Meet the Founder...

LollyDog Trek & Train is a locally-owned business serving the Portland, Oregon area. Founded in 2013, LollyDog uses science-based animal learning theory in implementing the latest techniques in reward-based, positive reinforcement training.

Dana Gray, LollyDog's trainer, believes that the more your dog enjoys the training process, the more eager he'll be to train… and the more reliable his response to your cues (commands) will be. Dana's training techniques draw primarily on shaping, free shaping, targeting, and capturing.

A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Dana had worked as a web developer and as a project manager before discovering dog training, which has become the most rewarding of her career paths. She speaks five languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English) but finds speaking "dog" to be the most fun! Once Dana discovered how much more dogs are capable of than most people realize, she set off on a path to study canine cognition (i.e. how dogs learn). Dana is educated in the latest techniques in reward-based, positive reinforcement dog training and she delights in the precision work involved in dog sports such as Musical Freestyle, Rally-Free, and Agility. 

Dana is currently conducting trials in canine cognitive learning and delayed imitation capabilities (i.e. the dog's ability to imitate the handler's actions when cued to "copy"), which is new and very exciting! She stretches some of her canine students' minds by teaching them to "Copy" as well as to "Match to Sample" (i.e. the dog selects among an array of objects the one that matches the object that the handler is holding up). Dana teaches group classes in pet manners and dog sports foundation skills.

Dana is a professional member of the APDT (Association of Professional Dog Trainers) and regularly attends continuing education events and conferences on canine behavior and training.