About Our Founder

Awesome Paws Academy, located in Southeastern WI, is dedicated to in-home pet training throughout SE Wisconsin and NE Illinois. The owner, Julie Westphal, a Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), is an experienced reinforcement & motivational instructor who helps owners shape new and modify old behaviors. A full-time CVT for a local veterinary hospital, Julie Westphal has also been actively training and educating the public since May of 2002 and has been in the animal care field since January 2001. She fell in love with the sport of Schutzhund in the Fall of 2004 and started to compete in AKC Obedience, Rally-O, and Tracking in 2005. She and her dogs have earned titles in both sports venues. Her current dog, Guinness, has earned his CGC, WAC, RN, CD, and BH. He has also been a certified Therapy Dog (until Schutzhund protection work dictated he be retired as such, per the requirements of TDI) and has even dabbled in some Search and Rescue training. She and Guinness hope the future brings them continued success. He continues training with Julie as often as possible to achieve the end goals of advanced competition titles, but also to help educate the public on the beauty of relationship based training. He is considered a true Dobie Ambassador, who helps show that the stereotypical "bad" Doberman does not have to exist and that with proper training, you can have an obedient, FUN, dog!

    She currently instructs all stages of Obedience, Tracking, Rally-O, Tricks, organizes all of the public educational Seminars and Events, as well as oversees the Boarding School and New Instructor  Programs. She is an AKC certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and heads the Feline Training Programs as well. In addition, she instructs classes at Cudahy Kennel Club and is the behaviorist of choice for Belle City Veterinary Hospital, Animal Hospital of South Milwaukee, and Waukesha Small Animal Hospital.

   A frequently asked question is whether Julie is a certified dog trainer. No, she is not. She is proud to have had the opportunity to gain her experience through hands-on training, continuing experience, and working with not only training clients through Awesome Paws and Cudahy Kennel Club, but with clients from all of her wonderful veterinary hospital referrals, various shelter referrals, continuing education training seminars, and even from simply walking through pet stores and being asked, "How did you get your dog trained so well?" She has been handling dogs (and some cats) since 2001 and has had a vested interest in animal behavior ever since. She continues her education as often as possible to keep current with new techniques and tips, but has also developed a style all her own. For those simply wanting a "certified" dog trainer because of the title, Awesome Paws is not for you. Please feel free to research just what is entailed in becoming a certified dog trainer in most programs. Some of the requirements and the multiple-choice test questions are not as in-depth as we feel they should be, nor have practical applications, and this unfortunately means that there are a lot of people out there that can call themselves certified dog trainers that don't truly have any real experience in behavior modification, learning theory, or reinforcement. We would be more than happy to discuss our credentials, background, and even offer more than our site referrals and testimonials if you wish, however, we do not require any of our staff to be certified at this time. We would require they prove through practical application not only with their own pets (titles, classes, any certification programs like CGC, Therapy, etc), but with client's (under direct supervision of our owner) as well, that they know what it takes to be in this field.

Julie not only has the benefits of a veterinary medical background, but a strong behavior background as well. She started Awesome Paws Academy to help those owners who have home-based problems or simply cannot attend class or come into a facility. Being an active member in the veterinary field allows her to bring the medical aspect into her pet training programs (such as the benefits of proper nutrition and supplements, veterinary care, and even diagnostic recommendations to rule out physical ailments), but she has also been a member of the: United Doberman Club, Association of Pet Dog Trainers, DVG (German parent Schutzhund Club), Wisconsin’s Cudahy Kennel Club, and the Meridian Working Dog Club in Decatur, Illinois. She was a speaker at the 2006 UDC Nationals, and has been published in the UDC’s Focus magazine. She is an unofficial foster mom for all pets, an approved pet foster mom and re-habilitator for the American Belgian Malinois Club Rescue and a volunteer trainer for the local shelters and rescues. She attends continuing educational seminars for the ever-changing training fields and has certification in many areas including: veterinary technician, Reiki Level 1, Clicker Training, and Canine Good Citizen Evaluation. She has also been featured at local pet fairs, for arranging local Rummage for Rescue events, and in a UWM documentary on behavior.

Her life's goal is to help pet owners strengthen the human-animal bond to the utmost level and create the most wonderful relationship that is possible: a relationship based on trust and understanding.

We at Awesome Paws truly believe that you should never settle for just any trainer in the education of yourself or your pet. Find a trainer you can relate to, communicate openly with when you have concerns and have all questions answered completely. ONLY allow a trainer to do what YOU feel is right. NEVER let them take the leash unless you are Completely comfortable with what they're about to do. If you don't follow these basic guideline, you'll only end up regretting it.

 Whether with Awesome Paws, or another training facility, we wish you success. Happy Training!

Thank you for choosing Awesome Paws Academy...