Tailored, trust-based dog training
that honors your bond—for pet parents who want a remarkable relationship,
ease in any environment, and
lasting behavior alignment.
1:1 Virtual sessions or San Diego in-person.
You’re here because you care deeply about your furry family member, but something’s not clicking.
Maybe you’ve brought home a puppy or rescue and you’re drowning in conflicting advice, so stressed about getting it wrong.
Maybe your dog struggles with fear, reactivity, or big emotions, and you’re exhausted from trying to predict behaviors and white-knuckling everyday life.
How much more expansive would your life feel without constant vigilance and planning around potential problems?
Most training approaches focus either on commanding compliance,
or carrying a treat stash everywhere you go to reward every tiny action,
so you’ve been pushed into a role either as a “pack leader” or a human vending machine.
Or worst of all, you’ve been blamed and shamed.
We believe you are indeed part of the equation, but that’s not a problem—it’s your pathway forward.
We call it Canine Connection Coaching because we guide the work that happens at both ends of the leash.
Your dog learns what you’d like from them and how to respond confidently.
You learn to read their signals, communicate clearly, and become their ultimate trusted Guardian.
CANINE KIN CODE™
Rooted in deep reverence for dogs’ intelligence, agency, and profound impact on our lives, the Canine Kin Code™ is the methodology that guides our work. Utilizing conscious communication to unleash your kindred connection means behavior alignment flows from trust instead of feeling forced.
Core principle:
Clarity is key—mixed signals are missed connections
So our relationship-first approach utilizes the full range of signals that help a dog understand: verbal, visual, and auditory cues; rewards; body language; energy; and clear corrections in service to being kind, never through pain or fear. Communicating with intention and reading what your dog is telling you in return means clearing the way for more connection.
What makes it different:
Most training prescribes what to do with your dog. The Canine Kin Code™ teaches you how to be with your dog so you’re collaborating to build your daily language.
We see you as your dog’s Guardian, not their owner. We prompt dogs with cues, not commands. This isn’t just semantics; it shifts how you show up, and your dog can feel that difference.
It’s the only Canine Connection Coaching practice that transforms the dog and the human, together.
What you'll gain:
Fluency in your dog’s signals, and the confidence to guide them without second-guessing yourself.
A harmonious home and enjoyable outings.
A partnership in which trust does more work than treats ever could.
A deepening of one of the most meaningful relationships in both your lives.
This isn’t a quick-fix program. It’s the foundation that supports everything you do with your dog.
In the process, you grow into the Guardian you always intended to be... the one your dog already believes you are.
“I felt seen and supported as a dog guardian, not judged or overwhelmed like I have in other training environments...
Her Canine Kin Code™ philosophy feels both grounded and transformative…
I started noticing shifts not just in my dog, but in myself. I have more patience, more clarity, and more confidence. I now feel like I'm building a real partnership with my dog, not just managing behaviors.”
—Tracy B., Guardian to Cali Blue
“Andra worked with many of our puppies, helping them master leash skills, basic commands, potty training, and the foundations needed to thrive in a home… I watched her take wild little street babies and help transform them into confident, well-mannered companions ready to become cherished members of a family…
[Andra and Rafe] are truly exceptional at what they do… They don't train dogs. They build relationships that help dogs become the best version of themselves.”
—DeAnna S., Rescue Manager
My dog is madly in love with Andra and Rafe. Though he has not yet learned to write a review, he gives them four paws and a cookie.
…[Andra] has an intuitive understanding of and respect for the relationship between dogs and their humans. She has a gift for helping humans better understand how to maximize the joy and unconditional love dogs want to share, and dogs clearly sense and appreciate this about her.”
—Holly W., Guardian to Proto
YOUR PATH FORWARD
First Kinnection Academy
8-week foundational program for puppies and newly welcomed dogs
Start your life together with clarity, confidence, and Kinnection
Bringing home a new dog can be joyful, hilarious, exhausting… and confusing.
Your dog and life are changing so fast, the routines you meant to establish are still a bit... theoretical, and the puppy patterns that were endearing at 5 lbs are becoming considerably less charming at 15 lbs (or even 50!).
First Kinnection Academy is a highly personalized coaching experience designed to help you build a foundation that’s both functional and fun.
Along the way, we’ll create practical rhythms for the life you share—walks, mealtimes, sleep, potty training, settling down—and incorporate the useful cues that make daily life easier.
You'll learn to guide your dog through everyday routines as well as new and unfamiliar situations without constantly second-guessing yourself, while your new furry family member becomes a confident canine companion who trusts your guidance.
This may fit if you…
• recently welcomed a puppy or new adoptee home
• feel overwhelmed by contradictory advice
• want to set yourselves up for success from the beginning
• want to understand your dog, not simply manage behaviors
• care more about kindness, clarity, and connection than commands and compliance
- 7 private, customized coaching sessions
- A dedicated midpoint Integration Week
- 1 bonus SOS session
- Live demonstrations followed by coached practice
- Personalized, practical assignments
- Tailored support between sessions
- Virtual coaching or in-person for San Diego local
Investment: $1888
More ease in your life together starts here
I take on a small number of Guardians at a time—because if you refuse to choose between kindness and clarity, you deserve coaching that's equally intentional.
First Kinnection Academy and Reset & Realignment are two distinct paths for ongoing coaching. Both are designed to help you build conscious communication, relaxed routines, and the kind of practices that build from your kindred connection and support a harmonious home and greater ease wherever you go together.
