🙋🏻‍♀️ meet your dog trainer 🙋🏻‍♀️
Hi! My name is Sara Baker.
I'm a passionate wife, mother of two ridiculously beautiful daughters, and family dog trainer.
Watch the video below to learn more about what we do!
Meet the Bakers
Sara - President/Head Trainer
When not answering cries of "Mommy!" and "Babe!", reading bedtime stories, cooking dinner, and running errands, Sara devotes her time to training dogs, instructing owners, and educating the public. She specializes in teaching families to work together to train the family dog, regardless of age, breed, or training level. After all, the family that trains together, stays together!
Fun facts: sings 2nd Soprano with the Musettes Ladies Chorus
Favorite food: s’mores
Favorite activity: listening to loud music and singing at the top of her lungs while embarrassing her girls with interpretive dance moves
Erik - Vice President/Security Officer
You may not see him very often, but we owe a lot to Erik. He keeps things running with his entrepreneurial spirit, business expertise, killer handyman skills, and of course, handling the kids while "mom" gets to play with dogs.
Fun fact: he can fit the most amount of stuff into the smallest of spaces
Favorite food: chocolate and cheese
Favorite activity: visiting Island Park, Idaho, building/demolishing, and finding great deals at DI and local yard sales
Mikah - Assistant Trainer/Pet Sitting Supervisor
As Supervisor, Mikah ensures all of the dogs that stay at BAK9 are happy, comfortable, well-fed, and have a clean place to sleep and play. It's not all work at BAK9, however. Mikah knows how to have a good time and typically organizes the daily play time, rain, snow, or shine.
Fun fact: can create anything out of nothing
Favorite food: smoothies (homemade or from Tropical Smoothie Cafe)
Favorite activity: reading the thickest book she can find and composing her own songs on the piano
Mckenzie - Receptionist
Kenzie manages the "reception" area. When you knock on our door, hers is usually the first face you see. She is in charge of daily “drop off” and “pick up”. Don't be fooled by her size and age. The dogs know to give her all the respect she deserves.
Fun fact: “Queen of Faces” and breakout dancing
Favorite food: spaghetti
Favorite activity: any activity involving LEGOS
Bandit - HR
More commonly referred to as, Buddy, he is the peacemaker of the family. The very epitome of Man’s Best Friend, he loves every human he meets and will happily greet all of our guests with a polite request for a butt scratch.
Fun fact: can find his favorite toy just about anywhere you try to hide it
Favorite food: prefers love over treats
Favorite activity: snuggling with his favorite person, Mikah
Chico - Quality Control
Chico is also our "puppy whisperer" and teaches all the young dogs the rules of appropriate play and who’s really the boss of the yard.
Fun fact: champion of the “pound puppy” look
Favorite food: anything from the table or off the floor
Favorite activity: cleaning up under the kitchen table
Spooky - Kennel Assistant
As the newest member of the Baker Pack, Spooky is the life of the party when all of her friends come to play for Day Camp or Overnight Sleepovers and takes the spotlight as the demo dog during in-home, private lessons.
Fun fact: silent and sneaky as a shadow, a.k.a. “Sneaker Dog”
Favorite food: sticks
Favorite activity: sneaking up behind you and laying at your feet
SARA'S STORY
Sara running a USDAA agility course with her dog, Abby.
MY BEGINNING
I grew up with dogs, cats, horses, and a menagerie of other creatures, training my own dogs to do fun tricks, and saddle-breaking young horses and ponies. In the late 90s, my mom and I saw an agility demo at a stock show and decided to learn and compete with our own dogs. We traveled all over the country attending seminars and championships almost every weekend.
Kaos, Abby, & Jessy
MY STRUGGLE
However, all that training couldn't help our dogs' behavior problems at home. They rarely listened off leash, barked constantly, suffered from obsessive compulsive behaviors, and attacked each other. Our Jack Russells fights were so bad, you would have thought we were running a dog fighting ring. We tried everything we could think of, but nothing we tried worked. Their fights grew progressively worse, becoming more bloody and unpredictable. And then they turned on the oldest pack member, Abby. We made the difficult decision to re-home them to separate, single-dog homes.
Sara with Bandit & Chico, the faces of Bakers Acres
MY MISSION
Since those dark days, I have devoted much of my time traveling the country attending seminars, workshops, and conferences to learn all I can about dog behavior, canine psychology, and new advances in training tools in order to teach my clients how to prevent all the problems my dogs and I endured through the years.
MY EDUCATION & AFFILIATIONS
I belong to several local and online communities of like-minded trainers, behaviorists, groomers, veterinarians, and average dog owners. Together, our mission is to educate the public on dog-bite prevention, empower dog owners to train their own dogs, and to stop 5 million+ dogs a year from being unnecessarily re-homed, incarcerated, or euthanized.
My goal is to attend at least 2 workshops or seminars a year to continue learning from the best professionals in the field.
To date, I have attended and tutored under:
“Dog Aggression Decoded Masterclass” with Ted Efthymiadis, 5 week online course - February 2022
Larry Krohn Seminar, 3 days - Orem, UT September 2021
“How To Get The Most Out Of Your Clients Mastermind” with Ted Efthymiadis, 4 week online course - June 2020
“Aggression Mastermind” with Ted Efthymiadis, 5 week online course - May 2020
Mango Dogs Shadow Program with Ted Efthymiadis, 8 days - Halifax, NS, Canada November 2019
IACP Annual Conference, 5 days - Colorado Springs, CO September 2019
Puppy Potential Workshop with Brittany Brauer & Bethany Tracy, 3 days - Orem, UT July 2019
Canine-Human Relationship Institute: Course 8 with Nelson Hodges, 3 days - Blue Ridge, TX February 2019
“The Other End of The Leash” by Patricia McConnell - 2018
“Everything You Need to Know: E-Collar Training” by Larry Krohn - 2018
IACP Annual Conference, 5 days - St Louis, MO September 2017
Argos Dogworks Shadow Program with Josh Donahue, 5 days - Atlanta, GA May 2017
IACP Annual Conference, 5 days - Ontario, CA September 2016
Train the Trainers with Jeff and Sean Seminar, 7 days - Providence, RI April 2016
Learn to Train The Good Dog Way: E-Collar Training, 2 DVDs - 2016
Learn to Train The Good Dog Way: The Foundation, 2 DVDs - 2015
“He’s Not Friendly: Aggressive/Reactive Dog Training” with Ted Efthymiadis, 4 DVDs - 2015.
RV Dog Trainer Workshop with Jeff Gellman, 2 days - Mesa, AZ December 2014
“Mastering Leadership Series” with Cesar Millan, 6 DVDs - 2014
Think you have what it takes to be a dog trainer?
““If you’re looking for effective, compassionate, and knowledgeable assistance with your canine companion, Sara’s your gal! She’s the one-stop shop for all things dog.””
Kimberly Artley with Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer