Meet our team!
Kind, Courteous, and Passionate
Knowledgeable and Professional
Certified and Always Striving to Learn More
Hanna Keith
Hanna was born with a love of animals regardless of species or size and was even called an animal whisperer by her friends and family when growing up! Almost all of Hanna’s jobs revolved around dogs as well: she spent 6 years as a dog bather, which helped her learn canine body language and handling skills; at doggie daycares, which allowed her to see proper and improper body language and play styles; at pet boutiques, which gave her a wider knowledge about good nutrition and a variety of toys; and even as a pet sitter that allowed her to learn how to coexist with multiple animals at once!
Hanna has always had a passion for learning as much as she can about canine behavior and will strive to always continue that quest for new knowledge. Her passions led her to attend Purdue University and earn a degree in Animal Behavior and Wellness. Immediately after graduation, she traveled to Starmark Academy in Texas, where after hard work and dedication, she graduated top of her class and was proud to earn the title of Certified Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist. From there she spent over a year working at a canine training facility in Arkansas, practicing her knowledge and really hone in on her skills. Finally, Hanna made the big decision to open up her own practice, Wild at Heart Canine Academy!
Hanna is also a certified American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen (AKC CGC) Evaluator and has since attended multiple seminars for continued education in different aspects of dog training including scent detection, protection, and more.
Qualifications
Bachelor Degree in Animal Behavior and Wellness- Purdue Univeristy 2018
Certified Canine Trainer and Behavior Specialist- Starmark Academy 2019
AKC Evaluator 2020
Pat Nolan seminar for duck hunting and scent detection 2019
International Association of Canine Professional Member (IACP) 2021
Completed a 4-month Mentorship with Walk With Me Ottowa 2020
Completed a 6-month Mentorship with Pheonix K9 Training 2022
Multiple protection and competition obedience seminars with Pawfect K9 - Working Spot
Puppy Raising Course - Take the Lead Dog Training
Cameron Ford: Odor Pays;
Simon Prins: ACT! K9 School
Pat Nolan: Remote Directionals- Seminar 2022
Justin Rigney- NePoPo® and E-collar Seminar 2023
Pat Stuart- Motivate, Communicate, Coach 2023
Certified Mantrailing Instructor 2026
Pheonix K9 Nose Work Instructor Course 2026
Experience
Current Member of K9 Working Dogs of Dallas - PSA Club since 2021
Previously competed in IGP/IPO
Currently competing in PSA Level 2
Competition obedience
Hosted and attended: Play Seminar - Urban Dog Leader
AKC Trick teacher
AKC Scent detection
Performed scent detection and obedience seminar at local Senior living center in Siloam Springs, Arkansas
Lead a defensive handling and dog behavior seminar for Circle of Life Hospice Care nurses and staff
Multiple obedience demonstrations at Holland Barn Venue for various events
Feed Real Nutrition Summit 2025, 2026
Willow
AKC Canine Good Citizen
Multiple trick titles
Scent detection: bed bugs and AKC scents
Professionally Good Looking
Valko
AKC Canine Good Citizen
Multiple trick title
Scent detection: narcotics
BH title in IGP (Protection sport)
All around Good Boy
Demon
PSA PDC, PSA 1 (second place each leg)
Personal Protection Dog
Ginormous Goofball
Aubrie Keith
Aubrie is Hanna’s sister and has spent many years working with Hanna and assisting her in all of her adventures and jobs. By first becoming Hanna’s assistant, and working hard to learn from her over the past few years, Aubrie’s knowledge about dog handling, nutrition, and training has skyrocketed. Because Aubrie was self taught by Hanna, they have the same training techniques and can fluidly transition and work with each other, which causes less confusion for clients and their dogs. Aubrie has worked very hard to get where she is now and is very excited to be a Co-Founder of Wild at Heart Canine Academy.
Not only is Aubrie knowledgeable with dogs, but she also brings many other skills to the table. She has almost a decade’s worth of customer relations and sales, which has molded her into someone that can easily explain what she is selling, make sure it is the right product for you, and she does it with a bright smile and a winning personality. She also is very creative, has a love of making jewelry and fashion and wants to one day create hand made dog tags, matching jewelry, patches and more to bring a more personalized touch to the business.
Qualifications
Co-Founder and Lead dog trainer at Wild at Heart Canine Academy
Completed Shadow program with Kane9 Dog Training 2021
Puppy Raising Course - Take the Lead Dog Training
Completed virtual program with Walking Dog Training
Group Class Game Changer Seminar - 2023
Feed Real Nutrition Summit 2026
Experience
Apprenticed under Hanna Keith since 2016-2020
Dog walking, boarding, and transportation experience since 2016
Hosted and attended: Play Seminar - Urban Dog Leader
Attended protection and working dog seminar with Pawfect K9 - Audit
Feed Real Nutrition Summit 2026
Cupa
Scent detection: AKC scent
Multiple tricks
Perfect snuggle buddy
Alyssa Foster CPCN
Alyssa grew up surrounded by dogs which is one of the reasons she decided to become a dog trainer! From owning German Shepherds to Miniature Pinschers and volunteering for years at the Humane Society of North Texas she has gained the experience and temperament knowledge of all sorts of breeds!
Alyssa has worked under Hanna for several years, learning the ins and outs of dog training. She used this experience as an opportunity to begin exploring different avenues of the industry. Alyssa has attended several dog training seminars in her pursuit of further education as well as participating and competing in several different dog sports to further her experience!
