Michele Pouliot has been a professional guide dog mobility instructor for 34 years. Before entering the guide dog field, Michele trained under Linda Tellington-Jones and worked as a professional in the equestrian field, instructing horsemanship and training horses for Dressage and 3-Day-Eventing disciplines. At that time Michele also began training her pet Labradors for competitive obedience and became fascinated with the comparisons of how dogs and horses learn, stimulating her interest in professional dog training. She also sought a career that helped others through partnership with their dog.

In 1974 Michele began her apprenticeship with Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), the largest guide dog school in the USA. She attained her Guide Dog Mobility Instructor license qualification in 1977. In addition to personally training over 350 guide dog teams over 20 years, Michele held positions of Apprenticeship Development, Client Instruction Supervisor, and Dog Training Supervisor. In 1994 she was assigned the Director of Training for a new campus in Oregon, launching dog and student training programs and staffing for the new GDB campus. In 2001, Michele was appointed to a new position of Research and Development for student and dog programs within all of GDB. Her position focuses on developing and researching new techniques to improve all areas of student instruction, dog-training programs, and puppy development. Michele’s assignment to this position became the catalyst for the adoption of Clicker Training into GDB’s guide dog program.

Michele also serves as an International Assessor for the International Guide Dog Federation, certifying the quality of member school programs and facilities. She has completed assessments on guide dog schools in Norway, Austria, Czech Republic, France and Great Britain.

In her over 34 year career, Michele has presented dozens of lectures and produced hundreds of hours of videotapes on every aspect of guide dog training. In 2000, she initiated the modernization of dog and student training programs at GDB of which Clicker Training is a primary tool. She presented to a filled to capacity guide dog industry audience on GDBs Clicker Training program at the International Guide Dog Seminar in 2006, at which the response was tremendous. Her school actively supports and assists other guide dog schools in their efforts to adopt Clicker Training into their programs and great strides are being made in its adoption in the Guide Dog industry. Michele is recognized internationally for her innovation and creative development in guide dog training and service to blind clients.

Michele continues to be active in her hobby sports of canine musical freestyle and equestrian combined driving events.