Creature Teachers began in 2001 as an animal training and behavior company serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Nikole Gipps (formerly Nikole Sledd) founded the company to promote "doggie manners" to an audience that may have not yet experienced the benefits of training for their animals, and to prevent animals from being abandoned due to behavioral problems.
In 2005, Nikole retired from training to start a family and move on to other things. Creatureteachers.com sat dormant for about 2 years when Nikole noticed that it was still getting over 2,000 hits a month, mostly from people reading the articles hosted on the site. She decided to take that information and create an entirely new site, one which featured a variety of information on pets as well as the ability for visitors to ask questions and guest authors to offer their input. Thus, the current version of Creature Teachers was born.
Nikole, a Cornell University graduate in Animal Science, is experienced in many types of behavioral work, including modification, voice control training, clicker/sound training, and hand signal/visual training. She uses a variety of techniques and believes there is no one right solution to any problem. She has taken particular interest in aggressions, fears, anxieties, and elimination disorders in dogs and cats.
Nikole is a firm believer in continuing education, which is why she has attended many conferences such as:
- The Alpha Bitch Conference
- The ABCs of Dog Training
- Canine Aggression
- The PAWlitically INcorrect Dog Symposium
- Train on the Cutting Edge: Advanced Training Theory for Top Achievers
In addition to running a successful web development and marketing company (NHG Consulting), Nikole works with her six "second-hand" animals at home (each having an interesting story of how it joined Nikole's family). She lives in Concord, California with her daughter and husband.
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