Kristi Kay May is redefining what dog training really means.
In this episode of Knoodle Founders Hour, host Rosaria Cain sits down with Kristi Kay May, founder of Legend Acres, to explore a powerful approach to dog and horse behavior built on positive reinforcement, force-free methods, and fear-free training.
This conversation goes far beyond sit, stay, and obedience. Kristi explains why many behavior issues, including barking, overstimulation, reactivity, and destructive habits, are often rooted in emotional regulation, not disobedience. She breaks down how animals learn, why so many owners unintentionally miss critical early development windows, and what it really takes to build trust, communication, and lasting behavior change.
You’ll also hear Kristi’s remarkable founder journey, from growing up with horses and starting her first business as a kid, to serving in the Army, working in veterinary medicine, and eventually building a business centered on helping both animals and their humans thrive.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- What positive reinforcement really means, and what most people get wrong about it
- Why many dog behavior problems are not obedience issues
- How dogs use behaviors like barking, digging, spinning, and chewing to self-soothe
- The critical puppy development gap most owners never realize exists
- Why communication with your dog must go both ways
- How Kristi built a one-of-a-kind business blending animal behavior, veterinary insight, and entrepreneurship
- The lessons she learned from horses, military service, and building a business from the ground up
Whether you’re a dog owner, animal lover, entrepreneur, or someone fascinated by behavior and communication, this episode is packed with insights that will completely change how you think about training.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your dog is being stubborn, misunderstood, or simply trying to tell you something, this episode is a must-listen.
Full Transcript
Kristi May 00:00
And welcome Kristi May! Boy, am I happy to see you today.
Kristi May 00:04
I’m happy to see you too.
Rosaria Cain 00:06
Because almost everybody has a dog, and almost every dog needs training, and that’s what you do. So tell me about your elevator speech. When people ask, what kind of dog training do you do, and how does it work?
Kristi May 00:20
So what we do is Legend Acres, is dog and horse behavior solutions. And what that is is positive reinforcement. We are force-free, fear-free, dog and horse behavior solutions. And what that means is that we use positive reinforcement. And positive reinforcement kind of has this bad, bad juju, I guess, around in that the idea of that it’s all, you know, cookies and butterflies and rainbows and everything wonderful, and people don’t think that it has boundaries. However, positive reinforcement means that we just make a really big deal about when a dog makes a right decision, so that we can continue to encourage them to make good decisions, so they make good decisions even when nobody’s looking.
Rosaria Cain 01:13
Oh, that’s great. Now, does that mean you don’t use things like E collars and prong collar? What kind of tools do you use for positive endorsement?
Kristi May 01:20
So for positive reinforcement, we don’t use any tools.
Rosaria Cain 01:23
Okay, all right, except love and hugs.
Kristi May 01:27
So we do use those things, but it’s never-
Rosaria Cain 01:29
Treats.
Kristi May 01:29
Yes, so well, we use whatever is the value system for that dog or that horse. So we have to find what their value system is, and we use that value system as their reward system.
Rosaria Cain 01:43
Okay? So it varies a bit from animal to animal.
Kristi May 01:46
Correct. So there are five things that have value to dogs and horses alike. They are petting, play, praise, food, and toys and so in when we find what their value system is, we use that unique value system for that particular animal.
Rosaria Cain 02:10
Different motivations, for different personalities.
Kristi May 02:14
Correct.
Rosaria Cain 02:15
How hard is it to train a dog? Can anyone train- well, I would say it’s very difficult, because I have certainly tried. Can anyone train their own dog?
Kristi May 02:26
Yes, anyone can train their own dog. So I will tell you that what I’ve found is that it’s not that that dog training is difficult. Everybody understands the concept of dog training. What I find is that the idea of dog training is there, but there’s a very specific formula for dog training. And what I find is that people understand the formula, but they’re putting the wrong things into the formula, which is only getting them very little result, or a result for the first few times that they apply the formula, and then it falls off. It kind of wanes after that. And then they get frustrated because they’re like, “Oh, I did the process and it’s not working.” And that’s more of what I find. I find that it has more to do with timing and the value system and how people are using that process, than the actual process itself.
Rosaria Cain 03:30
And that’s where you come in as a trainer.
Kristi May 03:32
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 03:32
So what makes you different as a trainer? Because I imagine the positive reinforcement system is probably a differentiator from a lot of trainers.
