As with most animal enthusiasts, Maria, the owner and operator of Seattle Unleashed, has always had a passion for animals. What makes her stand apart is her extensive knowledge of training both animals and their humans.

Her career started with training and breeding horses in Houston, TX in the 90’s. She then attained a B.S. in Equine Science at Colorado State University, the leading college for equine studies. There, Maria studied under world renowned animal behaviorist Dr. Temple Grandin, author of “Animals in Translation."

She later became a teaching assistant and class instructor in many areas of the colleges’ training programs, including the summer youth program. Eventually she used her skills to manage a Thoroughbred Breeding and Racing facility in Indiana.

Several years later, Maria took her extensive horse training and instructing skills and switched gears to a smaller species; dogs! Maria has been teaching owners and dogs since the early 2000’s and hasn't looked back. She’s a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, AKC CGC Evaluator,* and certified in Pet First Aid.

Maria possesses great people training skills and her patience and understanding nature made her stand out at Riverdog, a large successful training facility in Issaquah, where she was the assistant training manager, and senior trainer.

Now Maria focuses her attention back on what she loves doing most, educating both dogs and their humans to work together to their full potential!