Waggin Train

Dianne Decker
Dianne is the owner and main trainer for Waggin' Train LLC. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of animals and 10 years in animal behavior and dog training. Most recently she enjoyed working at the Arizona Humane Society, building and redefining their Pet Behavior Department. She worked tirelessly with the staff and animals to assist in reducing stress for the animals while in the society's care. She designed and implemented many of the pet training and evaluation programs that have resulted in pets finding the right family, with minimal transitional stress. Her passion, philosophy and methodologies are what make Waggin’ Train thrive and gives it heart.

Dianne has been given some wonderful opportunities in life (thanks Mom), to work and study with leading universities. For the University of Wisconsin she studied laboratory monkeys released into large outdoor enclosures, to identify and record behavioral changes, as they became a group.

She has released and tracked Bald Eagles on the Peugeot Sound for the University of Washington, monitoring their ability to assimilate back into the wild after a long captivity; this is where she found her passion for bird watching. For Washington State University she studied and lived for 1 year with Megellanic Penguins in Punta Tombo, Argentina; studying life cycles, eating, breeding, maternal behavior of the penguins and a local colony of Cormorants.

Dianne's canine educational background includes the study of learning theory, instruction skills, aggression, canine nutrition, Bach Flower Remedies and Ttouch. She has studied alongside many of the top trainers in the industry including Dr. Ian Dunbar, Patricia McConnell, Jean Donaldson, Pamela Reid, Terry Ryan, and Tia Leoni. She remains committed to education through seminars, conferences, and reading.

Aside from Dianne’s experience in one-on-one (private in-home) training and group classes; she specializes in dogs, cats and multi-pet/species relationships, new pet transitions, potty training, dog aggression problems (dog/dog, leash, fear related) and behavior and temperament evaluations. In addition Dianne is a Certified Delta Society Evaluator Delta Society and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers APDT since 1999.