Kristi May 03:42
Yes, it is, and not only with the positive reinforcement, but the force-free, fear-free, and so essentially, what makes us different is that when we come in to assess a dog, I’m looking at their overall health, and I’m looking at their overall behavior. I’m not just looking at the one issue that you’re ringing me in for. So just going to give you a quick example. So let’s say you have a dog that’s barking at noises inside your house, and so you call me and say, “Hey, I have this dog that’s barking at noises.” And I’m going to come in and I’m going to say, “Oh, that’s very interesting. Does your dog also like spin in circles and chase its tail? Does your dog react to shadows or reflective lights? Does your dog do any digging? Does it de-stuff, toys and different things?” And I’m going to look for other other things that you might not think are related to the barking, but that are leading up to the barking, because a lot of times the barking itself is the output of something that has nothing to do with the actual stimulus itself, it is the things that are leading up to that. And so as a veterinary technologist, and with my degrees in behavior, I’m not just looking at the idea of obedience, right? Of like a dog is barking, and you say, “Stop barking,” and then you’re like, “Well, the dog’s not listening,” right? Okay, that’s usually not an obedience issue at all. It’s not that the dog doesn’t understand that you’re telling it to stop barking. It’s why is the dog barking? So we’re going to come in and say, Okay, well, what’s, what is the underlying cause of this? So instead of just coming in and suppressing the barking, okay, because that’s only going to get us so far right. If we suppress the barking, are we really addressing the problem? No, because what’s going to happen then is, if the barking is related to something else, we’re going to suppress the barking, but we’re going to find a different undesired behavior show up somewhere else. So then, if we were not eating furniture, we’re probably going to start eating furniture now. So we’re just moving that behavior into something else, instead of coming in and addressing what’s really going on. And so our approach goes way beyond the idea of obedience. So obedience in itself is just the idea of a dog being able to follow a set of instructions, like sit down, stay, right? All of those are important, but if there’s an underlying issue going on, okay, just because your dog can do sit down, stay the that is very unrelated to the idea of what’s causing barking and so but when you think of barking, who do you call? Do you call a behaviorist for barking or do call a dog trainer for barking?
Rosaria Cain 06:43
And you do both.
Kristi May 06:44
Both.
Rosaria Cain 06:45
So you’re like a dog psychiatrist.
Kristi May 06:48
Yes, I’ve been called that many times,
Rosaria Cain 06:52
Behavioralist is probably a better term.
Kristi May 06:55
Yeah, well, but it’s yes. I mean, essentially in, in that way, yes, because I put together behavior plans. I have veterinarians that I work with very closely. We put behavior plans together and there’s a whole lot more to the idea of a dog barking than the idea of my dogs not listening to me.
Rosaria Cain 07:17
Well, you’ve mentioned those other behaviors, like unstuffing toys and chasing tails. What do those things tend to mean?
Kristi May 07:26
Oh, that’s dopamine seeking. Because when you de-stuff something, man, that’s good dopamine, right? Then being able to pull stuff out of things. Spinning in circles, good dopamine. Gigging another good dopamine hit. Okay, so a lot of those things are dogs seeking self soothing. So they’re looking for a way to self soothe. They’re looking for a way to turn off. And so when we see a pattern of several of these behaviors going on and we have a dog that’s barking, right? Then what’s happening is we have a dog who is overstimulated, over thresholds, okay, a lot of the day, which is what’s leading to this barking. So this is more of an emotional regulation issue than an obedience issue at this point.
Rosaria Cain 08:17
And what do you do with something like that?
Kristi May 08:18
So with something like that, then we give you and the dog some better tools to self soothe and self regulate.
Rosaria Cain 08:27
Okay.
Kristi May 08:28
Okay, so, and when I say tools, it they’re not physical tools, right? Because you had asked that question, and I so I say the word tools, because they’re really canine cognition exercises. Canine cognition exercises teach dogs to slow down, process, and think instead of moving from one thing to the next to the next to the next to the next, because those things then keep them ramped up and keep them dopamine seeking. So that’s that idea of that dog that is running wide open at 100 miles an hour all day long, and then they crash at the end of the day and they sleep. So, like, that’s kind of how the some people describe their dog, right? They’re either on or they’re sleeping, and there doesn’t seem to be an in between. That’s a dog that doesn’t know how to self regulate. Okay.
Rosaria Cain 09:14
Okay. Is that personality driven, or is that personality influenced?
Kristi May 09:21
So great question and yes and no, so and both, okay. So the what happens there is this, is that when we get a dog as a puppy, we as people, as a society, have an expectation that this dog knows how to dog, okay, well, there’s a disconnect here, because dogs learn how to dog from their mothers, and they learn how to dog from their siblings, and the biggest piece of where that development happens is between eight weeks and 11 weeks of age. What age do most puppies come into your home?
Kristi May 10:07
Eight and under, right?
Rosaria Cain 10:09
Eight?
Rosaria Cain 10:09
Yeah.
Kristi May 10:10
So on average, I will tell you, just in the last three weeks, when I’ve asked the question of, “How old is your dog and how long has this dog been in your home?” The answer has been, “I got the dog at six weeks to eight weeks.” I have not met, unless the dog is an adult that they just adopted. Okay, if they got the dog as a puppy, I have not spoken to anyone in the last three weeks who has gotten a puppy over the age of eight weeks.
Rosaria Cain 10:38
Now, is that not suggested because they don’t learn to be dogs, is that correct?
Kristi May 10:44
Correct.
Rosaria Cain 10:44
Okay.
Kristi May 10:45
So, but here’s the disconnect. Okay, as soon as mom stops feeding puppies, and mom jumps out of the whelping box and she’s gone, okay, then what happens to those puppies?
Rosaria Cain 11:03
I imagine they’re given they’re given home.
