About Natalya
I’m Natalya, Founder of MUZZLE NUDGE. I am a Certified Dog Trainer, Dog Behavior Specialist, Dog Walker, a Human Educator, and of course, a huge animal lover and an empath. Read on to learn more about my story.
I first discovered my passion for animals at an early age with childhood memories going back to me and my school friends rescuing homeless kittens and puppies from the streets of suburban and rural parts of the Soviet Union. I grew up with dogs and have had dogs around me my whole life, learning valuable life lessons from these amazing teachers. My family and I immigrated to the United States and could not leave behind our beloved family dog Tima, an almost blind 11 year old miniature poodle. And he arrived in the cargo section on the same flight with us to New York on a hot August day in 1991.
Fast forward to me working as a Physical Therapy Practitioner for a quarter of a century. Objectively I helped many of my patients get their life back to being able to function safely and successfully in society and at home. My family and I also always enjoyed sharing our life with three dogs and a few cats.
One of our late dogs Cooper, a tiny four pound apple head chihuahua, who I was deeply connected to on a soul level, got diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the age of 7. He was on heart meds and in and out emergency rooms quite often. My family had to put on hold many of our family trips and outings during this time as I could not bear the thought of leaving him in the care of strangers or trust others to take care of him. I also observed quite often as my hospitalized PT patients were struggling to arrange care for their stayed home pets. Feeling the need for these services, I followed my calling and left the medical field. I went on a journey to help pets and their humans have peace of mind and deeper their connection.
In 2021, MUZZLE NUDGE was born to serve as a place where I could provide dog walking and pet care, and dog training services the same above and beyond quality as I would for my own pets. Walking that path myself for many years with my beloved dog Cooper, I could connect with pet owners and see the world through their eyes to understand their feelings, concerns, needs, and goals. It is gratifying to see the trust and the joy of many of my clients who were formerly staying home with pets now being able to enjoy their life traveling and spending time with their families knowing that their pets are safe and happy.
One of my client’s amazing dog Farley, a soft coated wheaten terrier with a wonderful soul and the kindest loving disposition crossed my path and became my angel, my inspiration, and my guide into pursuing my career as a Dog Trainer and Dog Behaviorist. While taking care of Farley, I discovered that he had a severe case of leash and dog aggression. It broke my heart seeing this pure soul transformed into a scared, unbalanced and unhappy dog hating every minute of our walks together. I made Farley and all the other pups with behavioral issues a promise to find a way to help them, and 18 months later I successfully graduated as a Certified Dog Trainer and Dog Behavior Specialist from CATCH Canine Trainers Academy.
To me, it is a real thrill to get to the root of a dog’s behavior issues, design a program to address it, and see the progress being made. I give Farley’s family a big credit for being able to understand their role as leaders, reassess their approach and psychology, and make major progress in Farley’s behavior which immensely improved since then and is 95% better! Still providing care for him and his feline brother and sister and seeing him being a much more balance and fulfilled dog makes my heart dance!
Animal behavior and care is my passion, and it is something I learned from the lessons taught to me by my amazing furry teachers, my CATCH Canine Trainers Academy education, my mentors, and many years of practice. I owe my passion and I dedicate my heart and my services to all the animals that crossed my path to teach me about honor, respect, ritual, honesty, trust, integrity, loyalty, and compassion and to all that will cross my path in the future!