Kyrana Michaelson

I was born and raised on horse ranches; my first memories are of dogs surrounding me and walking to watch my father work the horses in the ring. My journey began with ranch animals. My father and grandfather passed their knowledge on to me."May horses teach you patience," wrote my Papa Joe to me. My father's constant reminder that my breath, muscle tension and posture told every animal how I felt and, on a horse, would be pushed into their body through my legs. But it was a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal park that shifted my world completely and moved me from ranch animals to captive wildlife, from tarantulas to elephants, focusing in mammals, birds and reptiles.

My education began with life experience, continued to working on Cognitive Learning Abilities of horses, education and lessons in T Touch, Natural Horsemanship, Positive Reinforcement from trainers from the SF Zoo, Duke University Lemur/Primate Center, San Diego Zoo, Siegfried and Roy, Wild Things as well as Dr. Jona. For the love of a dog, I transitioned into working as the lead assistant to Dr. Jona Jordan, DVM, for four years, continuing my education in animal behavior in veterinary seminars and taking the lead in training and behavioral issues for clients in Dr. Jordan's practice that ran the gamut of mammals. I moved to Sacramento and have been working privately with a small handful of clients for the last 4 years, officially opening Wags and Wisdom in March 2014.