Kristi May 11:05
They are, because what is, what are, what is a breeder going to do to socialize and teach a whole entire litter of puppies to “dog” for the next what, six to four weeks? Okay? And then they have to feed them. They have to pay for veterinary care, okay? And so that is not only costly, but also time consuming. So as soon as they’re weaned, then they call you and say, “Come get your puppy.”
Rosaria Cain 11:35
Is this all over the industry?
Kristi May 11:39
All over the industry. Well, I take that back. So that is the average statistic in the United States and in the UK, only. Other countries, that is not the norm. Now it is in some other countries as well, but in the US and the UK, our stats are very similar, and it a lot of that has to do with the breeding practices of making sure that our puppies are safe. We are trying to prevent them from being exposed to Parvo, okay, distemper, and so they are indoors. There are they’re contained, and then they’re handed off to you. And then, when you get a puppy, what does your vet recommend? Then you do with this puppy?
Rosaria Cain 12:27
Vaccinate them.
Kristi May 12:28
And then do what with them? What do they tell you not to do with this puppy?
Rosaria Cain 12:32
Don’t bring them in public.
Kristi May 12:34
Don’t take them in public.
Rosaria Cain 12:35
Don’t go to a dog park.
Kristi May 12:36
Don’t go to a dog park.
Rosaria Cain 12:37
Don’t take them to the office.
Kristi May 12:38
Correct? Okay, because they’re not fully vaccinated.
Rosaria Cain 12:41
Correct.
Kristi May 12:42
Okay. So now, what have you just done with this puppy? You’ve isolated this puppy till to at least 16 weeks of age, which is the minimum age to get a rabies vaccine. Okay, and so what did we just do through that dog’s critical window of development?
Rosaria Cain 12:58
That is so interesting. Okay, okay.
Kristi May 13:01
And so when we understand that, okay, then you can see where we’re running into these behavior issues, because we have, again, we as a society have an understanding, or believe that a dog knows how to be a dog. It just comes naturally to them.
Rosaria Cain 13:22
Is there any hope for those who have screwed up these dogs?
Kristi May 13:25
Oh, yes. Okay, so here’s the thing. Here’s the thing…
Rosaria Cain 13:25
Because I fit, okay, I fit that mold.
Kristi May 13:25
So does everyone listening, okay, so does everyone listening? And so did I, because I didn’t understand this. Okay, so here’s the thing, is that you don’t know what you don’t know, right?
Rosaria Cain 13:41
It was well intentioned.
Kristi May 13:42
It was always, well and it is, and it is because of safety, right? That’s why we did the things that we did, right? It was for the safety and the health of our dogs. That’s why those things were done. It was never done with any ill intent whatsoever. Okay, so I’m not pointing any fingers at what anybody’s doing with dogs. Okay, this is all in the safety of dogs. And yes, we can do something about it.
Rosaria Cain 14:08
And that’s why they need a trainer.
Kristi May 14:10
Yes, and so that is why we have puppy socialization classes, and we do puppy pre K classes, and then we move that moves into fundamentals. And so that, which is the first course of our core, core courses. Okay, so we have to if, if puppies are not being taught how to be dogs, then whose responsibility is it to teach them how to dog?
Rosaria Cain 14:37
I guess humans.
Kristi May 14:38
It is.
Rosaria Cain 14:38
I guess it is.
Kristi May 14:39
It is. It’s our responsibility then, and so yes, we can absolutely bridge that gap for them, and that is one of the most important pieces of of owning a dog, okay, that is also the biggest disconnect that I see. This goes back to that idea of, can anybody train a dog? Yes. But there’s this disconnect, because we also assume a lot that our dogs know things that they don’t. And so when you’re trying to also apply this concept of training, all right, and you’re assuming some things, there’s this big hole in the middle, and this is where frustration lies, because the dog is frustrated with you because they don’t understand what it is that you’re expecting of them. You have an expectation of them to do something, and they’re not giving it to you, and then everybody just throws their hands up and walks away, right? Okay? And so that’s why dog training goes beyond the idea of just sit down, stay, okay, and so this is where behavior comes into play, because this has a lot more to do with communication and bond building with your dog, okay, so that you can fill that gap, and we can teach them how to dog and we can show them the expectation of what we’re asking. And so that’s the difference with positive reinforcement. We want to show them what we expect of them to do, instead of punishing them for not doing.
Rosaria Cain 16:17
Like consequences.
Kristi May 16:18
Correct, and so, we want to show them what we want them to do, instead of punishing them for not doing what we’ve expected them to do.
Rosaria Cain 16:25
Do dogs generally want to please?
Kristi May 16:28
Well, that depends, I guess, a personality.
Rosaria Cain 16:30
Okay, so there’s no absolute.
Kristi May 16:31
So no. So do people want to please?
Rosaria Cain 16:33
No.
Kristi May 16:35
Okay, no. Okay. So, so people,
Rosaria Cain 16:39
Sometimes.
Kristi May 16:40
So children and dogs come pre programmed with the idea of “finders keepers.” It’s very much self okay. We have to teach children how to share. We have to teach dogs how to share too. So no, they don’t just come with the idea that, Oh, I’m going to do this because it makes you happy. No, they will do things because it makes you happy, and making you happy gets them something.