Either way, we’ll begin with a complimentary Sniff Test so I can understand what’s happening, answer your questions, and help identify the support that best fits you and your dog.
Reset and Realignment Sessions
4-session behavior coaching package for one recurring challenge
Move from apprehension to mutual appreciation
Maybe you and your dog already share a deep bond, but one part of your life together—whether daily walks, welcoming guests, settling down, or another recurring point of friction—has become stressful or harder than it needs to be.
Reset & Realignment is a tailored coaching experience for a challenge that’s disrupting your routines, your confidence, or the way you move through everyday life.
Along the way, we’ll look at what’s happening with your dog as well as what’s happening on your end, and identify where a refined approach could create meaningful change.
You’ll gain a stronger understanding of what has been playing into the pattern, a greater sense of how you can guide the shift toward improvements, and more enjoyment of each other throughout your days together.
This may fit if you…
• want help untangling what’s got you in knots
• notice tension, fear, or reactivity in a particular situation
• want to understand the “why,” not simply suppress behavior
• want to uplevel part of life with the dog you adore—not turn them into an obedient robot
• want patient, nonjudgmental support that honors your relationship
- 4 private, customized coaching sessions
- Live demonstrations followed by coached practice
- Personalized, practical assignments
- Tailored support between sessions
- Virtual coaching or in-person for San Diego local
Investment: $777
Kinnection Kickstart
75-minute introductory coaching to experience working together firsthand
Kinnection Kickstart is a substantive working session for Guardians who want help identifying what may be contributing to a disconnect, and testing small adjustments before committing to ongoing coaching.
This may fit if you…
• want to experience Canine Kin Code™ in practice
• feel unsure about what’s driving a current pattern
• want guidance you can start applying right away
• are interested in First Kinnection Academy or Reset & Realignment, but want more confidence before enrolling
- Development of exercises informed by your intake
- 75 minutes of in-home or virtual coaching
- Live observation and guided application
- Concrete next steps for continued practice
Investment: $200
If you continue into First Kinnection Academy or Reset & Realignment within 7 days, $100 of your Kickstart investment will be applied toward that program.
OUR STORY
Hello friend!
I’m Andra, and he’s Rafe (rhymes with safe). His name means “counsel of the wolf” or “wise wolf”—it was so clear even as a puppy that he was an old soul!
He’s also my soul dog. Part of my heart lives outside my chest, prancing around on four paws. I’ve experienced firsthand that being a dog Guardian can be one of the most meaningful and truly fulfilling relationships a person has in life. When I was going through serious health issues, Rafe learned to alert me before symptoms hit. So who rescued whom, hm? He takes such good care of me; I want to take at least as good of care of him.
My adoration and reverence for dogs started long before I adopted him or launched Unleashed Kinnection™. One of the only baby pictures in which I’m actually smiling shows me covered in ruffles and puppies. More recently, I volunteered almost daily for close to two years with rescues, earning their trust and preparing them for their forever homes. I learned a tremendous amount through that work, and rescue dog best practices became the baseline for every dog I meet.
A mentor once asked me: “What would you wake up and happily do for free, every day?” I realized that not only had I already been doing exactly that by volunteering, I’d also hit a rung on the corporate ladder where I wasn’t interested in my boss’s job. I shook off the VP title and golden handcuffs, and pivoted from a creative corporate career to Canine Connection Coaching, with a mission to start a movement with Guardians like you.
I believe we aren't owners, because dogs aren't property. So to me, Guardianship isn't about being in charge—it's about being worth following. That's the Guardian I want to help you become.
-
Because you’re the one living with your dog, not me. Both ways allow me to observe you and your dog in your actual environment, get a picture of your life together, and coach you in real time—so the skills you’re building are immediately applicable in your daily life.
You’re the most important element in your dog’s long-term success, not a trainer’s presence, and this format keeps you and your dog at the center. -
If previous training felt harsh, formulaic, or made you feel like you were the issue, this will be different. Understanding that you’re part of the equation is key, but that’s not a problem—it’s the pathway to success. Here, we work both ends of the leash.
-
Absolutely. Rafe is a rescue, and our extensive work with rescue dogs has shaped many of the best practices we use now. Whatever journey your dog took to get to you, we’ll help you welcome them to their furever home, build trust, learn their communication, and give them the clarity they need to settle in.
YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
-
No. This connection is between you and your dog—I can’t shape behavior built on your bond while your dog is somewhere else with me.
-
Sometimes! You and your dog are always the focus, but Rafe can model behavior or demonstrate a technique—especially helpful with puppies—or simply bring calm, grounded energy to the session.
-
It’s an initial, free, get-to-know-you conversation—no pressure, no pitch. You share what's going on with you and your dog, I share how I work, and together we figure out if we’re a good fit. If we are, we’ll talk through which path forward makes sense for your kindred connection.
You can grow your Guardian EQ before coaching!
Getting more fluent in canine communication is one of the most immediate, impactful things you can do for your relationship, and it’s something you can start today.
Decoding Dogs outlines what your dog is constantly saying to you—body language basics, stress cues, calming signals—so you can more clearly understand and respond to what they’re telling you.
Want to unleash our Kinnection?
Ready to schedule a free Sniff Test?
(aka get-to-know-each-other call)
Curious about the Canine Kin Code™?
Have something on your mind, or heart, that you’d like to share?
Would love to hear from you!