Joey has a biology degree and is an animal-behavior expert. In addition to studying wolf packs for his degree, he has also worked as a trainer at SeaWorld®. Joey learned about animals from his grandfather as a child, his grandfather trained labs and beagles as hunting dogs. Joey has supplied dogs to the military and police through government contracts, supplying dogs for narcotics detection, apprehension, and bomb detection. He started a non-profit rescue organization for dogs, and he has more than 25 years of experience in the industry. Our company’s training methods are based on his experience and knowledge.

Paige grew up with German Shepherds, beginning training them at the age of eight years old. Growing up in a small city, at nineteen she joined Petco and within a year became the Lead Trainer in Louisiana and Mississippi, hitting #2 in sales out of 1500 stores. She then joined and ran Off Leash K9 Training New Orleans until her move to Georgia to join Joey in opening OverWatch K9 Academy. She now owns and runs OverWatch K9 Academy as a Lead Trainer and Operations Coordinator.

Maegan has been in the dog industry for 10 + years. Her love of animals and taking care of them began when she started caring for the animals on her grandfathers farm as a child. This inspired a career in veterinary medicine that lead her to being a veterinary technician for 8 years, 4 of those years spent managing a clinic. She has attended many veterinary conferences that focus on the mental and physical well-being of animals. She has worked and volunteered with many rescue groups and shelters over the last 15 years. Maegan has a family of rescue animals that consist of 5 senior dogs, 2 hermit crabs and a rabbit.

Veronika was born in Russia and fell in love with dogs at the young age of 5, when her grandmother harnessed their family German Shepherd to a sleigh. Unfortunately by the time she turned 8 her family fell apart and she ended up in an orphanage. In March of 2005 she got adopted by a kind American family and was brought to live with them in Georgia. Veronika’s entire world changed but her love for animals, especially dogs, only grew with time. As a teenager Veronika asked for a dog and received a Border Collie mix named Barney, who she thought of as her best friend. She taught him basic commands which she learned from watching dog training shows on tv. She also signed up for agility classes to continue to learn. In 2015 Veronika got her first job at Pikes Nursery where she worked hard and advanced into managing her own department. She felt something was missing, so in 2017 she signed up at Taking the Lead K9 Training for a K9 Trainer Course. with her lab mix named Chaska. A year later, she acquired a Belgian malinois named Zaika who she took to ADZ K9 for protection training sessions. Almost two years later she fell in love with another Belgian malinois puppy that led her to OverWatch K9, where she plans to continue to grow as a dog trainer.

Amanda has had a passion for animals for as long as she could remember starting with a poodle mix, Misty, that her dad rescued off the side of the highway. Since then she has rescued several animals in her adult life including a bonded pair of ferrets, a bearded dragon named Peaches, and her heart-dog, Sugar. Her journey with OverWatch K9 Academy began when her Pitbull, Sugar, completed the Advanced Board and Train program and opened the door for Amanda to communicate and connect with Sugar on a much deeper level. Amanda has also spent the last 16 years working in customer service where she found a joy in working with people, building lasting relationships with her clients. Presented with an opportunity to bring her love of dogs and love for people together through training, Amanda left her career and joined the OverWatch K9 Academy family to change lives through opening the lines of communication between owners and their dogs.

Natalie grew up surrounded by and loving dogs. In highschool she was a Chapter Leader for the FFA program, where she did animal showings for 4 years. At 18 she joined the staff at PetSuperMarket, and quickly became a Lead Associate. Over the years Natalie gained invaluable knowledge on several species of animals, all the while loving the wagging tails that frequented the store. From there Natalie moved to North Carolina, where she became a Travel and Flight Nanny. She was responsible for caring for and delivering puppies to their new families all throughout the US. She also set the new owners up for success with their new puppies throughout their adjustment period. Ultimately Natalie wanted to move home and be closer to family, which is how she joined the OverWatch K9 Family. Natalie owns an 11 year old Golden Retriever named Marley, a 10 month old French Bulldog named Tate, and 4 Pigeons (Ash, Willow, Fig, and Olive.)