Bios | Meet Our Family > Karah Wilkes, CPDT-KA

Karah Wilkes, CPDT-KA

Director of Training

Karah Wilkes is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, with nearly a decade of training experience, and two decades working with animals in other fields, including vet clinics, shelters, and daycare. She has a passion for helping dogs and their humans learn to communicate clearly and build positive relationships with each other. She especially loves working with puppies, setting a strong foundation so that the transition into adolescence and adulthood goes smoothly. Fostering a strong, positive relationship between dog and human, and protecting the physical and mental health of the dog are her priorities in training.

At ABCs Puppy Zs Karah works to educate and support clients, providing expert advice and personalized training plans for basic puppy concerns, as well as challenging behavior issues. She develops written and video resources to help guide dog guardians through the training process, and provides quality assurance by monitoring training sessions and providing feedback for improved results. Additionally, she ensures that training facilities are safe, clean, and properly equipped, by staying informed about industry standards and communicating any changes to the team.

Her active enthusiasm for learning about and working with dogs is apparent through her constant continued education, via conferences, workshops, and tons of reading. She has worked extensively with pet dogs, shelter and rescue dogs, and working dogs in a multitude of behavior areas, from basic obedience to service work, as well as fear and aggression issues. She is especially skilled at designing customized training programs to meet the individual needs of each dog and their human, and maintaining support to ensure consistency and effectiveness.

Karah’s favorite part of the job is when she gets the opportunity to do public education. She has partnered with many organizations and businesses, including local rescues, Chewy, Inc, and the city of Dallas, among others, to provide information on positive reinforcement training and dog behavior to the public, in hopes of making as many dogs’ lives as possible much more enriched and enjoyable.

When she’s not working with dogs, Karah loves spending time with her family and her horse, Duncan, and learning to train horses with positive reinforcement. She is an avid reader and especially loves reading about animal training and behavior.