WHO ARE WE?

Meet Stefanie Strackbein,
LFDM-shelter, Support, and working dog division

Owner & creator, Dog advocate, canine behavior & enrichment specialist, Licensed Family Dog Mediator

 

Stefanie is constantly learning about dog behavior and the positive effects of enrichment. She has attended the Aggression in Dogs Seminar in 2020, 2022, and 2023 as well as the LEGS in Motion conference in December 2023. She completed a course of study in Play Way for Reactivity and Aggression Challenges and is certified in Core Behavior Assessment for canines. Stefanie is currently enrolled in Michael Shikashio’s Aggression in Dogs Master Course. 

Stefanie continues to work with several shelters and is a proud partner of #LOVEPUP, providing enrichment for dogs at their shelter and hosting shelter dogs at the Academy while they wait for adoption. She also works closely with the FDM community, creating pathways for less stress in a kennel environment and more successful adoptions for dogs.

In 2007 Stefanie co-founded The Canine Connection, a rescue organization dedicated to saving dogs that were scheduled to be euthanized at county shelters. In 2008, she started What Dogs Want, to help people learn about and appreciate their dogs’ needs and wants in a fun and effective way. In 2010, she co-founded the program Edu-Care for Dogs, bringing mental and physical enrichment to dogs in a group setting then started the What Dogs Want Academy in 2017 as a bigger, bolder, smarter program to provide great, good things for dogs and their people.  

What Dogs Want is an accumulation of all Stefanie has learned and wants to provide for all dogs and their people!