Katie Cousins began her career when she graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2012. She served 5 years as a Space Operations Officer and was stationed around the world including a 1-year tour in Greenland. While stationed in Colorado, she began volunteering at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and fell in love with animal care.

Katie left the Air Force in 2017, went back to school, and made the career change to zookeeping. She graduated summa cum laude from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Science and went on to work with many different species at zoos and aquariums around the US including the Alaska SeaLife Center, Kansas City Zoo, Natural Encounters, Inc., the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and SeaWorld San Diego. She's experienced how powerful positive reinforcement training can be and the importance of building a trusting relationship and communication between people and animals, and brings many lessons learned from her time in the exotic animal care world. 

In 2020 Katie decided to add dog trainer to her resume and enrolled at VSA. Dogs have been a lifelong passion for Katie, she grew up with Australian shepherds and knows first-hand the problems that can arise from a bored pup! Today Katie lives outside Kansas City, MO with her husband, son, and three rescue pups. Katie is dedicated to helping people find realistic, long-term solutions for a happy life with their pets, and provides in-home training focused on basic obedience, enrichment, and behavior modification for common problems such as jumping, door dashing, counter surfing, and destructive chewing. If you're in the Kansas City area and think in-home training might be for you, she would love to talk with you!