Matthew Fike

In 2010 I entered the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at Moorpark College. I went in thinking I wanted to work with Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my! As I progressed through the program I discovered my favorite part of working with animals was actually training them, and it didn't matter what kind of animal either. When I graduated in 2012 with certificates in Animal Behavior, Training, and Wildlife Education, I stayed in California and worked at Underwood Family Farms. There I was the lead in their animal shows, training the animals backstage and educating the public on stage. I also worked at Petco for 2 years at the same time as the dog trainer. Deciding I needed to focus on one job instead of two, I left Petco, however I continued to train dogs with private lessons on the side.

In 2015 I started working at Woodland Hills Private school as their Nature Science Specialist. At this school they have a Barnyard full of Domestic animals as well as a reptile room. My job was to care for the animals in the morning and teach classes in the afternoon. When I started there was no curriculum, they just came up with lessons on the fly. I proposed and helped create a curriculum that had the same standards as the rest of their subjects. I taught preschoolers from ages 2-4 about basic animal facts such as the differences between mammals, reptiles and birds. The Elementary students up to 5th grade had subjects such as Animal Care, Ecology, and Evolution. During this time I continued my side business of in-home private dog training. I got all my clients through word of mouth, never advertising, and always had one or two new clients a month. Unsurprisingly this is where I developed my passion for teaching people of all ages anything I could about animals.

After almost 10 years of working at Woodland Hills Private School, I came to realize something my wife knew long ago; I always came home from dog training lessons far happier than from the school. I knew I needed to make working with dogs my full time career, with a special passion for training Therapy and Service dogs, and Michael's Angel Paws welcomed me onto their team with open arms.