Heather Morris is the founder of Spot On Training.  She has been working in the pet industry since moving to the Washington, DC metro area in 2003.  Heather was fortunate enough to combine her passion for food (a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America) as well as her love of dogs to create a unique business selling organic dog treats to local boutiques in the area.  It wasn’t long before her love of active, healthy dogs and her devotion to being the “best” in her field opened up a new career pathway.

In 2004, Heather joined the team of a professional and well respected full service pet care company.  Heather spent the last 6 years in full time work, on the job training and management positions, including dog walking, dog daycare, and dog training.  Most importantly, Heather was able to pursue her interests in dog training and held a position of lead dog trainer for the past 4 years. The focus on training was the family dog and she taught classes such as basic manners, fun agility classes, and created one night seminars tailored to topics of special interest.  Eventually, Heather helped the training department move in a direction of a relatively new training style referred to as levels training which offers a unique flexibility of training on your own schedule at your own pace, and co-created the curriculum that focuses on training well mannered dogs that will go on to pass the Canine Good Citizen test, sponsored by the American Kennel Club to promote responsible dog ownership.

It was this experience that inspired Heather to create Spot On Training.  Heather is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and is a certified trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, the first national certification for dog trainers.  Heather carries a strong sense of pride in this accomplishment and nationally recognized certification and honor. Like all honors, certification in pet dog training carries responsibilities like continuing education, maintaining a code of ethics, and upholding the highest standard of training. As a Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), Heather has modeled her program to fit evidence based outcomes.

Additionally, Heather has been a mentor for students aspiring to be trainers that take courses through the Animal Behavior College.  She is also active in animal rescue helping local organizations by planning fundraising events, consulting, providing educational presentations and has written articles on dog training for metro publications. 

Heather and her husband live on Capitol Hill with their two Dalmatians, Lottie and Chiazzo.  Her experience level, both educationally and personally includes working with reactive dogs, canine nutrition, and holistic health.   She also has interest in dog play and communication.  Her unique experience running a dog daycare has provided invaluable insight and education in how dogs play and communicate with one another and humans alike.  An all time favorite play activity is watching dogs enjoy the beach running the surf, digging for treasure, and swimming in the ocean.  And when she’s not working with dogs, she has a hobby interest in dolphin training. 

Heather’s education, experience, and personal passion provide the perfect foundation for the creation of Spot On Training.  And we believe our customers will experience the value of that foundation in everything we do.