ABOUT

OWNER/TRAINER: LUCIA OBERSTE Certified Canine Training & Behavior Specialist, Triple Crown Academy

Lucia has been working with dogs for over two decades. She grew up in San Francisco surrounded by family pets and started her career as a dog walker walking her next door neighbor's dogs.  Her training journey began at the SFSPCA where she volunteered to train service dogs for the hearing dog department. After that she started working with local animal rescue groups fostering dogs with behavior problems. Under the supervision of various Bay Area trainers she helped rehabilitate these dogs and was able to place them into loving homes. She has also worked as a groomer and dog daycare attendant.

Working in rescue inspired Lucia's desire to become a professional dog trainer and in 2007 she attended a 6-month long intensive at Triple Crown Dog Training Academy in Hutto, Texas, under the instruction of Jessy Gabriel and Rob Dunn. After graduating she moved to Oakland and started working as a dog walker and trainer. Lucia values continuing education and has attended seminars, workshops and courses since graduating; most recently at The Michael Ellis School in Santa Rosa, California. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her hound mix Wulfric and terrier mix Dexter, and continues her work as a foster parent for dogs in need. 

Training Style

Our style of training is relationship focused.  We strongly believe that clear communication and a solid relationship are essential to having a well trained dog and to overcoming behavior problems.  Our training is balanced and reward based, which means we use  a wide variety of rewards & training tools, depending on the needs of each individual dog, human, and situation. We do not believe in a "one size fits all" solution. We take a holistic approach to our training, and will take into account exercise, health, and lifestyle when devising training and daily care plans in order to ensure the best possible outcome. 

The Dogs

Felon was Lucia’s best friend and constant companion for 14 years. She rescued him when he was about a year old and had failed his temperament test at the shelter for being generally out of control. Basically he wouldn’t stop body slamming the kennel attendants and doing parkour off of the walls long enough for them to be able to temperament test him. Lucia was dedicated to his training and was able to turn him into a (mostly) polite canine citizen. He taught her a lot about training a high drive, powerful breed dog, and she would not be the same trainer she is today without those valuable lessons from him. He loved agility, snuggling, swimming and his favorite activity was to climb trees, hang from tree limbs and carry massive branches in his mouth. He was a quintessential high drive pit bull and didn’t do anything half way. Because of the balanced training Lucia did with Felon he was able to live a full and free life. Lucia spent many an afternoon swimming in the ocean with Felon; he loved to body surf the waves and hunt for floating sticks. She always had to keep a close eye on him because if he really had his way he probably would have swam to China. Felon passed away in November of 2017 after a two year battle with cancer. He is dearly missed.

Dexter is a 17 year old terrier/chihuahua mix who found his way to Lucia in 2009. Like many little dogs he has a huge personality, and came to Lucia with a fair amount of anxiety, reactivity, and aggression. She was able to work through a lot of his issues through training and channel his anxious energy into fun activities such as urban agility, tree climbing, and circus classes. Dexter has taught Lucia many important lessons in patience and how to work with anxiety and reactivity. When Dexter was young his favorite activity was climbing on objects and posing for photos (when he's not trolling for crumbs that is.) Nowadays Dexter is enjoying his retirement years with Lucia’s parents in San Francisco, where he gets to be the only dog & receive all the senior dog pampering he deserves.

Wulfric is a 6 year old mixed breed. He was rescued by Lucia with his mom and 8 littermates when they were just a couple weeks old. Wulfric fell ill shortly after he was rescued and spent weeks fighting for his life. Lucia and her co-foster parents made their kitchen into a hospital wing, and with around the clock care he ended up making a full recovery. He is smaller than the rest of his litter-mates and a bit oddly shaped because of the time he spent being sick while the rest of his siblings were growing, but we think it adds to his character. At his last veterinary appointment his vet deemed him “the happiest dog alive.” He loves training and is always ready for a new adventure. Wulfric is a sensitive soul has taught Lucia how to be more gentle & patient.

Felix is the new kid on the block! He is a two year old Doberman Pinscher that came to Lucia in January 2020 from a family that couldn’t quite keep up with his energy & drive. Felix is a big love and is starting his career in protection sports!