Anna Carina Nylander, Dog Trainer and Behavior Specialist in Florida

 Anna Carina Nylander,  Dog Trainer, Dog Behaviorist and Animal Rescuer

I have loved and rescued animals my whole life. I always had lots of animals in my home country of Sweden and would bring home injured animals starting at age 7. My love for and interest in animals lead me volunteer at the local animal hospital every day after school for most of my High School years. I made a little money as the local dog walker at 10 years of age. While living in Cuba with my father, we rescued both cats and dogs from the streets.

I followed my passion for animals by accepting a position as an adoption counselor at the Humane Society of Broward County. I spent 4 years helping adopters find the right pet.

It was at HSBC I first realized the need for training. Many dogs were surrendered for reasons that I realized could have been avoided if the owners had tried to train the dog.

I then accepted a position at Central Bark Doggy Day Care, both as GM and Director of Marketing. During the 4 years at Central Bark I learned more about dog behavior as it was my responsibility to keep groups of up to 70 dogs safe and able to play nice. I befriended our in-house trainer, a gifted and well known dog trainer and behaviorist, named Kathy Gioia. I assisted her with training and puppy playgroups and one day she asked me to be her first student. She just casually informed me that I was a natural trainer. I said I was not, but she quite stubbornly asserted her opinion. I became very interested in dog training and dog behavior and spent a lot of time observing dogs and studying their behavior. I spent time studying the dog’s unique body language and how they communicated with their bodies. I wrote the dog handling portions of the operations manual for Central Bark Doggy Day Care. I also hosted monthly doggy fundraisers at Central Bark.

In 2004 I started The Canine Academy. Kathy and I had plans on working together, but sadly Kathy passed away from Cancer. During one of my many visits to her in hospice she asked me to carry on her work. I promised I would.

I also continued rescuing and at one point I had 17 rescues living with me. I continued forging relationships with organizations that rescue animals; dogs, cats and wildlife, as well as co-hosting numerous fundraisers for the same organizations. I belong to a large number of animal rescues, as well as wildlife preservation groups.

I trained service dogs in Orlando, which was an amazing experience.

I use a reward based and positive training method with a lot of innovative training techniques. I frequently re-train dogs that have been trained with shock collars and prong collars.

I help dogs with severe behavior issues be more balanced and happy.

I have started Dog Training schools at 2 different boarding facilities (Pompano Pet Lodge and Barkers) and have also worked at Camp Canine. I’ve learned at each facility.  

I have collected a vast number of testimonials over the years, and I am still in touch with some of my earlier clients. I have been on several TV and radio shows, quite reluctantly. I am training rescue dogs pro-bono, in an attempt to make them more adoptable.

I love training dogs because I love dogs. I like giving the owners a better quality of life with their dogs. I am really happy as I see both owners and dogs learning together. You are only as good as your clients say you are so please read some testimonials. Also enjoy the joyful photo's in my Galleries. 

I am confident that I can train any dog, any age, any issue. I train any dog, any size any breed.