Alexandria, VA – In 1973, Carlos met Sandy; they stood holding leashes but barely knew their canine charges.

Back then, Carlos Mejias worked as a professional dog trainer for both dogs and people at Captain Haggerty’s School for Dogs in Wallkill, New York. Neither Carlos nor Sandy were there for lessons with their own dogs, and they didn’t bond over a mutual affection for each other’s pup. The course utilized unfamiliar dogs from the canine training program to assure the training was effective, and they both had signed on.

“Captain Haggerty gave a really excellent course, and I took it as a lark after I finished my English degree in Creative Writing,” recalled Sandy, adding that the course was for both actual and aspirational dog trainers.

“I had just graduated from college and was goin

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