Meet the Wiggle Butt Team
Sarah Haertzen, FFCP
Sarah has been working with dogs since 2018. She started in the pet care industry managing pet boarding and daycare facilities, ensuring that our furry friends received the best care possible while their families were away. Sarah managed Wiggle Butt Academy’s sister company Doggie Zen Den for 6 years before transitioning to being a dog trainer.
Sarah is a Fear Free Certified trainer, is currently enrolled in The Academy for Dog Trainers to get the CTC certification, and is working towards her CCPDT-KA certification.
Sarah was inspired to become a dog trainer at the young age of 8 years old and began by clicker training her childhood schnoodle to perform tricks. She rescued Eli, an Anatolian Shepard puppy in 2021 who had already had a difficult life and struggled with resource guarding, confinement anxiety, and fear from a lack of socialization. Eli is now the bestest helper dog for Sarah’s training and has helped raise 6 litters of foster puppies as well as helped work through countless dogs’ reactivity. Fearful dogs like those experiencing “stranger danger” and fear-based reactivity are where Sarah’s expertise shines.
Completing the Fear Free Animal Program allows trainers to work in partnership with veterinary teams to prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress and improve an animal’s emotional wellbeing during veterinary care and home care. This certification program is designed to give qualified animal trainers the knowledge and tools required to begin implementing Fear Free techniques with their clients’ pets at the veterinary hospital, through in-clinic training classes for puppies and kittens, and in day-to-day training of animals in the home.