About Koinonia

Meet the Dog Trainer

Leighann Hurley, CPDT-KA

Welcome! I’m Leighann—the doggy problem solver and human behind Koinonia Training and Boarding.

As a dog trainer, I empower owners to turn their busy puppies, out of control adolescents and sweet but struggling adults into well-behaved dogs who choose good behavior.

My training philosophy embraces four key elements:

Choice. Koinonia Dogs choose to listen, to participate, and volunteer good behaviors.
Reward-Based. Koinonia Dogs are well-behaved because they enjoy it; not because they’re avoiding something unpleasant.
Emotional Well-Being. Koinonia Dogs live and learn with a minimum of fear, anxiety and distress.
Communication. Training is ultimately about clarifying dog to human and human to dog communication.

Here are some highlights from my journey from dog-lover to certified professional dog trainer!

2003

The dog-sitting my sister and I had done for neighbors turned into boarding I did out of our home.

2009

Fostering Rocky for a local service dog organization launched me into the positive-reinforcement world.

2014

Koinoina Training and Boarding was born and I moved from hobbyist to professional.

2016

After spending four years as a surgery technician at a local spay/neuter clinic, I bid a bittersweet farewell to my friends to pursue Koinonia full-time.

2017

Fostering Eclair for Service Dogs, Inc. gave me a big taste of puppy raising and taught me an important lesson about nature v. nurture question.

About Koinonia

Meet the Dog Trainer

Leighann Hurley, CPDT-KA

2003

The dog-sitting my sister and I had done for neighbors turned into boarding I did out of our home.

2009

Fostering Rocky for a local service dog organization launched me into the positive-reinforcement world.

2014

Koinoina Training and Boarding was born and I moved from hobbyist to professional.

2016

After spending four years as a surgery technician at a local spay/neuter clinic, I bid a bittersweet farewell to my friends to pursue Koinonia full-time.

2017

Fostering Eclair for Service Dogs, Inc. gave me a big taste of puppy raising and taught me an important lesson about nature v. nurture question.

2019

10 years after my journey started, I reached a milestone and earned my Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) certification.

2019

I suspended Boarding after 16 years to make room for Board and Train.

2020

My Fear Free Certification reflects a commitment to prioritizing emotional well-being for dogs in all parts of their life.