Who am i?

Mark - Dutchie Dog Trainer and Owner

I grew up in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and always have had animals around. Dogs, cats, hamsters and later lizards. I went to an agricultural school with companion animal care as extra course and volunteered at various animal rescues. When I got my own place, I opted for 2 cats as I did not have the time a dog deserves. 

I moved to the USA in 2010 and when we got our own house 8 years ago, a dog was very high on our list. We had the keys for a week when we adopted our first dog Jack. We did everything wrong as we went for the saddest dog of the bunch and we did not pay attention to the dogs’ temperament. He turned out to be very high energy and fearful dog. I grew up around mostly breed dogs raised from when they were puppies. I had no idea how to deal with this high energy, very intelligent and fearful dog. We were lucky that we ran into a good Petsmart trainer that went out of his curriculum to help us with Jack. We learned patience and adopted a 2nd dog, that was much older and calmer, Nelly. We got our 3rd dog, Rosie, as a foster “failure” 6 months later. 

My 9-5 jobs though were always in the field that I am a natural at, coaching. I have instructed, taught, and developed people in countless areas as a manager in various corporate offices in the USA and Internationally. It’s what I excel at and what I love doing.

However, March 2020. Covid hit the world and I lost my corporate job. I decided to combine two things that I love and make a business out of it. Dutchie Dog Training and Coaching was born!