About us
Owner and Founder: Alex
Alexandra Whitford is the owner and head trainer of River’s Edge Canine. At a very young age, she knew that her passion in life was animals. Since she was only eight-years-old, she has worked extensively with horses, competing in everything from high school rodeo events to show jumping. At the age of 16-years-old, she started her professional career with dogs. Alex became a daycare attendant at a local, large-scale dog daycare, where she worked her way up to district manager.
Her passion for dog training started when she rescued a Catahoula leopard dog from Tennessee; Lila Blue. When Alex first met her, she was extremely fearful and reactive towards both humans and dogs. Lila had almost no apparent confidence and it was evident that she was in need of a serious rehabilitation. With this, Alex had to seek out the help of a local dog training facility. She turned to K9 Connection Dog Training to help. Soon after she began training, Alex realized that she had a desire and natural ability to handle difficult and dangerous dogs. Shortly after the completion of her lessons Alex started her professional dog-training career at K9 Connection. Here, she conducted training and behavioral modification in private lessons, group classes, and with board and train dogs. In addition, Alex has helped to rebuild the relationships between humans and their dogs with her wealth of knowledge and unique training style.
In 2018, Alex founded River’s Edge Canine. She enjoys continuing to learn from other professional trainers, seminars, local specialty classes and online courses, but most importantly Alex continues to learn from her loyal companion, Lila. Without her, Alex would not have known what rehabilitation and hard work truly mean. Since the two first united, Lila has become a faithful confidant. Without training, Alex nor Lila, would be where they are today.
Co-Owner and Trainer: Andrew
After our expansion two years ago, Andrew made a career change from an electrician to full-time dog trainer and kennel owner. He has trained and competed in Schutzhund since 2015. Competitive obedience is guided by your skill to bring high levels of motivation and discipline into the routine. Drew’s understanding of canine emotion, what drives behavior, and breed specific attributes is a huge contribution to our team.
Andrew currently owns two German Shepherds, Flynn and Windczar. Flynn is his young up and coming competitive sport dog, while Windczar is enjoying his retirement after a full career as a level three Schutzhund dog.
Trainer and Kennel Assistant: Allison
Kennel Assistant: Lynn