Rosaria Cain 17:02
Right.
Kristi May 17:02
Okay, right. So in turn, we, as people, believe that, oh, this dog does it because this dog loves me and wants to please me. Okay, no, but if you have a good bond with a dog,
Rosaria Cain 17:16
Right.
Kristi May 17:16
Right, and they do have praise, okay, or petting and play as part of their value system. And you use that to say, hey, that was a really good job can you play with them, okay? And you use that then to the outside person that looks like, oh, that dog did that because they they want to please you.
Rosaria Cain 17:40
From whatever I’ve known from other trainers, and I’ve had plenty through the years with with another dog I’ve had to. I’m a sucker for Weimaraners, which means I’m a glutton for punishment, because, you know, how stubborn they are and and smart. They are smart, yes, smarter than lots of people I know.
Kristi May 18:00
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 18:02
You don’t sound like any dog trainer I’ve ever met.
Kristi May 18:04
So I get that a lot.
Rosaria Cain 18:06
Well, my limited experience, I’ve had maybe five or six over the years. Nothing close.
Kristi May 18:13
Okay, and so, and you’re you’re not wrong there. And I warn everybody when I start my group class in week one, and I say if you’ve taken an obedience course before, or you’ve worked with a dog trainer before, I give everybody a disclaimer. I say, “Just so that you know this isn’t going to be anything like you’ve ever done before in your life.” And I give everybody a fair warning. And because it is not, it is not about the sit down, stay. That’s not what dog training is about. That is just a form of communication, okay, and that, but there’s, there’s so much more to it than that.
Rosaria Cain 18:36
Well, what is it about then, if it’s not about the sit down, stay?
Kristi May 18:49
So what it’s about is it is about bond building and opening up communication. So communication with your dog needs to be two ways, because if you’re always talking at your dog and you’re always giving it instruction with no feedback, and you’re not listening back to your dog, you’re not listening to your dog’s feedback, okay, what’s going to happen over time?
Rosaria Cain 19:20
Well, they’re probably going to get more stubborn.
Kristi May 19:23
They do. They shut down. They quit listening. That’s exactly what happens. They quit listening. And so then after they quit listening, that’s usually when I get called, because I have now they have a dog who can’t even follow basic instructions. And it’s not that the dog doesn’t understand what they’re asking.
Rosaria Cain 19:41
No, they always understand.
Kristi May 19:43
Oh, they understand. And they understand, and they will side eye and walk away.
Rosaria Cain 19:49
Yeah, I know the side eye.
Kristi May 19:52
They very much understand what you just asked them to do. Okay? And they said no, and they walked away.
Rosaria Cain 19:58
So it wasn’t an accident. When my dog ate the E collar?
Kristi May 20:02
Nope, no, well, and sometimes they just chew, because it’s an opportunity, because sometimes they’re dogs.
Rosaria Cain 20:09
Well it was an $800– No, it was a $2,500 e-collar
Kristi May 20:14
Was it on the dog?
Rosaria Cain 20:16
Yep.
Kristi May 20:16
Oh, yeah, okay, yeah.
Rosaria Cain 20:18
Walked away, my husband had him, and came back, took care of it. I don’t know how he got it off, but he got it off.
Kristi May 20:26
Yeah, that’s how my service dog in training feels about his halty, too. He’s he, I think he’s chewed three or four of them.
Rosaria Cain 20:33
And I thought, well, I think he’s trying to tell me something.
Kristi May 20:36
Yeah, because he does hate his halty, and he tells me that all the time, but I don’t use it all the time anymore. We’ve transitioned off of it.
Rosaria Cain 20:44
I tended to use it a lot less after that experience. I tend to be a lot more deliberate when I need it, maybe, but not all the time.
Kristi May 20:53
Yeah, because we have to listen, especially if you are on a service dog or a therapy dog pathway, you’ve got to learn to listen to your dog and follow their directions, especially if you have a dog that alerts so like heroes, my service dog in training.
Rosaria Cain 21:12
I saw a picture of him.
Kristi May 21:13
Isn’t isn’t he adorable?
Rosaria Cain 21:15
A beautiful, golden.
Rosaria Cain 21:17
Yes he is.
Kristi May 21:17
Oh my gosh, yes, he is. And so I wasn’t listening to his alerts when we were in San Diego, and so he literally got up onto my shoulders, and he was like, sit down. And I sat down. And then he did cover.
Kristi May 21:33
Yeah, like, he told me a couple of times, and I’m like, we’re walking like, we don’t have time to do this right now, and he was so persistent. Then when I sat down, he did cover, and he would not let me up. And then finally, when I took a deep breath right as did that, he hopped down, and he looked at me like, well, let’s go. What are you waiting for? And so he was like, You were ignoring me so he wouldn’t. He was very persistent, because I flat out ignored him. I told him, “I said, No, I’m not listening to you right now.” And he didn’t take no for an answer.
Rosaria Cain 21:34
Wait, he said “Sit, Kristi, sit?”
Rosaria Cain 21:36
He looks like a pretty big guy.
Kristi May 22:00
He is. He’s about 95 pounds.
