Courtney Hefflefinger

Hi! I’m Courtney, the Apprentice Trainer at CKS! 4 years ago, I dove head-first into dog training as a college intern at PennVet Working Dog Center. I worked intensively with the Law Enforcement team for 6 months and I was hooked. I was brought on as part-time staff and continued to volunteer in my spare time, then did a second internship with the Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) teams. I was always looking for more opportunities to learn while I worked so closely with the highly skilled and knowledgeable trainers there. During my second internship, I took on the challenge of raising a Belgian Malinois puppy, who is now an incredible dual-purpose K9 with Wilkes-Barre City Police Department.  

Fast-forward a year, I got into the world of pet training. I started with a few of my own clients, family and friends, and then found my first full-time training position. I quickly learned that pet dogs are very different from future K9s, but became obsessed with training all over again. I’ve been training pets for just over a year, and the learning never stops! I now have my own working dog puppy, a German Shepherd named Groot, which has been a dream of mine ever since I started training. As the Apprentice Trainer, I work closely with our board and trains focusing on developing their on-leash obedience, while also leading our group classes for program graduates. I love watching our training pups progress and love even more when I see them return for group class with their owners!