A dog’s best friend

The view from the front of the house where Brenda Siebold lives. Brenda bought this house six years ago during the pandemic. She lives there alone with her five dogs, two cats, a horse, donkey, and some chickens.

Brenda Siebold was training a dog named Kane at the Clark County Animal Shelter who would not eat food from her hand. Abuse from a past owner, she suspected. So Brenda made Kane comfortable with hugs and encouragement. She held out her hand but left the food on the ground.

Soon, Kane was eating from Brenda’s hand.

That moment was borne from decades of experience connecting with dogs where they were.

Brenda grew up on a Pennsylvania farm. From a young age, she always loved animals, particularly dogs. In middle school she found a pack of stray dogs that she spent time with because they were easy to read and she wanted to make them feel loved. That was the start.

At 20, she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and became a military police working dog handler from 1988-1992. Her job was training and caring for dogs to support base security and combat operations. At that time Brenda was just the third female dog handler in the military, and after a couple years she was named the Kennel Master, where she was in charge of 13 teams.

It was hard to be in such a male-dominated field in the Marines. Like a dog in many ways, she said it was hard to assert her dominance. She said she has seen women’s roles evolve since her time in the Marines and has more confidence now than ever to be a strong leader in the community through her business.

After the Marines, she was a vet technician for 20 years, a dog trainer in Florida and worked for a dog rescue group. Kentucky was a good middle ground between Pennsylvania and Florida, so she settled in Winchester in 2022, opening Devil Dog K9 training and fitness, named for a nickname for a Marine. Brenda visits different homes and trains different breeds of dogs with the goal of creating a working bond using methods like positive reinforcement and building that trust that motivates them to learn and want to behave.

Thursdays she volunteers with the Clark County Animal Shelter where she takes dogs on walks and helps train them.

“Its all about building trust,” Brenda said, “because if they don’t trust you, how are they supposed to be comfortable learning from you.”

Dogs just want to be seen, loved, and heard. When it comes down to it, that’s all Brenda wants for herself and others.