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Yooper Paws of Love is dedicated to providing training "With Love" to you and your 4-legged friend! My mission as a trainer is to TEACH owners to ENGAGE better with their dogs to empowering them to ACHIEVE their goals using MOTIVATION to create the perfect team of handler and dog.
Positive, Personalized Dog Training
At Yooper Paws of Love, we believe every dog and human deserves a relationship built on trust, communication, and joy. We offer force-free, science-based training tailored to your unique needs whether you’re just starting out or fine-tuning advanced skills.
Training should never be one-size-fits-all. We create customized training plans that are:
✅ Motivation-based
✅ Game-filled and engaging
✅ Focused on building teamwork
✅ Designed around your dog and your lifestyle
Whether you're working on manners, fear based behaviors, or advanced public access skills, We are here to help you and your dog move forward together.
All training is based in modern behavior science, force-free philosophy, and lots of love.
Yooper Paws Owner & Lead Trainer
Trauma Informed Dog Practitioner & Certified Behavior Consultant
Hi! I’m Penny, the heart behind Yooper Paws of Love. I’ve been working with dogs for over 30 years—starting with my own family pets, helping friends and rescues, and eventually training my own Service Dogs.
I’ve always believed in kindness, but over the last five years, I’ve fully embraced positive reinforcement and force-free methods to help families train their dogs in a way that’s respectful, fun, and effective.
I hold a certificate in Advanced Animal Behavior from ILLIS Animal Behavior Courses and in Trauma Informed Dog Practioners from PawsUp Dogs.
I’m joined by two incredible canine teammates:
Azul – My 5-year-old semi-retired Service Dog, who enjoys working with small dogs & puppies. He loves going out as a Therapy Dog to say hi to new friends.
Belle – My 1.5-year-old Service Dog, who assists newer learners with enthusiasm and curiosity, often helps fearful dogs by demonstrating calmness, and most importantly, takes care of me where ever we go. You'll see her doing medical alerts, retrieving items for me and helping to prevent falls with counterbalance and forward momentum pull tasks.
You’ll often find them at the Training Center or in virtual sessions, demonstrating skills and cheering on your progress.
Pawsitively Pups Trainer
Pawsitively Pups offers puppy classes, obedience classes and nosework classes as well as private lessons. We are reinforcement-based trainers and our goal is to make training fun for both you and your dog.
Tammy has been in training in the Kingsford areas for years using positive reinforcement methods. Recently she has taken on the role of training for some of our group classes. Tammy specializes in:
Pawsitively Puppy Classes
Small Dog Adolescent Classes & Private Sessions
Nosework Classes & Private Sessions
AKC Testing for STAR Puppy, Canine Good Citizen Tests & Trick Dog Titles
Tammy is a long time member of Bay de Noc Kennel Club where she loves to compete in Nosework including attending AKC & UKC Competitions with her dogs and is now having fun with Agility Competitions too. Tammy & her husband share their house with a whole family of dogs including Katie, Colby, Oliver, Charlie, Oz, Angel, & MaDoogan. Angel is part of the Yooper Paws Therapy Dog Team and often assists with small dog lessons. MaDoogan is the baby of the family, currently assisting with puppy & adolescent classes as needed.
Yooper Paws Admin & Training Assistant
Office Assistant most likely to call you back!
Athena started out in our Service Dog Mentor Program and loved Yooper Paws so much, she stuck around to help us out. She specializes in new client intakes & supporting online training platforms. She also does pretty much us we need! Athena & her family share their house with Hanna, Bo & Roz. Roz is part of the Yooper Paws Therapy Dog Team