Rosaria Cain 22:06
Yeah, that’s pretty big.
Kristi May 22:13
95 pounds golden said, No, you’re not listening.
Rosaria Cain 22:19
That’s, you know, that’s pretty persuasive.
Kristi May 22:21
He was very persuasive.
Rosaria Cain 22:22
Had some presence.
Kristi May 22:23
Yes, yes, he does.
Rosaria Cain 22:27
I find this path so interesting, and I could literally talk about this all day long. But tell me how you became an entrepreneur. Let’s just shift the conversation a little bit. Yeah, I want to talk about humans now.
Kristi May 22:41
Okay.
Rosaria Cain 22:41
Who go into business because it’s a pretty scary thing, tell me how it happened for you, and if it was sudden or if it was something you just knew when you were a kid you were going to do.
Kristi May 22:53
So I don’t know that if I knew as a kid that it was something I was going to do, but my parents were business owners, so growing up, we they owned a grocery store for it was at least 20 years. I don’t know.
Rosaria Cain 23:12
A lot of your childhood.
Kristi May 23:13
Yeah, so it was well over 20 years before they closed that business. But my dad had, and my grandpa before that had a, we’re in business together and they had a tree trimming service and so and my dad did, snow plowing, and he did all kinds of things. And so I think it was always kind of there, just as part of growing up, and it kind of became normal, because my sister, both my sisters, have their own businesses, and so I think it was just the way that we did things. It was just part of our life.
Rosaria Cain 23:56
Did you have any businesses when you were a kid?
Kristi May 23:58
I did. I started a business when I was, I guess I would have been 12 or 13. Well, I did babysitting when I was when I was 12, because so I could pay for my ride to riding lessons and pay for horse shows, because I wanted to take lessons and go to horse shows, and I had to pay my own way to do that. So I rode my bike.
Rosaria Cain 24:22
Not an inexpensive pursuit.
Kristi May 24:24
No, and so I and I had to get rides with the neighbor, so I had to pay for that, pay for her gas to get a ride. So I’d have to, like, stand in the driveway at five in the morning with my horse and all my gear at 12 years old and be ready to load and go to the horse show. And so I rode my bike to do babysitting for that. And then when I would then I did a bid on a job. I had to have been 12 at the time. I did a bid for a job for an organization that did equine assisted therapy and to clean and repair all of their saddles and equipment. And so I did that job for them. And then I started doing other repair jobs. And then I started taking jobs of animal care, so like horses that needed, like bandage changes and things on a daily basis. And so I kind of started doing some, like, boarding care. So that was around that same time. And so I was thinking back, and I was like, I think I was 15 at the time, but I was like, I wasn’t I? That was 12/13, when I was doing that. So I started my own, like leather care business, and I did leather dyeing and repair and all of that stuff. And so my dad helped me, and I used his wholesale account to be able to purchase supplies and and things. So I think it was always there.
Kristi May 25:53
And the animal training was always there, really.
Kristi May 25:56
And the animal training was always there, kind of in that background
Rosaria Cain 26:00
And we didn’t really speak about the equine part of the business that you do as well.
Kristi May 26:05
Yes, so I grew up with horses. So I grew up with horses with my dad and my grandpa. I got a horse for Christmas, and that horse was six months old. I got a six month old horse for Christmas one year. So I think it was six or seven when I got that horse. And then after my grandpa passed away, I got his six month old horse, and I raised it. So I raised and trained two horses, and that horse was my competition horse.
Rosaria Cain 26:35
Oh that’s a heck of a training so that you did.
Kristi May 26:38
So, that horse was the one I was standing out in the driveway with at 12 to load to go.
Rosaria Cain 26:42
What type of horse was it?
Kristi May 26:42
He was a Quarter Horse.
Rosaria Cain 26:42
Oh, you know, I grew up with Quarter Horses.
Kristi May 26:46
So I had an Appaloosa, and I had a Quarter Horse, and were the two horses. And so that Quarter Horse, I used him for high school equestrian team. I was the high school equestrian team. I was the only one on our high school equestrian team.
Rosaria Cain 27:02
Well, then you were the captain.
Kristi May 27:03
I was, and the team and everyone. And then I did 4-H then we had a local riding club, and then I participated in our rodeo. So I did barrel racing, and then I also jumped him over fences too. So I wrote him English and Western, and so I trained him for both. So he was the horse I was taking to lessons, because I wanted to learn how to do, how to how to jump. I was taking him to jumping lessons. So, yeah, that’s how I got my horse experience.
Rosaria Cain 27:36
That’s incredible. And then at some point you joined the service.
Kristi May 27:39
I did!
Rosaria Cain 27:39
Served our country. Tell us what you did.
Kristi May 27:41
I did so I joined the Army because as a child, I think, is when I could speak, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I always wanted to be a veterinarian. When I grew up, I was going to be a veterinarian when, I think I wanted to be a veterinarian, as soon as I learned what the word was okay, and that’s actually why I went into the Army. I went into the Army to go into the Veterinary Corps because I had exhausted all of my undergrad financial aid and the grants. So in my generation, we were told to graduate high school and go to college and don’t worry about what your major is. Just take your take your core courses, and you can figure it out, right? Because that’s just what we were supposed to.
