About Us
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Moth Donahue MA, IAABC-ADT, C-AAAIS
Moth Donahue MA, IAABC-ADT, C-AAAIS is the owner and trainer behind Feywild Dog Training. Their journey with dogs began when my doctors recommended to them a service dog to help mitigate the symptoms of their connective tissue disorder. From that moment, they jumped headlong into the world of dog training. Owner training a service dog can be a difficult process, one which they understand first-hand.
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Feywild Dog Training is proudly disabled, trans (nonbinary), queer, and autistic owned. Moth uses lived experience from occupying these identities in order to create more accessible, equitable service dog training for all.
What's in a Name?
Dog trainers may claim many different kinds of credentials, but what do they mean? Here are Moth's credentials and certifications:
Bachelors of Arts (BA) in Psychology - Obtained by attending Lawrence University from 2018-2022. In that time, they studied in the Child and Adolescent Research in Emotion (CARE) Lab gaining hands on knowledge in the process of psychological research.
Masters of Arts (MA) in Counseling Psychology - Obtained by attending The Chicago School of Professional Psychology 2022-2024. Completed 800+ hours of clinical work alongside coursework.
LPC (candidate) - Moth has completed all requirements to be a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Illinois. They are awaiting credentialing from the IDFPR. Moth works full time as a mental health therapist. They do NOT enter a client/therapist relationship with their dog training clients. However, they do use their expert knowledge in the field of mental health to inform their training practices.
Certified Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS) - The C-AAIS credential provides professionals across many relevant fields (Mental health professionals, animal trainers, researchers/behaviorists, and more!) an objective, independent, third-party assessment of their competence in integrating animal assisted interventions into their work.
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants Accredited Dog Trainer (IAABC-ADT) - The IAABC Accredited Dog Trainer credential (IAABC-ADT) indicates a trainer with a sound foundation in the principles and practices of animal training as well as the ability to apply this skill set to a wide range of behavior issues.
Moth has received mentorship from fellow trainers, beginning training with Terri Vaira of Foxgem Dogs. Moth has continued to train with other trainers, honing their skills. They co-hosted the Unity Service Dog Seminar (Summer 2023). They train their personal dogs across a variety of disciplines, including barn hunt, happy ratters, dock diving, fast CAT, and disc. They hope to continue to train in new sports and disciplines to increase their skill in training and encourage their bond with their personal dogs.
DIZZY
Service dog, demo dog, labbiest lab.
[KN]'s Original Spin at Feywild CGCA TKN DJ BCAT FITB RATI RATS, "Dizzy" is Moth's personal service dog. She is trained in cardiac alert, deep pressure therapy, item retrieval, spacial buffer tasks, and more! She is being trained in a wide range of other tasks. In addition to her service work, Dizzy competes in barn hunt, happy ratters, dock diving, and fastCAT. We hope to pursue scent work in her free time in the future.
Dizzy has the extraordinarily busy life of acting as a service dog while Moth is working both as a mental health therapist and as a dog trainer. She demonstrates a level head across a variety of settings and has truly earned her working title She acts as a demo dog and "helper dog" providing a happy, confident presence periodically throughout some lessons with Feywild.
Nines
Sport dog, demo dog, service dog prospect (?)
GW By Night at Feywild RATN, "Nines" is working line border collie puppy. At just a year old, this little creature is made of sugar and spice... Emphasis on the spice. Nines was brought into they Feywild family with the expressed purpose of being a sport dog. She is training in barn hunt, happy ratters, disc, dock diving, herding, obedience, rally, and more. As she gets older, hopefully she will obtain titles across these disciplines.
In addition, Nines has shown some aptitude in alerting and a generally stable demeanor while out and about. However, with a young herding breed, it is important to allow them to mature before placing high expectations for work. Nines may nor may not act as a service dog in the future. In the mean time... She sure is having fun!
