Tina Ferner, CPDT-KA Canine Karma-Owner & Trainer I started my professional career many years ago as a registered dietitian working at Mercy St. Vincent specializing in nutrition for cancer patients. I went on to become a Massage Therapist, Reiki Master and Yoga Instructor. I developed the Integrative Medicine Program at Mercy Cancer Centers that provided these services for cancer survivors to help ease the suffering caused by this disease. The teaching and holistic experiences were wonderful building blocks that helped pave the way back to the desires of my heart. Since I was a child, I was an animal lover, and always wanted to become an animal trainer. My first and best dog, Clifford, inspired me to pursue this dream and become a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. My other red dogs with issues, Callie and Gracie were also catalysts to continue my education and training of dogs with behavioral problems. Living with 3 reactive dogs became extremely stressful and trying to solve these problems led to sampling most of the training techniques used in the Toledo area (they were not all positive!). I ultimately realized how switching from punishment and force to positive reinforcement changed my relationship with my dogs. Instead of reacting to their response, I started to create a different way of responding: pairing treats with various upsetting stimuli. This helped change their behavior and ultimately our relationship. I organized a local seminar with a national training expert and author, Ali Brown, who inspired me to continue working and training in a positive, force free way with my own reactive dogs. I used the knowledge gained from this seminar to create Canine Karma’s own Reactive Dog Protocol. Over 200 teams have gone through this protocol! I have felt pain, sadness, and sometimes overwhelming stress living with reactive dogs and have a deep desire to help relieve the suffering of others dealing with the same issues. My training concentrates on helping pet parents envision a different way of life with their dog. I provide training skills to accomplish this based on science. I also offer something different by using the mind-body connection to create a new way of managing and relating with your canine companion Tina teaches a variety of classes at Canine Karma from puppy preschool to Canine Good Citizen to Reactive Dog Classes She is a certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) evaluator through the American Kennel Club (AKC) which allows her to administer tests for STAR Puppy, CGC and AKC Community Canine. She is also a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) which requires continuing education and positive, force free training methods from their members. Marsha Serio, CPDT-KA Canine Karma-Instructor Canine Karma welcomes Marsha Serio as an instructor. Serio holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Toledo. Her professional career of more than 30 years included appointments as Director of Human Resources for the City of Toledo. She retired from Bowling Green State University in 2012, where she served as Director of Employment and Employee Relations. She has been actively involved in Greyhound rescue for more than 20 years. During this time she was a board member of several local Greyhound rescue groups, most recently serving as President of North Coast Greyhound Connection. Serio founded a cooperative program with the Toledo Correctional Institution for placing foster Greyhounds in the institution. The Greyhounds lived with and were trained by the inmate/handlers under her supervision. She and her husband have fostered more than eighty dogs in their home. Following her retirement from BGSU in 2012, she began to pursue her passion of training and handling dogs. In 2018, she earned her Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) certificate. Knowing that she needed hands-on application of the learning theory which is the foundation of the CPDT curriculum, Serio apprenticed with Tina Ferner, CPDT-KA at Canine Karma, completing her apprenticeship in 2019. She and her two certified Therapy Dogs, Fancy Pants and Chip were active volunteers for more than six years with Therapy Dogs International. She and her Greyhounds Dale and Hazel have competed in AKC and CWAGS Rally and Obedience trials. She is a certified American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen evaluator and is able to administer theSTAR Puppy and Canine Good Citizen tests. In 2017, she became a certified evaluator with Therapy Dogs International. She administers the Therapy Dog tests at Canine Karma. She is a professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT).