Rosaria Cain 28:26
I got similar advice.
Kristi May 28:27
Because we were the generation of the first of our families to go to college, because my parents didn’t go to college, and that was kind of just that, that that we were, that generation of we were going to college, right? But we went to college and with no direction, no direction on how to get financial aid, no direction on how to do anything, right? So I just took a bunch of classes and I signed up for pre vet med. Well, I was at a university that didn’t actually provide me with the pre vet med classes that I needed, but I didn’t know that, right? So again, exhausted all my financial aid. And so then I was working one semester, taking that semester off, then I was paying for a semester of school part time while working, and then I’d have to take the next one off and pay right so I said, “There’s got to be an easier way to do this, because this is going to take me forever to get done with school.” And go to vet school, because vet school was another four years after undergrad and taking a semester off every other semester, I was like, this is not the way to do this.
Rosaria Cain 29:32
You’d still be in vet school.
Kristi May 29:34
I would still be in vet school. No, you’re right. I so I joined the Army because the Veterinary Corps has a program where the Army will pay for your doctorate, they will pay for your undergrad and your doctorate, and it’s a two year additional contract beyond the doctorate, finishing the doctorate to go into the veterinary course. So the Army is the only branch of the service that does that, that has the veterinary program, because there are other doctorate programs in the other branches of the service. And so that’s why I went into the Army. Well, when I went into the Army, there were no open slots for a vet tech, but there were open slots for preventive med. And so preventive med is very similar to kind of what our health department does. Well, I already had two Associate’s degrees, because, again, I wasn’t quite in the right field, but I had an Associate’s in I had an Associate’s in biology, and I had an Associate’s in chemistry. So I was very interested in the idea of public health, because I was also working in a lab in wastewater. I had my wastewater certifications, and I was working in a lab, so I was doing a lot of chemistry and things and so environmental. And so I was like, Ooh, that actually intrigued me. So I picked a job that I liked, because at first the recruiter was like, “Oh, just pick truck driving, and then you’ll get transferred over.” And I was like, “I knew better than that, because then I’m going to be stuck in truck driving until I can get a slot to go into the Veterinary Corps,” right? And I’m like, no, no.
Rosaria Cain 31:07
So you started in the Veterinary Corps?
Kristi May 31:09
So well, sort of so preventive medicine works hand in hand with the veterinary core. And so I picked a position to do that, and I loved it. I loved doing, the environmental health side of what I did in the military, and I kind of didn’t expect that, but I loved my job. Did it, and part of my job was an instructor. So the Army, sent me to school to be certified as an instructor in the military, and so part of my job was teaching. I taught 40 hour classes every other week in the military and in the Army, and so that’s kind of where this instructor part, kind of, come in.
Rosaria Cain 31:50
All these things kind of came together.
Kristi May 31:52
That’s why I said never, your path is always kind of, you know, like you look back at it.
Rosaria Cain 31:57
It’s very linear.
Kristi May 31:58
It is, it is. And so I did put my application in for Veterinary Corps, and everything was going great, and then I injured my shoulder, and so my application, then got put on hold because I was pending a review for surgery on my shoulder. And then when I ended up having to get surgery on my shoulder, I was medically retired from the from the Army, so I wasn’t able to finish that path, but I had gone through the approval process like I had everything in and done, and I was right on the edge of getting accepted into that program. So I was delaying this idea about my shoulder. I was trying to get everything to go through before this shoulder, like surgery thing would come up.
Rosaria Cain 32:46
Tape it together.
Kristi May 32:47
Yes. And it caught, like, right at that time, and it got caught. And I was like, oh, so I got flagged. But when I went in to the Army, one of the things was, is there was a change in the GI Bill, and at the time that I went in is if you paid into the GI bill for, I don’t remember if it was a year or two years, then they basically did a match in addition to the GI bill that you already receive. And so I had done that when I went in. So when I got medically retired, I was able to finish my Bachelor’s and get two Master’s degrees when I when I finished, and they were in. So I finished my Bachelor’s in Animal Health Technology. I am a licensed veterinary technologist. Now that is a four year degree versus the two year vet tech degree that most vet techs have. So there’s a technician degree, which is a two year, and there’s a technologist degree that’s a four year. And I wasn’t aware at the time that there was such a thing. And then I went into my Master’s in Equine Science and Veterinary Practice Management. So it is a Master’s of Business, but it’s but it’s specific to veterinary practice. So instead of a business ethics course, I took a veterinary business ethics course, okay, and so it was a very specific track in in business. And then I got into veterinary medicine, and that’s where I found a big disconnect between veterinary medicine and animal behavior.
Rosaria Cain 34:24
Well, that’s pretty linear, too.
Kristi May 34:26
Yep. So then I went back to school, got all of my additional behavior certifications, and I started doing behavioral consultations within the veterinary world. And then that’s when I needed to basically make a decision, do I want to stay in the veterinary world and only serve this small population that is going to be able to find me here, and be able to, like you had to go to the clinic that I was working at to find me. Or I can step away from this, and I can do this on a larger scale. And that that was kind of that turning point, and I decided then in 2015 to step away from the veterinary world completely and do this full time.
