MEET OUR TEAM
Emily Roach
Founder
Hailing from Buffalo, New York, Emily's household was complete with animals. A self-described "Urban Zoo," she grew up with a wide range of animals, and thanks to this upbringing, she began training animals at a very young age.
In 2006, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in Pierce College to study veterinary medicine, along with adopting our fearless mascot, KODA. Emily quickly realized some behavior issues and visited multiple trainers to correct them. Having no luck, she decided to handle the problem herself. In 2008, Emily began a three-year apprenticeship in dog behavior and left the pursuit in Veterinary Medicine. This apprenticeship allowed Emily to work in the entertainment industry and rescue world while focusing on her passion for training dogs.
Emily focuses on troubled animals, believing all dogs should have a chance regardless of the problem. Acting as a translator between owner and pet, she will implement the necessary actions to correct any functional problem.
Katarina Vailetti
Assistant Trainer
Katarina is a California native, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Growing up, her family valued having well trained dogs in the home and having all members of the family be responsible for their care. At 7 years old, she was ecstatic when she could start taking their family Rottweiler out for walks on her own.
Katarina had thought about veterinary work as she grew up, but put a career with dogs on the back burner. She continued to be involved with dogs throughout the years by dog walking, sitting, boarding, fostering and of course showing love to any dog she met.
Adopting her first dog of her own in 2017, and starting group classes with him in 2018, sparked Katarina’s interest in dog training. While toying with the idea of doing a dog training course, a position with My Dog is My Rock came about and she knew it was meant to be!
Katarina is currently Emily’s assistant trainer, works with our board and train dogs and is taking on new private clients.
