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.













Julia Kopan, CPDT
Julia is the training manager at the RSM Location and can be seen working with the bootcamp dogs as well as teaching classes. She has a Bachelor’s degree in biology and has worked with exotic animals in zoos before entering the wonderful world of dogs. In the zoos she learned about operant conditioning and clicker training while working with tiger cubs, a woodchuck, and a kinkajou. She did a brief apprenticeship with a CPDT trainer in Wisconsin and then moved to California with her husband Brian to enjoy the beautiful weather and the ocean. After apprenticing at Wags and learning a ton about dogs, she passed her CPDT test and started teaching classes. She’s been training dogs at Wags for several years now and teaches a variety of classes such as puppy, obedience levels I and II, tricks, and agility. She loves coming to work every day and working with such wonderful dogs and people. Julia owns two rescue dogs, a 13 years old collie/german shepherd mix named Seven, and a 4 year old border collie named Parker. She got Parker from the aussie rescue program and has been working on his reactive issues with people and dogs. He has been the most challenging and rewarding dog she’s ever owned and she can’t imagine her life without him. They do agility together, which they both love, and Parker is a better dog for it.

Ranaye Kahn, CPDT
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.






Esther Horn
Upon her retirement from American Airlines, Captain Esther Horn, embarked on a course to pursue her passion in canine care. She now works to enrich relationships between dogs and their companions with a personal touch.

To enrich her expertise, Esther has learned a wide range of disciplines: Canine Massage Therapy, Reiki, and Canine Nutrition. She also conducts classes for pet sitters and the general public training them in Pet First Aid & CPR, Pet Massage, and bite prevention courses for children.

Putting her education and skills to work, Esther was elected to the Board of Directors of the Pet Project Foundation of the San-Clemente/ Dana Point Animal Shelter, during 2005 and 2006. She served as Pet Care & Evaluation Chairwoman. She has helped shelter dogs find and stay in their forever home. She also implemented a program to regulate and maintain weight control with proper nutrition. In a logical progression to expand her education, Esther is now enrolled in the Wags & Wiggles Apprentice Program learning all she can about canine behavior, temperament, and training.Esther lives with her husband Jim, Boxer Budee, and new addition - Min Pin, Jiminee Cricket.



Gretchen Mavrovouniotis
Gretchen Mavrovouniotis is currently enrolled in the Wags & Wiggles Apprenticeship Program. 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 to help her fulfill her goal of becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer.

Gretchen competes in canine musical freestyle and heelwork to music with her two mixed breed shelter dogs Poseidon and Apollon. She also enjoys taking agility classes with Poseidon.

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.



Paige Holden
Paige Holden is currently enrolled in the Wags and Wiggles Apprenticeship Program. After getting a degree in English, she began working at the Irvine Animal Care Center where she became interested in becoming a trainer from seeing all the dogs whose lives could be improved by just some simple training. She has three dogs, Cash, LT and Soda, all of whom are rescues and she currently participates in sheep herding with her border collie Soda. She has a special place in her heart for rescues and understands some of the unique issues that arise from living in a shelter.

Suzanne Perdue
Suzanne is so excited to be in the apprenticeship program. She has been studying dog behavior and training over the last few years. Attending seminars and workshops with Bob Bailey, Dr. Ian Dunbar, Kathy Sdao and Pia Silvani as well as Clicker Expos. Prior to that she worked in the medical field as a Peri-operative Registered Nurse.She shares her life with her husband and her daughter, Taya, the apple of her eye as well as their two rescue dogs Shera and Mahogany, two birds and a fish. Besides being passionate about animals,she loves children. Helping out with her daughter's class and school activities whenever possible. The pursuit of her Certification for Pet Dog Trainer has lead her to Wags and Wiggles where she feels so fortunate to learn from the excellent caliber of teachers at this state of the art facility!

Adele Sinderhoff
Adele is currently enrolled in the Wags& Wiggles Apprenticeship Program. She has always had a love of dogs and curently has a maltese named Annie and a Rescue Golden name Luke. Before training at W&W, Adele was an elementary teacher working mostly in grades kindergarten, first and second. After the birth of her children Adele was primarily a stay at home mom. She and her family reside in Coto De Caza. Adele and her husband Brian have four children ages 22 to 15. She is excited to be learning a new career in dog care and training.

Rio 8/1

Oswald 8/1

Cali 8/1

Shell 8/1

Herbie 8/1

Harley 8/1

Precious 8/3

Olive 8/9

Rocky 8/11

Kasey 8/12

Layla 8/16

Shaka 8/16

Millie 8/17

Henry 8/18

Bailey 8/18

Cody 8/18

Beau 8/21

Sammy 8/22

Titan 8/22

Lillie 8/26

Smudge & Lucy 8/26

Sadie 8/27

Sadie 8/30

Max 8/30

Midnight 8/31