Tamara discovered her passion for dogs at a very young age, always knowing that a career working with dogs was the end goal. Through growing up with dogs, volunteering at local shelters, and working with dogs professionally for over a decade, Tamara has gained valuable experience and unique skills. 

Coming from a background in the fitness industry as a Certified Personal Trainer, Tamara founded Shape Up Your Pup with a creative vision of combining her love for fitness & Fido, while providing daily access to the great outdoors for city dogs.

Tamara’s ability to read animal behavior and understand pack mentality enabled her to seamlessly develop a well thought out dog hiking and training company, concentrating on providing socialization, mental stimulation, and structured play for NYC dogs.

Tamara is a Certified Training Partner and graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy, where she completed both the Foundations and Dog Trainer Professionals courses. She specializes in positive reinforcement based clicker training and off-leash training.