Candy Crawford, a nationally sought after dog trainer with more than 33 years of experience, has dedicated her life to training dogs. At age 17, she began instruction with the Jackson, Mississippi Police Department for patrol and narcotics. She was initially taught by Vietnam veteran K-9 handlers there, who are considered some of the most highly skilled dog trainers in the world. The knowledge she gleaned during those early years was instrumental in molding her ability to successfully train any breed of dog at any age. She holds a certification from K-9 Command Dogs Academy in New York, New York; 1983.
Crawford devotes her life to the betterment of all animals and to those owners who want and desperately need help with training their pet.
Whether Crawford is called upon to help find the perfect family pet, train an out of control dog, train a service dog for someone with disabilities, provide a protection dog for a family or guard dogs for a business, she understands how to train a dog to listen and immediately respond to their owners. She believes a well trained dog is one who is attentive and is willing to please their owners at all costs. Her goal is to answer a tremendous need for compassionate dog training for individuals who want to learn to effectively communicate with their dogs.
Volunteering hundreds of hours in nursing homes for pet therapy, Crawford also provides demonstrations for public and private schools and gives a lecture on animal training and psychology to students at the University of Memphis. She donates countless hours at several local animal rescue groups so that the dogs will have better odds at adoption. She also adopts and trains dogs with aggression problems who might otherwise be euthanized. Currently, Crawford travels extensively working with and for some of the most highly acclaimed trainers in the world for specific aspects of dog training and behavior.
Crawford has trained dogs for several major motion pictures including A Family Thing, The Painted House, and Black Snake Moan to name but a few. Her dogs have debuted on Terminex commercials, The Junior Miss Pageant, The Great Outdoors Event, and Petco Pet Stores. Additionally, Crawford provides dogs for several professional photographers, API, and Sunshine Mills’ Joy Dog Food. She has worked for United Artists and MGM since 1994 and was asked to audition for Animal Planet, as a dog trainer in 2002. Crawford is a member of the Memphis Film Commission and Tennessee Film Commission. Recently, Crawford completed the Humane Law Enforcement Course on Animal Cruelty Investigations for the ASPCA.
Interviewed on Channel 3, CBS, Crawford exhibited protection dogs as effective crime deterrents for individuals and especially for senior citizens. She was featured on Channel 24, ABC, for training and placing a service dog with a handicapped individual living in a local nursing home, a first in Tennessee history. She appeared on Fox 13 Morning Show to discuss dog training and related information.
Also a lover of horses, Crawford began training horses at the tender age of 7. She was an excellent horse trainer and professionally showed horses throughout the United States until age 19. She received more than 300 ribbons and 500 trophies during her youthful stint with horses. Crawford was Mississippi State Champion for several consecutive years in western horse shows (MWHSA) and was Tri-State Champion (including Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee) before the age of 17. Her first professional assignment was at age 15, for Playboy Magazine, when she was asked to train a black AQHA Stallion for a photo shoot.
“This letter is written in appreciation for your and ‘Vriend’s’ assistance in providing pet therapy for our senior adults. As manager of a HUD subsidized high-rise for senior adults, I wish to thank you for taking your time to visit on a monthly basis without pay (although it was offered), for bringing your own German Shepard dogs and some of the dogs who were attending your obedience classes to visit and entertain our residents. The residents enjoyed and looked forward to your visits.
"Excellent training & I would recommend this training to anyone. I really appreciate Candy's persistence."
~ Richard A. Hunt
"Absolutely fabulous! Smart, quick, and easy - Loved it and the trainer. Thanks!"
~ Cynthia McEwen
"Great job. 100% change in her behavior."
~ Dina L. Jackson
"Wish I had known about this much sooner - fantastic miracle worker!"
~ Paula D. Rushing
"It's amazing how much they've learned in one day! Great!!"
~ Lara White
"Very quick progress and remarkable outcome. I am most pleased."
~ Diane Holton
"I was totally amazed at the results."
~ Nancy Smith
Thank you again for your assistance and taking your time to entertain our staff and our residents.”
~ Manager: Beverly W. Holley
I found her to have strong Christian values and would highly recommend her as a trainer.”
~ Shirley Patton
“Thank you very, very much for training Sparkle for me. As you know, I would not have been able to keep her without the training because she is so energetic. She is still very active at home, but controllable and is a totally different dog when she knows she is working.
~ Betty Anderson
"Candy Crawford has exceeded all expectations as a Security Consultant for our company. It is our opinion that Candy Crawford has the qualifications, skills and experience necessary to do an excellent job in Security for your company.
~ Michael Parker
Professional, dedicated dog training with over 44 years of effective behavior modification. We guarantee the results of our training to take care of all your special needs. In addition to behavioral dog training, we have trained dogs for United Artists, MGM, and TV Commercials and Movies