My Story

I have been an energy healer & psychic reader for many decades. In 2004 at a little metaphysical shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the reader told me that I would be working with dogs when I got older. I didn't doubt her.

Community

I want to share an accomplishment with you that shows some of my creativity and management ability: In 2007 I envisioned and produced the Midtown Yoga Festival in Minneapolis. This was a big deal. The Midtown Global Market was hurting financially, and this event yielded the 2nd best day of profit for the many businesses who were struggling at the time.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I and our Twin Cities community held three more annual yoga festival events after that which brought hundreds of people together in a good way.

In 2011 I moved back to New Mexico. I spent a year with some Sikh friends in Albuquerque, and when a young couple came to stay with me for a few days with their two French Bulldogs, I got an odd reading when I pet the dogs. I looked at the young man, and I said, "Your divorce is not going to happen and your marriage will be blessed." He looked at me, stunned, and I returned the same expression. I said, "I touched your dog and he told me."

In April of 2012 I moved up to Santa Fe and I rented a house in the South Capitol area. It was a big house and soon got filled up with roommates. At the same time I adopted a cat from Feline & Friends. I was reading cards at Lucky Cafe down at the now-gone Sambusco Center when Martin, the chef, asked me to hold a dog he had found on the meridian on his way to work on I-25. "Lucky" was a tiny Chihuahua with a lot of moxy. I held her and never let go till she passed away in 2022. 

A couple of months after this, my friend in a support group announced that she had a Shepherd mix she was bringing to the shelter because she couldn't keep "Toby" safe on her property. She had found Toby at the Apache Mescalaro Reservation where she worked: he was in a ditch, a pile of ribs and skin eating something that had perhaps  been dead for weeks. She got him to the vet, got him good nourishment and love, and there I was when she was on her way to the shelter. Toby and Lucky became my newest roommates. I had had no dog training and no understanding of dog training, and I thought my love alone would be sufficient.

Over the next couple of years a few other dogs found their way to my house, including a Terrier mix from California who had been a street dog. Dulce reminded me of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist story: he knew every good dumpster location, and he was as clever as a sunny day in Santa Fe. Spirit was a pass-along who had been found on Cerrillos Road nearly feral and a friend at the dog park asked me to take her as he lived in a trailer. This healer/border collie mix was going stir crazy there. Still I thought my extremely soft heart would be enough to get these dogs the life they needed. I was amazed when Spirit attacked other dogs at the off-leash community dog park, and I was stunned when I realize the park isn't entirely enclosed and the three bigger dogs ended up on the highway once. 

My friend who had given me Toby had a new, once-stray dog by now, and she told me that she had found a dog trainer for her and Ben, and perhaps I would like to sign up for a session.

I showed up at Young Park with Spirit and Dulce barking away in my little 1980 Datsun hatchback. I didn't know what a trainer could teach me, but I had become humble enough to know I needed help. David Crobsy, the trainer, said to me: "You only have to change one thing, Gaia," we paused, looked at each other, and I replied, "Everything?" 

We now knew I was trainable. 

I began apprenticing with this former military Staff Sergeant who knew how to handle people who were learning new, and foreign, things. We worked on basic obedience. We worked on approximations, we worked on de-escalating; we worked on agility; we worked in search and rescue and scent detection, and for three school-years we mentored honor students at the high school in dog training and scent detection. Early on studying with David, I began helping people with Separation Anxiety and Crate Training. We gave 22 monthly talks at the library for the general public about dog training, behavior and well-being. I set out on my own, hung up my own shingle, and still, after more than seven years, consult with David and meet up with him to share stories. 

Dog training in Santa Fe, New Mexico has grown for me to include Energy Healing and Mindfulness Meditation for Mutts offerings. 

I became a dog trainer later in life, and that's okay. We're a diverse crowd in Santa Fe, and everybody finds their people. If I am the right person for you and your dog, I look forward to our association.