KYRA SUNDANCE BIO
Kyra Sundance: dog trainer, performer, international
bestselling author
KYRA SUNDANCE is a world-acclaimed Stunt Dog
Show performer, celebrity dog trainer, and internationally bestselling author,
based in Palmdale, California. 
Kyra's world-acclaimed acrobatic Stunt
Dog Team performs on premier stages internationally at circuses, professional
sports halftime shows, and on television shows such as The Tonight Show (twice), Ellen,
ET, Worldwide Fido Awards, Animal Planet, Showdog Moms & Dads, and
more. Kyra and her dogs starred in Disney’s Underdog stage show,
and starred in a command performance in Marrakech for the King of Morocco.
Kyra is nationally
ranked in competitive dog sports, works as a set trainer for dog actors,
and lectures for international professional dog organizations.
 Kyra
authored many popular books including the international besteller 101
Dog Tricks (translated into 15 languages), 51 Puppy Tricks, The Dog
Tricks and Training Workbook,The
Dog Rules, 101 Ways to Do More With Your Dog, and 10-Minute Dog Training
Games.
Kyra stars in
several award winning DVDs including Best
of 101 Dog Tricks and Best Puppy Tricks which are sold at Petsmart
and Petco.
As an animal spokesperson, Kyra serves as a media pet expert, hosts animal
events and makes media and celebrity appearances.
Kyra is a marathon runner, former gymnast and windsurfing instructor for
Club Med, a graduate of UCLA, was a technology director for Learning Tree International,
and is a partner in a media technology firm.
Kyra and her Weimaraners
Chalcy and Jadie live with Kyra’s
husband on a ranch in California’s
Mojave desert.
Kyra's Training Philosophy:
Kyra Sundance—world acclaimed Stunt Dog Team performer, nationally ranked
dog sports competitor, and movie dog trainer—holds the human-dog bond at
the heart of her training method. She cares for her dogs with tenderness, trains
them thoroughly, and inspires them to excel. Each behavior we train is like laying
an individual brick of a structure. But bricks are laid upon a foundation, and
if the foundation is weak, the entire structure will be weak. Kyra’s revolutionary “whole-dog” approach
builds the solid foundation upon which real training can stand. It looks beyond
sterile training methods that manipulate a dog solely through reward and punishment,
and instead advocates humane behavior modification techniques—which don’t
involve intimidation nor escalating corrections—to establish expectations
without compromising love. Kyra’s reward-based method does not suppress
behavior and teach subservience. It instead fosters confident, happy dogs who
are motivated to do the right thing rather than fearful of making a mistake.
Kyra shows us how to develop joyful relationships with dogs who balance enthusiasm
and self-control.
Summary:
Kyra’s reward-based approach to dog training fosters
confident, happy dogs who are motivated to do the right thing rather than fearful
of making a mistake. Kyra's positive and force-free methods rely upon lure-and-reward
training, marker training/ clicker training, bridge and target, shaping, and
mark and pedestal training. Instead of traditional pain and intimidation techniques,
Kyra teaches discipline with the kinder "pressure
and release" method
popularized by the gentle horse whisperers of the natural horsemanship movement.
Note from Kyra
Whether your dog is young or old, athletic or lazy, quick-witted or dumb as
a rock— he’s your dog and his success need only be measured
in your eyes. I hope our show inspires you to not only teach tricks, but
to “Do More
With Your Dog!®”
—Kyra Sundance
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