Our Trainers

I was born in Philadelphia and moved to Orlando, Florida where I spent 43 years there before moving with my family and young son Isaac to the Boise area in 2015. I attended college at Troy University and graduated with a Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling and Psychology. I provided years of clinical counseling within the criminogenic and addictive demographics and then spent many years in the financial services arena before finally settling on dog training as my chosen pursuit. I am currently writing a parenting book, entitled, There Is A Manual, Here It Is.

My passions include being a daddy, movies, dog training, playing drums, softball, travelling, writing, swimming and camping. I am also a huge Star Trek, horror and science fiction genre, and Godzilla fan. You catch me watching many sports as well including the Philadelphia Flyers hockey and Sixers Basketball schedules. Also A huge Dallas Cowboy fan!

My love of dogs began when I was 19 years old and had a dog trainer come to our home to train two chow shepherd mixes. I was enthralled by the process. I began reading and intensely working at training my own dogs Winnie and Biko who turned out to be the most amazing dogs. I continued practicing with neighbor dogs and began circulating flyers at the college and neighborhoods I was a part of and trained dogs as a side business for years. Upon moving to the Boise area, I formally opened Save The Mailmen In Home Dog Training And Pet Sitting as a niche business to families who understood the optimal impact of training in the context of their own homes. My mission is to help every dog owner in the world understand what dogs really are and need in an effort to create a meaningful and trusting bond between person and dog while commanding respect. I thoroughly enjoy teaching and leading and consider myself an innate teacher.In addition, I discovered how much I love to own and operate my own business. I merged all my skill sets, knowledge and passions together to create a meaningful career for me. Lastly, the people I meet who collaborate with me and my staff, while getting terrific results, helps me to feel like we make a difference in saving the lives of our furry friends.

Idaho native. At a young age I found a passion for dogs. In my early childhood years, I loved bird hunting with the family and our two Brittney Spaniels. Now, I have a yellow lab named Ember who loves to go Shed Hunting with me. Before I knew much about dog training, I was always told about how much work training a dog would be. That did not stop me from my desire to train a good hunting dog. I would put in hours of training to work on the skills needed to get ready for the field. The work proved effective, now my mission is to help dog owners to have a fun and loving relationship with their dogs. I believe that with lots of work and the right tools any dog owner will become a great leader for their dog, and will enjoy having a dog as much as I do.

Hello, I am Angela Shelly. I have volunteered for Guide dogs for the blind as a puppy raiser for 9 years. I served part of that time as treasurer, and later as head trainer over the course of raising 5 labs. My 4 children all took active roles in raising and training as well. We still keep in contact with the handlers that have/had one of the dogs we raised. It was an incredible experience to help people be able connect with these dogs that enhance their lives not just in mobility, but a part of their family. I am now excited to be a lead trainer with Save the Mailmen, that help families train their dogs to become well behaved pets they enjoy living their lives with, at home and out in the community.

I connected with dogs and other animals from an early age. We lived in the middle of no where, without power or electricity, which increased my focus on animals being part of the family. When I had children it was important to me to allow them to have a pet, for that special connection, as well as the responsibility. They learned how animals process the world different than humans, and have different needs. These animals needed to be domesticated with daily consistency, that is rewarded for good behavior in positive way that is enjoyable for the whole family.

I am fascinated with how different every dog is, and helping them become the best version of themselves that creates a life long bond with their family.

Animals were a constant figure in my life while growining up in Western New York. My family had hunting dogs, my friends had companion dogs and then there was the town wanderer, a large, furry, black dog named Bear who we'd play with. Occasionally, my friends and I would intervene to advocate for dogs we saw were being abused.


After studying Photography in England and then working, animals were rarely present in my life. Teaching at-risk adolescent, students who were often troubled and commonly misunderstood. gave me an understanding of the psychology behind these young minds.


Eventually I got my first puppy, Mojito, a very sweet and comical Havanese male. He actually played hide and seek, transferring the game to new environments and locations. He would go hide and then jump out and say "rahhhhr!", just as I did when playing the the game with him as a puppy. I became accutely aware of how intelligent dogs are and that everything that this pup would need for a happy and well adjusted life depended on my actions based on his psychological and behavioral needs. I began reading books, watching TV shows, etc. that provided much needed guidance to assist me with my journey with Mojito and his housemate Buffett, my husband's Hungarian Vizsla (both shown above).


In the interim, Mojito and Buffet passed on and Diego and Frida (Havanese and Vizsla) and Chex and Diamond (our two horses) have joined our pack. I soon reallized that dog and horse psychology are very similar in so many ways to my at-risk students. Continuing working with them has deepened my passion for working with animals, has honed my training skills and my understanding of their needs and behaviors. I swore that once I retired from teaching, I would become a dog/human trainer. My teaching experience gave me a foundation in behavior modification that naturally transfers to my dog training.


I retired in November of 2021 and here I am excitedly awaiting the opportunity to work with you and your beloved companions.