Rosaria Cain 35:10
So you, you started your business in 2015?
Kristi May 35:13
I started my business in 2010.
Rosaria Cain 35:15
Okay, alright.
Kristi May 35:17
So I started my business in 2010 and I started boarding horses and doing fostering for a couple of different rescues and humane societies, and I was already doing some animal behavior things like I already had some certifications and in that but to do what I do now, and to do it within the veterinary world. I That’s where I went back to school to get those additional degrees to do it within the vet world, and not just outside of that. And so that’s kind of what led me to here. So, it is all very linear in into that.
Rosaria Cain 36:05
And you do a lot of service dog training.
Kristi May 36:06
I do a lot of service dog and therapy dog training.
Rosaria Cain 36:09
Yes, that’s great. There’s only a handful of trainers locally, is that right?
Kristi May 36:14
No, there’s a lot of trainers locally. And in the United States, there is no regulation on training, and so that means that anybody can claim they’re a dog trainer.
Rosaria Cain 36:25
Even with service dogs, or is that different?
Kristi May 36:27
Even with service dogs.
Rosaria Cain 36:28
Okay.
Kristi May 36:28
Anybody can claim that they’re that they’re a trainer.
Rosaria Cain 36:32
Well, are there, are there a lot of pretenders out there? Is there?
Kristi May 36:37
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 36:38
Okay, because there’s no certification, I imagine that would make it…
Kristi May 36:41
Correct. I even had a client take three or four sessions with me out of a six week course, and didn’t finish the course, and then started advertising that he was a dog trainer after that.
Rosaria Cain 36:57
Wow.
Kristi May 36:58
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 36:59
And there’s nothing you can do.
Kristi May 37:01
Oh, absolutely not. And I was just going, please, please, just do your research. Do your research. Find somebody who is actually certified.
Rosaria Cain 37:09
That brings me to a great question. How do you do your research? What do you do when you look for a dog trainer?
Kristi May 37:14
When you look for a dog trainer, look for someone who has a degree in something related to animal behavior, who has at least attended a course to be certified as an obedience instructor. Okay, somebody who has any type of membership to a professional organization, right, and who has an education.
Rosaria Cain 37:38
Does anyone ask you those questions?
Kristi May 37:41
Oh, all the time.
Rosaria Cain 37:42
Okay, I didn’t know. I there’s more. There’s more people than I thought asked those questions.
Kristi May 37:47
They do. They do ask those questions. Yes. And I always, when I do an assessment, I always ask if anyone has any questions of me, and they I do get asked those questions. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes people say, “Oh no, I’ve been following you, or I’ve been to your page. I already know. I already know.”
Rosaria Cain 38:05
And so you do a lot of virtual classes as well.
Kristi May 38:07
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 38:08
Tell us about that.
Kristi May 38:09
So our virtual classes now have kind of morphed into more of some hybrid courses, and now more of an on demand format. So now we have monthly subscriptions for our courses, and a lot of them are bundled now, and so our bundles are also discounted further. So we’ve put together packages for like service dog starting packages. We have packages for pet therapy dogs that are just starting out. We also have packages for dogs that are newly adopted, and so those are offered in regular pricing, like you can just outright buy those courses. And there is different package levels where you can also then book virtual one on ones with me, so you can get coaching with those and or you can split those into two payments. Or you can do a monthly subscription for those. And so some of those are, we’ve got those marked down as low as $9.99 a month to $19.99 a month.
Rosaria Cain 39:15
And then you also do group classes?
Kristi May 39:17
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 39:18
And you also do individual lessons.
Rosaria Cain 39:20
Correct.
Kristi May 39:20
We offer group classes, and then also private.
Rosaria Cain 39:24
Where in the valley are you located?
Kristi May 39:25
So I we’re located. We’re based out of Surprise.
Rosaria Cain 39:28
Okay.
Kristi May 39:29
is where we’re based out of. And we do classes in surprise, Glendale and Peoria.
Rosaria Cain 39:34
Okay.
Kristi May 39:35
And then our horses are in Whitman. Our barn is in Whitman, Arizona, and that’s, that’s where we are. But we travel Valley wide. And if we’re traveling west of the 17, no east of the 17, we are west of the 17. If we have to go east of the 17, we’re in person. We do charge a travel for that. It’s very minimum for that. But if you do virtual, then there’s no travel fee for those online sessions.
Rosaria Cain 40:09
And how many students do you have?
Kristi May 40:11
Students do I have? So we have…
Rosaria Cain 40:13
I consider anyone taking this as a student.
Kristi May 40:18
A lot.
Rosaria Cain 40:19
Well, especially if you count the virtual.
Kristi May 40:21
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 40:21
You probably have them all over the country.
Kristi May 40:23
Yeah, all over the world.
Rosaria Cain 40:24
Oh, even better.
Kristi May 40:26
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 40:27
Okay, all right,
Kristi May 40:28
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 40:29
Well, what do you do when you’re not training dogs? You always have Hero with you, right?
