With the formation of VSPDT, Victoria has assembled a global team of world-class positive reinforcement dog trainers dedicated to promoting humane, force-free dog training methods that result in a truly balanced human/dog relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and love. Lori currently is the only dog trainer in the Coachella Valley endorsed by VSPDT.
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Serving: Carlsbad, CA and Bermuda Dunes, CA
OUR TEAM
About Dream Dogs
Personalized Approach | Knowledgeable Trainers
Personalized Approach
Knowledgeable Trainers
We Opened Our Doors in 1998!
Dream Dogs opened its doors in 1998 and was founded by long-time Indio resident Lori Carman, a California native with a background in animal training and wildlife education. In opening Dream Dogs, Lori created the best of both worlds by combining her extensive exotic animal background and operant conditioning knowledge with her love of dogs and people. The result? A professional program where dog owners and their canine companions come together for a variety of learning opportunities and support, all in an approachable and fun environment. Dream Dogs truly is a dream come true.
Our Philosophy
We teach you, the pet owner, how to speak the dog's language, so to speak. Training becomes a form of communication between you and your canine friend, and the process becomes much more rewarding when you understand how your dog thinks.
Dream Dogs does not in any way agree with or support Cesar Millan's punishment-based training techniques. He has received a lot of criticism and also faces a slew of lawsuits involving animal cruelty charges. Please understand that we don't make a habit off speaking ill of people, it's just that we firmly believe that canine punishment techniques are cruel and needless.
We teach you how to foster a positive relationship with your dog, and this does not involve dominating your four-legged friend in any way. All dominance does is create fear, so the notion that harming your pet keeps them in line is a myth. We always speak up when we see people hurting their pets. Positivity works!
Lori Carman
VSPDT, APDT, CGC Evaluator, Founder of Dream Dogs and Head Training
Dream Dogs is owned and operated by Lori Carman, who has a proven track record of animal training for events, obedience, agility, behavior modification, and tricks. Her training methods focus on promoting the proper relationship between dog and owner in order to achieve maximum results in minimal time.
A graduate of Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training and Management program with degrees in animal training and wildlife education, Lori has worked on television and movie sets with both dogs and exotic animals. She’s also worked as a trainer and naturalist for the Cincinnati Zoo and Southern California’s Living Desert Zoo and Gardens near Palm Springs. She brings to the table 21 years of experience training a variety of exotic animals such as bobcats, birds of prey, jackals, and chimpanzees (just to name a few), and creating interactive wildlife educational shows and programs. This unique background sets her apart from most other dog trainers.
World-renowned dog trainer and Animal Planet TV star Victoria Stilwell personally selected Lori to represent her in the Coachella Valley, and subsequently invited Lori to join Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training (VSPDT), the world's premier network of professional positive reinforcement dog trainers. Victoria rose to fame thanks to her hit TV show, “It's Me or the Dog,” through which she shares her passion for educating the public about the power of reward-based positive reinforcement training methods, as well as the dangers and ineffectiveness of traditional dominance-based philosophies.
Todd Maurer
Todd is a born and raised native of the Coachella Valley growing up in the greater Palm Springs area. He has been surrounded by animals his whole life with what he affectionately calls his “zoo” owning dogs, birds, bunnies, and cats who were/are all rescue animals.
Todd has been a photography assistant since he was a teen for his locally family owned and operated business Brian Maurer Photography, has worked in hospitality for Marriott, and has been a childcare provider and an in-home dog sitter. Todd went to school to become HVAC certified but after working in the field for some time decided that his passion for animals is where his heart is.
Todd joined Dream Dogs in 2020 and worked his way up to being a trainer. His passion for animals is evident with the bond he has with all the dogs and animals at Dream Dogs. In the words of Todd, ”I finally know what the saying ‘If you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life means.’ It is an honor to work with the Dream Dogs team and the dogs I meet every day.”
Emily Quereux
Trainer
Emily Quereux was born and raised in a small town outside of Boston, Massachusetts. From a young age, she knew that her passion was in working with animals but she didn’t know how until she went to college. Emily attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2022, where she got her Bachelor's in Marketing with a secondary major in Spanish. During her time there, Emily got involved in a program through Diggity Dogs Service Dogs, where college students had the opportunity to train service dogs for people who suffered from a disability.
In dog training, we always talk about a dog's “ah hah” moment; the moment when everything finally clicks for the dog and they understand. When Emily began training dogs at Diggity Dogs, she felt like it was her own real-life “ah hah” moment.
After graduation, she relocated to the West Coast and got involved with Dream Dogs Professional Dog Training. Emily began as a volunteer, but quickly proved herself to be an asset to our team and got promoted to a full-time dog trainer in just a couple of months. She specializes in positive reinforcement training and behavioral modification. Emily can train any dog regardless of their breed or age in areas such as obedience, clicker training, task training for service/therapy dogs, puppy socialization, etc.
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