Hi, I'm Emily Updegraff - owner, trainer, founder of Oh My Dog St. Pete! I've always loved animals. From an early age, watching their behavior and trying to figure out what it meant was my idea of a fun time - I was the kid pretending to be the raccoon or king cobra in kindergarten. I was also the kid who followed her cat on all fours through tall grass because if I mimicked her movements, I could get really close to deer. Weird? Maybe. But I learned more about animal behavior directly from watching them than I would anywhere else. As I grew up, I would go on hunting and fishing trips with my dad. We would see all kinds of behaviors that I'd never seen anywhere else, from all sorts of species. I also began riding horses, which provided me invaluable behavioral characteristics of a prey species, but also showed me how the individuality of each animal always shines through - regardless of what is considered "typical" behavior. I had dogs growing up. However, while I was constantly learning from their behavior, I had no idea how much I didn't know. In 2014, while I was spending the summer in Chicago for an improv intensive (I've worn many hats), I decided to go "play with some shelter dogs" because I had already done all the touristy things I could do in Chicago. While this probably looked like a terrible idea from the outside, it changed my life - likely in more ways than I can even recognize. ​That day I took home Finley Alexander (Fin), a 6 month old owner surrender pit bull with no known history. He had put his head on my lap and rolled on his back in the play yard - smart. When we got to the busy streets of Chicago with nothing but the slip lead from the shelter, I suddenly realized I had a lot to learn. He was constantly panicked - jumping at every movement, pancaking at every sound, and hiding under my chair when I sat down at a restaurant. When we got back to the hotel room, I learned that he liked to play - HARD. Pretty quickly my arms were covered in bruises and scratches from his mouth and paws. When I pushed him off, it became a game. But I loved him. He was already my best friend in the whole world. When we got home, the fear continued, the reactivity started. He was afraid of all people - mostly men, handicapped people, and varying ethnicities. His deep bark and growling scared people and I knew his behavior wasn't doing great things for his breed. When two off leash dogs went after him at my apartment building, he became reactive towards dogs as well. I was embarrassed and sad. I had always loved pit bulls and here I was messing up their image because I didn't know what to do. I was already walking him for hours every day, having him eat his breakfast at a restaurant every morning to get him used to people, and bringing him to run around for hours at the dog park (reactivity only showed up with the leash on). One night, when my arms were so bruised and he wouldn't stop mouthing and jumping on me, I lost it. I didn't want him to see me weak, so I went into the bathroom and closed the door, thinking, "Don't let him see you cry." I hired a dog behaviorist and started in a beginner obedience class. The behaviorist told me to keep a routine, to not bring him around things he was fearful of until he was "ready," to tie him in another room for "alone time" if he got too excited (guess who chewed through the leash), and to not allow him in the kitchen because "someone might drop a knife." He graduated from the behaviorist with no behavioral changes. He is still allowed in the kitchen and I have yet to drop a knife on him. In the beginner obedience class he was perfect. I learned he wouldn't be reactive to dogs if he was inside the store where classes were being held. When we graduated, I mentioned his reactivity to a trainer and she didn't believe me. I told her to take him outside. Naturally he flipped out when a dog went to walk into the store. She wasn't able to control him and grabbed for a bag of treats. As he was losing his mind, she kept calling his name and shoving treats in his face. I watched, embarrassed, as the treats fell out of his mouth, all over the floor, and the trainer and my dog made a scene at the front of the store. She told me that I'd have to work on that with him and just keep trying to distract him with treats. Poor naive me took that information and got the exact same result in every day life - treats everywhere, people scared, Fin losing his mind. ​With no results from the information I'd been fed, I began to realize these people might not have the answers I need. I started religiously watching Cesar Millan episodes. This guy wasn't a "certified dog trainer" and knew exactly what to do because he watched and listened. I sat for hours at the dog park and analyzed behavior. I began connecting dots from episodes, to dog park, to every day experiences. I started gaining traction. However, I was unable to crack the code for his fear of humans. I needed more help. That's when I found Marcus. I had gone through many dog training websites at this point and had very specific things I was looking for at this point. I needed to see pictures of dogs of all breeds - no discrimination. I needed to see success stories of pretty severe issues where the dog and owner had come out on the other side. I needed to see more instinct than "by the book" techniques. I also needed to see that the human was trained in addition to the dog. I saw all these things in his site and gave him a call.  Over the phone he told me that dogs like Fin can benefit from being around other stable dogs. These dogs could show him how they calmly encounter situations that made Fin fearful and reactive. I made the plan to do a board and train with Marcus where I would drive to him periodically, at different locations, to work through some of the things we had been experiencing and ultimately learn how to communicate with him in those scenarios. ​I received a call from the previous dog behaviorist, asking how things were going, and I told him that I was taking him to a board and train so that he could learn from other stable dogs. The dog behaviorist told me that this was a terrible idea and that he would "feel abandoned again like he was at the shelter." I was still new to all of this and called Marcus, worried that Fin would feel abandoned if I took him there. Marcus told me that dogs don't make associations quite like that. Dogs live in the moment - to continue to feel bad for him and limit him because of his past would stifle his growth. Thank God I listened to him. Fin spent time with Marcus and his pack, and I learned more and more each time I met with them. I studied hard in between, watching videos and reading up while Fin wasn't there. When it was time for Fin to come home, Marcus was upfront with me - even though he had made so much improvement, I would have to continue to expose him to things he was afraid of, continue to work with him through various situations, and maintain what he has already learned. This is when I began to really learn dog psychology and put it into practice. The training wheels were off. I found out what worked, what didn't; what was too much, or too little. I made mistakes, I had hard days, but overall things were getting better. My arms weren't bruised anymore, I trusted Fin off-leash anywhere, I got better at reading him. We went to street festivals, into bars - any public place that allowed him, he would be with me. He even started accompanying me in the cabin on flights between Tampa and Chicago as an emotional support animal (those were the days). Outside of all I was learning from Fin, I began walking dogs for work and began to consistently have around 14 dogs each day to learn from. I was also able to learn dog behavior in a veterinary setting as a part-time veterinary assistant. Family and friends began asking for help and I started to find that I actually knew stuff. I could actually help these people and their dogs. Over time I ended up working through aggression, fear, obedience, learning to swim, you name it. I started to realize that even though I had moved to Chicago to realize my dreams in improv and acting, I was constantly trying to be around animals more. I began to volunteer at the Shedd Aquarium and Lincoln Park Zoo and saw how much these people loved coming to work. That's what I wanted. I went back to school and got a biology degree, thinking that would allow me to keep my options open between going into marine biology, veterinary medicine, and animal training. During an internship at ZooTampa, I quickly realized that training and behavior were my true loves. From there, I've been a trainer for bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, birds of prey, Asian elephants, and more. Every species and every team has given me invaluable training and behavioral experience, as well as absolutely magical moments I still dream of. I am incredibly thankful for every animal and human who has filled me with the confidence, knowledge, and, let's be honest, girl power to open up this business.  Oh My Dog St. Pete was born from my experiences with many species, but the one I know most is the dog. And I owe my entire career with all those species and the creation of my very own business to one dog, who I made the naive but absolutely right decision to adopt from a Chicago shelter in 2014. He changed my life, taught me to lead with calm confidence, and together we are now able to help other dogs and families just like us. We look forward to working with you.