We're Logan and Emily!

And we’re on a mission to make dog training more neurodivergent-friendly.

Like many dog guardians, our journey with our dogs started with a whole lot of chaos.

Both of us ended up adopting dogs who struggle with their own unique levels of fear, anxiety, and reactivity. At the time, we were just regular humans, not dog trainers. We didn’t know WTF we were doing.

Mistakes were made. We cried about our dog’s behaviors sometimes. We talked about our dogs in therapy more than once.

Because sharing a life with a dog who has “big feelings” is not always rainbows and sunshine.

Here’s the thing:

If training your dog feels hard to you, it’s because it is hard.

Neurodivergence, chronic illness, and mental health all have a giant impact on how we train our dogs and live our lives with them.

And unfortunately, we don’t see this recognized in the dog training world often enough.

Even as neurodivergent dog trainers ourselves, it took us a while to fully understand how our experiences are shaped by the way our brains and bodies work.

We’re two chronically online girlies turned BFFs turned business partners

After meeting on the internet, we spent many an hour yapping about our struggles as neurodivergent dog guardians to keep dog training habits, read some social cues, and work through the sensory “icks” of training.

Without realizing it, we had been adapting common training advice (and everything we had learned in our continuing education) to be more neurodivergent-friendly.

At some point, we realized that we couldn’t be the only ones struggling with these things, right?

We thought that maybe - just maybe - our experience as professional dog trainers, combined with our lived experience as neurodivergent people, could be used to help people like us.

Our goal is for Confident Mutts to be a safe and affirming space where you can learn how to help your dog - where you can show up as your true self.

Because you shouldn't need to mask or change anything about yourself to help your dog navigate this silly, wild, scary world.

So much in the world asks you to change in order to fit the neurotypical mold - but we won't.

About Our Training Methods….

Science-Based Approach

Our training methods are grounded in evidence-based practices. The science of animal behavior gives us an understanding of how dogs learn and how best to motivate and guide them. By using techniques supported by research, we ensure that our training is effective, humane, and meets the unique needs of each dog.

Follows the Humane Hierarchy

We adhere to Dr. Susan Friedman’s Humane Hierarchy, a framework that prioritizes the most humane and least intrusive interventions first. This hierarchy guides us in our decision-making process, ensuring that we can address behavioral issues without causing unnecessary stress or discomfort to your dog.

Never Involve Punishment

Research has shown that punishment can lead to increased fear, anxiety, and stress and fails to address the underlying cause of the unwanted behavior. We focus on positive reinforcement and choice in training. This strengthens the bond between you and your dog and promotes enthusiasm during the training process.

Logan Buie and Emily Fitzpatrick are both multi-certified dog trainers.

We follow the guidelines set forth by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, which emphasizes the importance of positive reinforcement and the avoidance of dominance-based training.

Between the two of us we have experience with behavior concerns like:

reactivity, anxiety, and fear
multi-dog households
cooperative care
small dog issues
separation anxiety
low-stress veterinary care
muzzle training
leash pulling
resource guarding
newly adopted dogs
and more!

Our training methods are firmly rooted in science, ensuring that our approach is both effective and humane.

We believe that understanding the underlying principles of animal behavior is crucial for creating a safe, positive, and enriching training experience for both dogs and their guardians.

Wanna get to know us a bit better?

Logan Buie

KPA-CTP & SA Pro Trainer

She/her

When I adopted my first dog, JJ, I had no idea what I was doing. Then, she turned out to be extremely reactive to dogs and has pretty intense separation anxiety. After some not-so-good experiences with trainers who used punishment with JJ, I found the wonderful world of positive reinforcement and clicker training. Once the “behavior bug” bit me, I couldn’t stop learning about training. I loved it so much that I even got my partner to check out behavior and training books from his vet school’s library for me. (Nerd alert.)

I was working a job at a science museum at the time - which I did enjoy - but I didn’t know what was next for me in my career. After being furloughed from my job in 2020 (apparently science educators aren’t essential employees), I decided it was as good a time as any to enroll in the Karen Pryor Academy Professional Program. From there, the rest is history!

I have over four years of experience as a certified dog trainer specializing in fear and reactivity, along with three years of experience handling separation anxiety cases. I particularly love working with anxious, fearful, and reactive dogs - it’s so rewarding to help them learn to live more confident and happy lives. And as very anxious human, I feel like I can really relate to the way that their brains work. Who can blame them for being anxious when the world is so chaotic?

Cancer Sun | Aquarius Moon | Gemini Rising

Massive Swiftie

Unapologetic Romance Reader

Enneagram Type 2

She/her

I grew up with dogs and have always been obsessed with them, especially rescues and weird lil mutts! Once I adopted my first 2 dogs, Goose and Remi, who are full of anxiety, a soft spot for those Big Feelings dogs grew in my heart.

From a very young age I dreamed of working with dogs and luckily I made those dreams a reality! My career started out in veterinary medicine where I worked as a certified vet assistant for 3 years and was head of the surgery department. Having this background allows me to help dog guardians navigate the complexities of vet care with their dog.

Once I got burnt out I made the difficult (and also best) decision to leave vet med and begin my journey into dog behavior. This led to me diving head first into learning anything and everything I could about dog behavior and training. Once I obtained my first certification through the Victoria Stilwell Academy and started applying everything I was learning with my own anxious dogs and saw the magic that force-free training creates, I knew I wanted to specialize in working with fearful, anxious, and reactive dogs.

I’ve now been in the pet professional world for 8+ years with 5 of those spent as a dog trainer and behavior consultant. My bread and butter when it comes to dog training is reactivity, anxiety, fear, cooperative care, multi-dog life, vet prep, and rescue dogs.

On top of all of that, I live life with multiple chronic illnesses along with multiple mental health conditions. I know first hand what it’s like to navigate dog guardianship while balancing flares, low spoon days, and chronic pain. So I feel like I can really relate to Big Feelings dogs that live life with chronic pain, anxiety, and fear!