

NAOMI L. SMITH
CPDT-KA


Owner/Trainer
Naomi is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed, through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT). Naomi is a professional member of The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) .
Naomi holds an AAS in Business Administration from Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, NY and a BA in Psychology, with a minor in Biology from the University of Southern Maine.
Naomi's passion for living and working with animals started in childhood. She grew up around dogs, cats, and horses. As an adult she followed that passion into a career working with horses. She has worked at show barns, trail riding facilities, breeding farms, and equine veterinary clinics.
Naomi began working with dogs as a volunteer, walking dogs first at The Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick, ME and then at the NHSPCA in Stratham, NH, as well as transporting rescue dogs on their way to shelters and adopters in Maine. After graduating from USM, Naomi began working at York Bark and Play managing doggie playgroups. The dog daycare environment provided a great opportunity to hone her canine behavior observation and group management skills. She started her dog training career by completing an internship with the Behavior and Training Department at the NHSPCA and later joined the team as a dog trainer where she worked for 3 years. While there she worked training shelter dogs with behavioral needs, collaborated with dedicated dog walking volunteers, and helped caring pet parents and their dogs through group training classes and behavior consultations. Most recently she consulted as a trainer for Canine Karma, offering behavior consulting and group training classes to the seacoast and surrounding areas.
Naomi stays up to date on the latest canine learning and behavior research and dog training best practices by regularly participating in continuing education, including attending conferences, workshops, lectures, and training classes with her own dogs.
Naomi believes that training should be enjoyable for dog and owner alike. She feels that reward based training not only enables dog owners to effectively change behavior but also strengthens the bond they share with their canine companions.