Since 2019, I've been a dedicated volunteer at LifeLine Animal Shelter, where my responsibilities range from adoption counseling to dog handling and enrichment creation. While my main career has been in graphic design and instructional design, my passion for improving adoption outcomes has led me to pursue a career change through formal training at the Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy. I am also an ABK Learn Knowledge Assessed - Informed Pet Professional and a passionate ACE Free work student. My mission is to educate families about the cognitive abilities and emotions of dogs. By fostering deeper connections between humans and their canine companions, I aim to reduce shelter returns and shift the narrative from viewing dogs as products to recognizing them as sentient beings deserving of empathy and respect.