Alyssa participates in many dog sports with her personal dog Rio, a French shepherd, and together they have accomplished 18 titles so far! Those titles include Canine Good Citizen, Canine Good Citizen Urban, Canine Good Citizen Advanced, Trick dog titles Novice through Advanced Masters, Rally Obedience Novice, Fetch novice and intermediate and Dock Diving Junior, Senior, and Master. Rio was also the second place winner for French Shepherds for dock diving in 2025! Alyssa and Rio also dabble in agility training, Fast Cat, Elite Shed Hunt, mantrailing and Frisbee games with the goals of competing in those avenues as well!
Alyssa has completed her degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management which helps her provide professional and tailored customer service to you and your family. Alyssa is a Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist (CPCN). This helps her understand the connection between what our dogs eat and how they behave! She is also currently enrolled in the Northeast K9 Conditioning Elite Canine course to become a Certified Canine Athlete Specialist (CCAS).
Qualifications
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management 2024
Play Seminar - Urban Dog Leader
Hands on Shadow Program - On Command Dog Training
Puppy Raising Course - Take the Lead Dog Training
NePoPo Course with Jaclyn Dagampat
NePoPo and E-Collar Seminar Working Spot - Justin Rigney
Competition Obedience and Bite Sport Private Lesson - Forrest Mickie
Practical Dog Training Workshop - Forrest Mickie and Dr. Stewart Hilliard
Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist (CPCN) - Feed Real Institute 2025
Agility Seminar - Tawni Millet
Feed Real Summit- Feed Real Institute 2025, 2026
AKC CGC Evaluator
Currently enrolled in Northeast K9 Elite Canine course
Experience
Multiple NADD Dock Diving Titles and Competitions
- Distance and Air Retrieve
Aqua Agility
Completed all 3 levels of AKC CGC
AKC Rally Competition Obedience
AKC FETCH
AKC Fast Cat
Completed AKC Farm Dog Certification
AKC and DMWYD Trick dog title programs
UKC Elite Shed Hunt
Mantrailing
Trick Teacher
Apprenticed under Hanna beginning in 2021
Rio
"Eagle Valley Soul Du Loup Sauvage DM RN CGCA CGCU FTI FDC TKA ATD-M"
Canine Good Citizen (CGC)
Canine Good Citizen Urban (CGCU)
Canine Good Citizen Advanced (CGCA)
Dock Junior (DJ)
Dock Senior (DS)
Dock Master (DM)
Rally Obedience Novice (RN)
Novice FETCH (FTN)
Intermediate FETCH (FTI)
Farm Dog Certification (FDC)
AKC Trick dog Novice (TKN)
AKC Trick dog Intermediate (TKI)
AKC Trick dog Advanced (TKA)
DMWYD Trick dog Novice and Novice Masters (NTD-M)
DMWYD Trick Dog Intermediate and Intermediate Masters (ITD-M)
DMWYD Trick Dog Advanced and Advanced Masters (ATD-M)
Dayschool Trainers
Christian Navarrette
Hi! My name is Christian, I have worked several customer service positions until finding my passion in dogs. I have been a dog trainer for 2 years now. Shortly after working with WAHCA I got my first Dog Kush, a working line German Shepherd Dog! She is a highly energetic bundle of chaos! Together we train in PSA and Dock Diving! So excited for many more years of fun challenges and adventures!
Amber Hadlock
I’m Amber, a professional dog trainer who discovered my passion for dog training and behavior after bringing home my dog, Kiba, as a puppy 6.5 years ago. What started with wanting to better understand my own dog grew into a passion for helping dogs and their owners build confidence, communication, and reliability through real-world training.
🐺 Fun Fact: Kiba has been my biggest teacher! Early on, he developed reactivity after frequently allowing too much play with other stranger dogs when I didn’t know better. Working through it together taught me so much about dog behavior and ultimately inspired my career in dog training. Now we do so much together such as Dock Diving, Hiking and so many more adventures!
💜
Kennel Technicians
Seth Ziemann
Growing up Seth always had a love for animals and knew he wanted to find a career working with them! Once he found WAHCA he began his training journey in 2024. After working with and learning from Hanna he decided to get his own border collie! Seth and Judah are now training in many different AKC and performance sports with goals of competing in the future!
Maya Oberding
Maya was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States in 2016. She has always had a passion for animals, especially dogs and horses, and graduated high school in 2022. She especially enjoys working with dogs because she loves learning about their individual personalities, understanding their behavior, and building trust through training. Helping a dog gain confidence and seeing them learn and grow is one of the most rewarding parts of working with them.
Outside of work, Maya enjoys spending time with her Australian Shepherd, Beau, who has earned his CGC, CGCA, CGCU, and AKC Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced Trick titles. Together, they compete in agility and barn hunt and enjoy trying new dog sports and activities. Maya also loves hiking, spending time with friends, and being at the barn with her two horses.
Danica Little
I have always known I wanted to work with animals, but really got into K9 work through an ex secret service handler now teacher, leading me to reach out to Hanna to help gain experience. I am Currently going to Tarleton State University with plans to get my degree in Forensic Investigation from Texas A&M. I plan on commissioning into the Navy with the hope to work with bomb detection dogs.
Buffy was trained by Alyssa before my time with WAHCA and while she might not have any fancy titles but she definitely has toes, 22 of them to be exact.
Mango
Mango is our glorified receptionist at Wild at Heart Canine Academy’s Facility! She was found wandering around Hanna’s neighborhood one morning as a stray. Because she was so friendly and curious, Hanna decided to bring her to the facility as the new Door Greeter! She enjoys staring out the windows, rubbing her face on anything she can find, and taunting the training dogs as often as possible!
