She continued, “I grew up in a suburb of Detroit. I got my first dog when I was 14 and she was a stray. Strays would come into local shelters and be held for four days and then be sent to Detroit where they would either get euthanized or adopted. I had a deal worked out with the local shelter that would give me the strays back after four days and I would find them homes or owners. In one case, we couldn’t make this happen and I took the dog home. Sadly, we were not able to keep her permanently at the time and she eventually ended up being placed with another family. Then one day she was back on our doorstep. She had traveled 15 miles to get from her home to mine. At that point, my parents said, ‘You can keep her.’”

From this pivotal moment, Christie began pairing generational enthusiasm with environments conducive to honing one’s craft. A clearer picture of what the future could look like began to take shape as a result.

“My grandpa was a veterinarian and I was a pre-vet major in college. I was fortunate enough to live and work in a veterinary hospital and found that the concept of clinical behavior was very much in its infancy at the time. There was not a lot of education present in the vet community on behavior,” she stated. “I ended up getting my degree in zoology with a concentration in animal behavior and neural biology from Michigan State University. From there, the vet hospital I worked for helped develop my CTE (continuing education training) and get more skilled in psycho-pharma behavior modification in general. We started seeing behavioral clients as part of the vet practice.”

Her vision for behavioral modification found a concrete outlet in 2008. Along with her husband Matt Faccinto, she set to work building what is now a respected Upper Cumberland resource.

She said, “My husband moved from NJ here in 2006 and he was able to purchase the then-closed kennel and property from the family of Mary Ellen Smith (the original owner who opened the location decades earlier). He kept the Thunderhawk part of the name, added “Canine” to the title, and started with just private sessions and group classes through the community center. He and I met that fall at a competition and I moved in 2008 and immediately joined the work of Thunderhawk once here.”

Christie leverages the extensive knowledge she gained during training to offer a broad range of behavioral modification services at ThunderHawk including group classes, private sessions, and an inboard program that includes the dog staying on-campus for approximately one month, and more.

She continued, “I grew up in a suburb of Detroit. I got my first dog when I was 14 and she was a stray. Strays would come into local shelters and be held for four days and then be sent to Detroit where they would either get euthanized or adopted. I had a deal worked out with the local shelter that would give me the strays back after four days and I would find them homes or owners. In one case, we couldn’t make this happen and I took the dog home. Sadly, we were not able to keep her permanently at the time and she eventually ended up being placed with another family. Then one day she was back on our doorstep. She had traveled 15 miles to get from her home to mine. At that point, my parents said, ‘You can keep her.’”

From this pivotal moment, Christie began pairing generational enthusiasm with environments conducive to honing one’s craft. A clearer picture of what the future could look like began to take shape as a result.

“My grandpa was a veterinarian and I was a pre-vet major in college. I was fortunate enough to live and work in a veterinary hospital and found that the concept of clinical behavior was very much in its infancy at the time. There was not a lot of education present in the vet community on behavior,” she stated. “I ended up getting my degree in zoology with a concentration in animal behavior and neural biology from Michigan State University. From there, the vet hospital I worked for helped develop my CTE (continuing education training) and get more skilled in psycho-pharma behavior modification in general. We started seeing behavioral clients as part of the vet practice.”

Her vision for behavioral modification found a concrete outlet in 2008. Along with her husband Matt Faccinto, she set to work building what is now a respected Upper Cumberland resource.

She said, “My husband moved from NJ here in 2006 and he was able to purchase the then-closed kennel and property from the family of Mary Ellen Smith (the original owner who opened the location decades earlier). He kept the Thunderhawk part of the name, added “Canine” to the title, and started with just private sessions and group classes through the community center. He and I met that fall at a competition and I moved in 2008 and immediately joined the work of Thunderhawk once here.”

Christie leverages the extensive knowledge she gained during training to offer a broad range of behavioral modification services at ThunderHawk including group classes, private sessions, and an inboard program that includes the dog staying on-campus for approximately one month, and more.

– by Andrew Buckner, photos by Brooke Turner