human family which consists of two boys and her husband. She is active in the community, involved with both soccer and baseball as team mom for her son’s teams, and enjoys working in the Children’s Theater helping with makeup. We are thrilled to have Ranaye at our facility as she has a natural ability with dogs. She taught preschool for 10 years and has a special gift when it comes to helping instruct children in classes. She is extremely patient and relates to kids on their terms. Ranaye helps working with the dayschool dogs, ruff/love dogs, and teaches puppy and obedience classes on Saturdays. She has endless energy, a positive attitude, and takes great pride in her work with our clients and their four legged family members.

Jenny Henry, CPDT
Jenny started working at Wags and Wiggles in the summer of 2004. She had just moved back to California after doing a year of college in Hawai'i, where she was born, and was looking for a job that incorporated her love of dogs. She started out as a daycare staff, eventually becoming one of the weekend managers. She then enrolled in the Apprenticeship program at Wags and Wiggles. After completing the program, she passed her CPDT test in November 2007! She can be seen working with dayschool or board/train dogs, or co-teaching Saturday obedience and puppy classes with Ranaye. When she isn't at Wags and Wiggles, she loves spending time with her deaf beagle rescue named Mailani, who she has trained using hand signals.

Lisa McFarland, CDPT
Lisa has completed the Wags & Wiggles Apprenticeship Program. She also is now a Certified Pet Dog Trainer. She has a background in conformation and agility. She currents shows and breeds her rat terriers and competes in agility. She has a degree in business management and has continued her education in dog behavior, training, and husbandry. Then she joined the Wags & Wiggles Team. She has quickly adopted the positive reinforcement style of training. We are excited to have her here and you will see her a lot around here. She has a great repour with the clients and brings a comical side to her teaching style.









Gretchen Mavrovouniotis
Gretchen Mavrovouniotis is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed and a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. She is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the World Canine Freestyle Organization. Gretchen teaches puppy, obedience, tricks, and agility classes at Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux and competes in canine musical freestyle.

Gretchen became interested in dog training when she started volunteering at her local animal shelter in 2001. While volunteering at the shelter, Gretchen heard about clicker training and started learning how to use it to teach both her own dogs and the shelter dogs. In addition to taking advanced dog training classes with her own dogs, Gretchen has attended numerous workshops and seminars to further her expertise in clicker training, canine musical freestyle, and aggression. She joined the Wags & Wiggles Apprenticeship Program in 2007 to help her fulfill her goal of becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer.

Gretchen has a doctorate in chemical engineering. When she's not working with dogs, she works part-time providing training in Six Sigma process improvement techniques. Gretchen is also a volunteer naturalist at the San Joachin Wildlife Sanctuary where she teaches school children about the sanctuary and the birds that live in it.



Nicole Wakida
I started taking agility classes at wags and was impressed with how the positive training methods boosted my dogs confidence level. Both my mini aussie and cavalier attend these classes with the hope of competing one day. I struggled to maintain the attention and focus from my aussie. After doing private lessons with Laurie, we are both now a team. Then I inqured about the W&W Apprenticeship program and now I'm working the dogs at the Tustin Facility. I'm so thankful I found W&W and now get to do what I enjoy for a living. I am also grateful for the struggles I had with my own dogs so that I am better prepared to help all the dogs I train.










Amanda Cornell
Amanda Cornell is currently enrolled in the Wags and Wiggles Apprenticeship Program. After earning her Bachelors degree in Zoology at UCSB, she wanted to take a break before she went to graduate school and do something fun, so she decided to take a job as daycare staff. She loved it and quickly became interested in becoming a dog trainer, and joined the Wags Apprentice Program after hearing great things about it from many different people. Amanda now works as a staff trainer at the Tustin location. It has been so much fun (and such a great stress relief) to be able to work with dogs while also working on her Masters degree in Biology. Amanda currently owns four dogs: three chihuahuas and a french bulldog. She has also recently started agility classes with Gracie, her Frenchie, and they are both having a blast!




Diane Hayden
Diane has always been interested in training dogs. It started with her own dogs, Nalu and Soli that presented different challenges. Diane attended numerous training seminars to learn and absorb as much as she could. She started working with the W&W trainers a few years back and quickly became a loyal client. She's attended just about every program we have offered. W&W has an opening for staff trainers at RSM and Diane was very excited to join the team. Diane looks forward to finishing her apprenticeship and getting her CPDT.










Amy Salman
I learned about the W&W Apprenticeship program while looking for training facilities that included clicker training and agility for our new puppy. I'm excited about being in the program and have already learned so much about dog behavior and positive training. I look forward to learning more and becoming a CPDT with the help of the excellent staff here at the RSM facility.







Pam Johnson
I am currently enrolled in the W&W Apprenticeship program. Wags & Wiggles was recommnded to me by David from Active Dog Adventures and it has been one of the best experiences of my life. My goals are to become an excellent positive reinforcemen trainer.



















Jamie Flanagan
I got involved in the Wags apprenticeship in order to turn my passion for animal rescue into a career as an animal behavior consultant. I currently also volunteer at the Irvine Animal Care Center where I intern in behavior assessment and adoption counseling. I look forward to becoming a certified trainer.

Sasha 7/1

Kobe 7/1

Thor 7/1

Missy 7/1

Baron 7/4

Wally 7/4

Grandma Roxy 7/4

Cricket 7/4

Sir Bailey 7/7

Mochi 7/8

Maggie Bay 7/9

Rucchin 7/13

Simba 7/13

Hunter 7/14

Delta 7/15

Cooper 7/15

Shadow 7/16

Igloo 7/16

Sammy 7/18

Sam 7/19

Libby Bella 7/19

Alex 7/20

Archie 7/20

Toto 7/23

Gracie 7/23

Sage 7/24

Poe 7/26

Maddie 7/26

Madison 7/27

Jasmine 7/27

Andy 7/27

Chloe 7/28

Cody 7/29

Piper 7/29

Rocky 7/29