Smartypaws Owner and Trainer, Debra L. Murray, is Kansas City area’s only family dog trainer specializing in puppy training, canine manners, and child safety. With over a decade of experience as a Licensed Family Paws Parent Educator, Debra offers positive reinforcement training for the whole family! Additionally, she is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, professional member of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers and Heartland Positive Dog Training Alliance.
As a valedictorian graduate from Michigan State University with a BS in Education, Debra has been teaching people and training pups for more than 30 years combined. Her passion for dog training was ignited in 1998 after moving to Kansas City.
It started with two golden boys, Jake and Jesse. Both were Golden Retrievers, but they had completely different temperaments, abilities, personalities, physical challenges, and energy levels. Debra dove into everything from basic obedience to agility, therapy training, rally-O, and doggie freestyle (that’s doggie dancing) in order to find activities that each pup enjoyed and excelled at. She realized that focusing on the individual characteristics and personality of each dog optimized their training, successfully taught them the desired behaviors, and was enjoyable for all participants. This experience and understanding are what allows Debra to offer clients unique and customized solutions that work.
Debra spent almost 10 years as a trainer at a local pet store while pursuing continuing education, training courses and activities to increase her knowledge and experience. That environment provided the opportunity to train thousands of dogs in just about every breed and size, including dozens of blind and deaf dogs. Then, she moved on to focus on animal therapy work and became an Evaluator and Program Director for a local non-profit pet therapy organization. Her beloved rescue Golden Emma was an AKC Canine Good Citizen, certified therapy and R.E.A.D. dog, and they volunteered many hours of service visiting nursing homes, schools, hospitals and other care facilities.
Debra is committed to humane training that gets results while building a healthy and trusting relationship between dogs and their families. She currently has two Golden Retrievers, 3 house rabbits, and can often be found caring for a few more foster or friend’s animals in her home. She has been married for 27 years, has 3 amazing children, and is also a homeschool mom who volunteers training services, dog bite prevention education, and foster care with different animal rescue groups in the Kansas City area.