Kristi May 40:37
So I don’t. Hero still a service dog in training. He went through a fear period at about a year and a half, and so I had to stop public access training with him and really deal with that fear stage that he went through. And so he’s just back out into public access training again, but when I’m in private homes or horseback riding lessons, I don’t take him with me. One, it’s too hot. Two, I don’t bring him into into homes where other people have dogs. So he’s with me in my office, and he’s with me in those, in those off times and in my spare time, that’s always the joke. I always be like, I’m always like, “Oh, in my spare time,” but in my spare time, I do enjoy spending time with my horses, horseback riding. I enjoy kayaking and reading.
Rosaria Cain 41:36
And it helps, probably reduce stress as well.
Kristi May 41:38
Yes, it does. Oh, and painting, I have but I haven’t been painting in a while, but I just had my I have an organizer, and she came in last year, and I just had her come in this year, and she just dug me out of my office because my files cabinets were full, like, I couldn’t file anything. I’m like, I can’t file and so she just dug me out. And now I have like, this clean office, and I can access everything to paint and everything again. And so I was actually just looking at that yesterday, and I was like, Oh, it’s getting warm out now it’s probably time to start painting again.
Rosaria Cain 42:01
What do you paint?
Kristi May 42:05
So I’m just learning how to paint. So I’m doing canvas, and I’m still doing, like, paint by number, but I’m in the I’m in that, like intermediate levels where you’re mixing and texturing.
Rosaria Cain 42:29
Kind of creative outlet.
Kristi May 42:30
So yeah, so I’m learning. Painting something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve never been good at art and do it yourself, or crafts, or anything like that.
Rosaria Cain 42:40
But it’s fun.
Kristi May 42:41
So it is fun. And I what I really like about the paint by number is it’s teaching me how to do and some techniques. And so now I actually don’t follow it 100% because I’ve learned how to do some things with it. So it’s fun.
Rosaria Cain 42:56
A true creative.
Kristi May 42:57
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 42:58
If you were gonna write a book, or have you written a book?
Kristi May 43:00
I’ve written several.
Rosaria Cain 43:02
Why am I not surprised? Okay, if you were going to write a book about something completely different, what would you call it? Or about your life.
Kristi May 43:10
About my life? Oh, my goodness.
Rosaria Cain 43:11
I know what I would call your book.
Kristi May 43:13
What would you call it?
Rosaria Cain 43:15
Linear.
Kristi May 43:16
Linear.
Rosaria Cain 43:18
Or focus.
Kristi May 43:19
Like, just keep going. Just just going, just keep going.
Rosaria Cain 43:22
Follow the road.
Kristi May 43:23
Yeah, you can’t see it now, but it’s there.
Rosaria Cain 43:25
Follow the numbers.
Kristi May 43:26
Follow the numbers, yeah, follow the numbers, absolutely.
Rosaria Cain 43:29
What about you would surprise people?
Kristi May 43:32
Oh, what about me would surprise people?
Rosaria Cain 43:35
You surprised me already on a number of levels. So, I mean, it might be a hard question for you.
Kristi May 43:40
What would surprise people? I don’t know. I guess…
Rosaria Cain 43:47
You’re pretty open with everything.
Kristi May 43:48
I am.
Rosaria Cain 43:48
So it always makes it harder for somebody.
Kristi May 43:51
It is. So I guess what would I don’t know. I don’t know. What would surprise people. I mean, I’m pretty open about that I like coffee and wine because I always have a glass of wine when we go to our service dog meet up.
Rosaria Cain 44:03
As you should.
Kristi May 44:03
I don’t remember which wine it is. I always, I always have to ask Pam. I’m like, “Pam, what’s the wine we order when we come to this place?”
Rosaria Cain 44:11
Sounds like a good meetup, too.
Kristi May 44:14
We did the service dog meetup. No, I don’t know. I don’t cook, but I’m very open about that too. I don’t cook. So the joke at my house is I make reservations because I don’t make dinner. Well, okay,
Rosaria Cain 44:29
you know what? Not everybody, not everybody can cook. You’re an Animal Behavioralist.
Kristi May 44:33
Yeah, no, I’m like, I don’t. I guess it’s that I’m not really creative. I’m not creative in the way of, like, some people are creative in the way of, like arts and like decorating and things like that. I have none of that skill. None.
Rosaria Cain 44:48
You get some of that fulfillment with chemistry.
Kristi May 44:51
I do.
Rosaria Cain 44:51
Cooking is really just chemistry.
Kristi May 44:52
Yeah?
Rosaria Cain 44:52
But you choose chemistry over cooking.
Kristi May 44:54
Yeah, I choose chemistry over cooking any day.
Rosaria Cain 44:58
It’s just not gonna not gonna fly.
Kristi May 45:00
Yes, absolutely.
Rosaria Cain 45:01
Well, this has been wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing a slice of your life. From talking before, there’s way more to this than what we talked about in 45 minutes.
Kristi May 45:13
There is.
Rosaria Cain 45:14
So we may have to do a part two. This was excellent. Thank you for coming in and sharing it with me.
Kristi May 45:18
No, thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it. Thanks.