Trainers

ZOE SANDOR, OWNER/TRAINER

Zoe Sandor (previously Stathis) has been training dogs professionally for over 8 years and has accumulated fifteen thousands of hours of hands-on experience.

With a degree in Business Management from Syracuse University, Zoe started her canine education as the manager of a dog daycare in Downtown, San Diego in 2007. The daycare eventually partnered with a training company specializing in rehabilitating dogs with human/dog aggression that Zoe studied under for a year and a half.

Since 2009, Zoe has both contracted for and briefly managed one of the top training companies in San Diego before deciding to go into business for herself in 2015. It is because of this experience that in addition to tackling all the basics from housebreaking to impulse control problems (jumping/barking/chewing/etc), Zoe is also able to specialize in cases involving aggression, anxiety, and the social dynamics of the daycare setting.

Certifications and Affiliations

CPDT/CGC

Certified Professional Pet Trainer and Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator

APDT, IACP

Professional affiliations with both IACP and APDT

MALORY KNEZHA, TRAINER

Malory Knezha’s passion for dogs started at a young age. She grew up assisting her family in raising champion conformation dogs, a job that quickly built into an intimate interest in canine behavior, training, and handling. Malory has experience with various breeds and temperaments, specializing in herding dogs, and canine anxiety, fear, and reactivity. She also enjoys teaching the basics, focusing on the importance of putting new puppies and/or new rescues on the right track from the beginning. She got her first Sheltie at the age of twelve and since then has studied under various professionals nationally. As of today, Malory has been working as a professional trainer for over 10 years. Outside her work with ZDT, she has recently accepted a position as a Herding Instructor in-training in East County San Diego. She dreams of building strong bonds between owners and dogs and helping every client better understand their canine companions for years to come.

ASHLEY VALENTINE, TRAINER

Ashley Valentine is a nationally certified professional dog trainer (CPDT). She began her animal training career at the age of 8, riding horses. It only took a few short years for her to lease a horse of her own and by age 19, she was single handedly managing a riding facility. At this same time, she also built/owned 2 riding facilities where she trained horses to compete in hunter jumper all over the east coast. Ashley continued to pursue her passion by obtaining her Bachelors Degree in Animal Science from The University of Connecticut in 2007 and then moved to San Diego in 2015 to put that education to work. She has since become one of the most sought after and experienced pet sitters in San Diego County and the go-to socializer for the most extreme fear cases found in a variety of local rescues. She is pet CPR and first aid certified. She applies her equine expertise to every case, and has a special affinity for starting puppies on the right track from day 1. Ashley is always the common face at every local rescue event and takes pride in giving back to the canine community through her training, caregiving, fostering, and her specialization in behavioral rehab.

Certification: CPDT - Certified Professional Dog Trainer

ACE, TRAINER

Ace has been an avid lover of all animals ever since his youth, ranging from the domestic to the exotic, but it wasn't until he got his first dog; a pit-bull named Storm, that his raw and natural talent for training would emerge and his hobby would become a career. Noting the stigma often associated with the pit-bull breed, Ace's main goal became learning how to train his fur-baby to be the best example of a pit-bull she could be. By researching multiple styles of positive training disciplines, and combining them with real-world everyday life scenario training sites; Ace had found a fun and diverse training regimen he calls raw training. To gain further experience he began training the dogs of family, friends and disabled pet owners for free and volunteering for various veterinarians and pet organizations such as the San Diego Pittie Parents, doing events with his partner storm. Soon thereafter, many other fellow pet owners in his community began requesting his services after seeing his success with his own dogs. Ace is a fearless dog trainer often taking on the most severely aggressive dogs, believing that all dogs can be rehabilitated if just given the chance and opportunity to flourish.

Ace has been CPR pet certified and has clocked over 10,000 hours of training and boarding experience.

YANINA MONTANEZ, TRAINER

Yanina Montanez is a life-long animal lover with a passion for helping those in need. Her connection with animals began at a very young age in an almost zoo-like household. Dogs, birds, cats, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, and fish were all considered family in her home. This gave her a deep understanding of the human-animal bond and a soft spot for animals of all species. Her work with dogs began as a volunteer at a small animal shelter in Portland, Maine. Working as a Mutt Mentor and Adoption Counselor, she began her training career socializing dogs of all breeds, ages and temperaments, helping them form a solid training foundation. She found herself drawn to the anxious, fearful and aggressive dogs, working heavily with them to diminish their behavioral issues and find their forever homes. Yanina has been working as a doggy daycare professional for the last three years in Maine and California and always incorporates her dog training experience into her work. She specializes in dog socialization and basic obedience.

KATIE MATTHEWS, DOG WALKER

Katie Matthews is a San Diego native with a life-long passion for animals. At 10 years old she started her own neighborhood dog walking business, and continued to be the neighborhood dog-walker/pet-sitter until she began college at San Diego State University to study psychology. During college she worked for a dog-walking agency to support herself, furthering her experience by working with many different breeds and temperaments, including rescue dogs that tend to be fearful or anxious. Katie is specially trained to maintain existing obedience training set in place for each dog she meets and is highly adaptable to any special needs.