Kellee Zenk

Experience and Education

2023 - Attended Chad Mackin’s Dogmanship Workshop in Blaine, MN

2021 - Attended Heather Beck’s and Jason Vaconi’s Dealing with Difficult Dogs Workshop in Dickinson, TX.

2021 - Attended Aimee Sadler’s Dog’s Playing for Life Webinar.

2019 - Attended Pat Stuart’s NePoPo Workshop in Houston, TX.

2018 - Attended Let Dogs be Dogs Workshop with Marc Goldberg and Brother Christopher of the Monks of New Skete in Elgin, IL

- Shadowed Tyler Muto of K9 Connections and president of the International Association of Canine Professionals in Buffalo, NY.

 - Attended Tyler Muto's Mastering the Remote Collar in Buffalo, NY.

2017 - Took Duke Ferguson's Unleashed Potential Dog Training Genesis course.

- Audited Ted Etfthymiadis's Aggression Mastermind Course.

2015 - Present - Lead Trainer at Midwest Animal Rescue and Services in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

2015 - Graduated with honors from Animal Behavioral College’s Obedience Instructor Program. 

2013 - Founded Good Dogs Minnesota, now Dogs Decoded

Kellee Zenk has a bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State University (2007) and is a Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).

What Got Me Here

My name is Kellee Zenk and I have spent my whole life in the company of domestic and wild animals. I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota on an acre lot consisting of a natural landscape, woodlands, and Nine Mile Creek. I spent my childhood running, climbing, and exploring our ever-changing property and the swampy, thickly wooded acres that surrounded our home. Looking back, I think my brother and I were the luckiest suburban kids in the world.

Our family always had a diverse collection of pets. My mother grew up on a farm and my father's family raised Great Danes. It was never a question as to if we were going to share our home with animals. Our parents taught us how to care for all our pets, and this didn’t just apply to their physical needs. They made sure we knew how to give our pets the most fulfilling life possible and we all put in the work. We spent afternoons making enriching toys for our birds and rabbits, cutting up boxes for our guinea pigs, and spent evenings exercising the cats. Our pets were a part of our everyday routine. The guinea pigs were put in an outdoor play area while we worked in the yard and our cockatoo helped wash and dry the dishes after dinner. They all received gifts on Christmas morning and enjoyed their own specialized feasts on Thanksgiving and Easter. However, of all our pets those that were the most ingrained in our lives were, of course, the dogs. We mostly adopted adult dogs. Many of them were retired breeders. Some of them had never lived in a house or spent time around people.

When I was seven years old my parents brought home our first puppy: a very energetic Lab/Retriever mix. We were not a family of hunters and we all had to quickly learn how to integrate this wild, young hunting dog into our family of rabbits, birds, and rodents. He was my first lesson in dog training, and I must say, he taught me very well. I watched my parents become leaders. They corrected his predatory attitude and hyperactivity toward our other pets and channeled his prey drive into active games to drain his excess energy. By the time he was 3 years old, we could trust him around any of our small, scrambling pets and with any other dog that we introduced into our home. In my opinion, he grew into the best dog in the world.

When I was 10 years old, I started training our dogs and birds to do entertaining tricks. I found that the more I worked with the dogs the more they seemed to want to be around me. I also began taking our young lab mix into the woods off-leash and discovered I could control him with nothing more than my body language. I found that if I walked away, he followed. If I walked toward him, he moved away. If I crouched and turned to the side, he approached and sat next to me. If I pet him too much, he ran off. If I shouted at him, I got no response. If I focused on what I wanted him to do, he would jump to obedience. I began to use this language in our home, and it worked just the same. Then I started applying it to our other dogs.

As I got older I expanded my work in animal behavior and husbandry. Through my twenties, I worked in pet stores, boarding kennels, horse stables, as an exotic animal trainer. I started working with wolves and focused on studying natural canine behavior and social structure. In early 2013, I volunteered overseas with the African Elephant Research Unit in South Africa, caring for and studying an orphan elephant herd.

Of all my animal experiences of the past 20 years, dogs have always been the most rewarding animals that I have ever worked with and shared my life with. I started my dog training business when I returned home from Africa. I have been working hard to grow my business and education, practicing techniques, and academic study in Behaviorism, Ethology, Psychology, and Neuroscience.

I currently live in Anoka, Minnesota with my daughter, three dogs, and collections of reptiles.