With the holiday season approaching, our next well-timed episode features a business that’s all about helping make it – and every other time of year – as stress-free and comfortable as possible for canines (as well as their humans): ⁠Chesapeake Dog Training⁠.

We sat down with Linda Stallings, founder and owner of the 14-year-old company that “connects people and dogs through training” (and our 80TH ⁠VOLT Fund⁠ loan recipient!) to discuss:

• What made her decide to leave her super-exciting job at the Baltimore Zoo, where she enjoyed solving everyday problems like how to weigh a rhinoceros for the first time, and emBARK upon opening a dog walking (and soonafter dog training) business in Annapolis in 2009.
• Her training philosophy – including why she believes that all dogs (and all other animals) are trainable, whatever their age and however RUFF their behavior, and that they (and their owners) all need a personalized training plan that’s part science, part art.
• How she used a VOLT Fund loan to take her business, which had grown to the point of consistently turning away potential clients, from home-based to brick-and-mortar – plus why she loved the process.
• AND her top tips on dog training, running a business, and places to, surprise, surprise, take your dog for a walk in Anne Arundel County.

So tune in to this purely PAWSitive story of small business success TODAY!