Samantha Porter, CEO
I'm not going to open with how many years I've been doing this, because that's not really what matters to you. What matters is whether your dog listens, whether you trust the person teaching you, and whether any of this actually holds once the training's over.
Here's what I believe, plainly: most dogs labeled stubborn or difficult are actually just undertrained, and most training that doesn't stick fails because it was built on quick fixes instead of a real foundation.
Your dog reflects you more than you'd expect, the energy you bring, the consistency you follow through on, and once you understand that, everything else gets easier.
For years, my specialty was the hard cases: aggression, severe anxiety, trauma-based reactivity. I still carry everything I learned from that work, but somewhere along the way I realized what I actually love is different. I love watching an owner and a puppy figure each other out from day one, and building something solid before problems ever have the chance to take root. That's where my focus lives now, and it's the best work I've ever done.
I don't fall into a training camp, and I'm not interested in defending one. What works for the dog in front of me is what matters. My approach is straightforward: real relationship, real consistency, results that hold because the foundation is real, not because a tool is forcing the behavior 24/7.
This work is built for obedience and everyday life with your dog. Puppy basics, leash manners, recall, impulse control, off-leash reliability, and the everyday stuff that makes a dog easy to live with. I'm also the author of The Dog Mirror, which goes deeper into the philosophy behind all of it.
Some trainers will disagree with how I do this. That's fine. I'm not trying to convince anyone, I'm just being straight with you about what's worked.
Specializations: Puppy raising, leash manners, obedience foundations, impulse control, multi-dog households, off-leash reliability
Approach: Relationship-based. Real foundation, not shortcuts. Results that hold because the dog actually learned it, not because a tool is forcing compliance.
The People Behind The Training
Everything here runs through one standard, mine. Every Trainer working with your dog was trained by me personally, held to the same approach and standard, and trusted with your dog the way I would trust myself.
Those who have not remained here after their mentorship, have not "made the cut", and for that I have no regrets.
- Samantha
Dog Trainer, Live-In Kennel Tech
Chris Baker
Chris found us the way a lot of our best people do, through a dog that humbled him. He adopted a Bluetick Coonhound with no confidence and no social foundation and quickly realized he was in over his head. A referral from a former client brought him through our door, and four years later he's never left.
What Chris brings to this team can't be manufactured. His energy is genuinely infectious, the kind of presence that makes a nervous dog relax and a frustrated owner feel like everything is going to be fine, because with Chris it always is. He pairs that warmth with a level of customer care our clients notice every time.
As a military veteran, Chris brings discipline, reliability, and a loyalty to the work that runs deeper than most. He's one of a kind on this team, and our clients feel that immediately.
Dog Trainer, Administrative
Cameron Gant
Cameron came to Tranquil Dog Training Academy through our mentorship program and has been a growing presence on the team for nearly a year. What stands out most about him is how seriously he takes the craft. He arrived eager to learn and hasn't stopped since.
He excels in obedience and foundational training, and he's developing an eye for behavioral modification faster than most trainers do.
His own dog has been both his motivation and his greatest teacher, and he continues building his education through conferences, seminars, and hands-on mentorship that only comes from working inside a team like ours.
He's early in his career and already the kind of trainer clients feel comfortable with right away.
Welcome
to Our Home
No concrete runs, no outdoor kennel blocks, just a real home and the people who work inside of it.
A look inside where training happens and who's actually doing it.
Training in a facility teaches a dog to behave in a facility. It does not always transfer to your living room, your yard, or your daily routine, and that gap is exactly where a lot of good training quietly falls apart. Every dog that trains with us, our focus is inside of an actual household, the same kind of environment that they are living in. Whether that's lessons here with us or lessons within your home, we will create real-life scenarios that the dog deserves to learn within.
Here, we do believe in crate training, and they are used here the same way that they're used in most homes: for rest, for structure, and for safety. Not as a place where dogs are left for hours in isolation, like kennels. This page is here so you can see the full picture for yourself instead of taking my word for it.
Below you will find pictures of our home, pictures of our dogs, vet records, as well as veterinary referrals.
Veterinarian Referral
Trained For Them, Trusted By Them
Not only have we trained dogs from this veterinarian practice, but they also come to my home every year and provide preventive care, making them excellent referral sources for the care, cleanliness, compassion, and results that we provide here.
