With nearly 30 years of experience in the exotic animal training and the detection canine industry, Craig’s animal training experiences range from training exotic animals in the zoo and aquarium industry for show production purposes and cooperative health care procedures to training and handling working canines in various capacities for the last 16 years.
As a Training Specialist/Instructor for the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Detector Dog Training Center, he has designed comprehensive courses and delivered instruction for handlers and trainers, procured and trained canines, and conducted certifications for canine teams from state, federal and international agencies.
His current and other past professional positions include employment as a Forensic Canine Operations Specialist for the Federal Government, Senior Scientist in Animal Behavior and Sensory Innovation for Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc., Executive Board Member for the Topeka Zoo, Animal Behavior Program Manager for the Palm Beach Zoo, Animal Keeper/Show Production Trainer at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Jacksonville Zoological Gardens, and SeaWorld Adventure Parks. During his career, Craig has served as a consultant on exotic animal behavior and canine program development and presented workshops and seminars to students and professionals from around the world.
Craig has certified his with own canines while assisting others in training canines for search and rescue applications in wilderness live-find disaster, trailing and human remains. Craig has designed and delivered lectures on concepts in animal behavior and conducted animal training labs for the North American Veterinary Conference Post Graduate Institute/Veterinary Behavior Tract, The American Veterinary Medical Association Veterinary Technician Tract, the World Veterinary Congress and has guest lectured for veterinary colleges at Kansas State University and the University of Florida. In addition, he served as a recurring guest Instructor for Western Carolina University’s Cadaver Dog Training Program until the program’s redirection occurred in 2017.
Throughout his working canine career, he has worked to improve training and certification standards in the working canine industry while serving as a contributing member of the Scientific Working Group on Dog and Orthogonal detector Guidelines (SWGDOG). Craig is currently a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST)/ Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)/ Dogs and Sensors Subcommittee.
Craig brings a unique and blended approach to teaching that combines his training experiences as an exotic animal and canine trainer with an instructional designer. As an instructor he creates innovative, one of a kind training experiences as his personal teaching style incorporates many instructional strategies for adult learners of all types.
