Owner and trainer Mandy Kauffman grew up in Northern Michigan with a chaotic pack of untrained miniature schnauzers (and one "schnoodle") and an assortment of other pets. She has cared for dogs and other critters in various capacities throughout her life, and has spent most of her adult life adventuring with an assortment of northern breed mixes.
Mandy became more officially involved with dog training after taking several classes with her dog Manitou, where they learned that dog training could actually be a lot of fun for the dog and the human (unlike the experience Mandy had in a puppy class with her first dog as a child). This led to joining the team and co-owning RockinE Dog Training and Consulting in Laramie, Wyoming. Mandy has found sharing her knowledge to be an incredibly rewarding way to improve the lives of dogs (and their humans), which is why she founded Northwoofs Dog Training LLC after relocating to Duluth in late 2023.
Mandy has experience instructing basic to advanced life skills (including AKC CGC curriculum), as well as agility, AKC trick dog, and therapy dog skills. She holds a CDPT-KA certification from the CCPDT(Certification #2196202) and is an AKC-Certified CGC evaluator (Evaluator #98820). She is not a behaviorist, but also does have experience assisting with mild to moderate behavioral concerns.