Polina Semenoff

Polina completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science at Rutgers University and spent the majority of her time studying animal behavior, nutrition, physiology, and animal-assisted therapy.  The majority of her hands-on work experience was spent with livestock animal species but as she was finishing her degree, Polina dove into the canine world out of love for her second Border Collie rescue, Ruby. 

Ruby had a handful of issues that Polina didn’t understand so she began to learn more about canine communication and behavior to help her dog and family live a better life together.  

This led her to a dog training certification with CATCH Canine Trainers Academy as well as the Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) certification. Feeling that there was still something missing, Polina went on to complete the Family Dog Mediator course that focuses on applied ethology and genetics while at the same time diving into the deeper depths of family and children relationships by completing the Family Paws Parent Educator course. She continued on to complete the necessary steps to become credentialed with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants to be a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant. Polina is also a mentor trainer for other CATCH students and certified in Pet First Aid and Canine Wilderness First Aid. 

Polina believes in using nature, nutrition, exercise, and pawrent education to give dogs a head start in their recovery from any behavior concern. She believes that using these things strengthens the bond between dog and human and helps to ensure a lifelong harmonious relationship.

Polina enjoys educating others in canine body language and behavior to help dog parents see what their dogs are communicating to them. She loves to help people create a clear communication system with their dogs so problem solving can be easier. She is passionate about teaching leadership to pet parents as well as neutrality and relaxation to dogs so both parties in the canine human relationship can live their day to day lives with lower stress.

In her free time, Polina climbs mountains with her dog (literally and figuratively), trains competitively at her local gym as a womens figure bodybuilder, takes care of her chickens and vegetable garden, and continues her education within the canine realm. 

View articles Polina writes here: Articles