My name is Carmel, and I'm the owner and trainer of DOGMIND. I started my dog training experience at the age of 19 during my military service in the Israeli Defense Force, where I worked training dogs in the K-9 unit. Since then, I’ve had over ten years of experience working and training dogs, including dog-assisted therapy and private training with families and individuals.

After my mandatory service in the IDF was over, I went on to get a B.A. in Special Education along with a certification in Dog-Assisted Therapy. During my studies, I started private dog training and worked at a school for at-risk youth with a few therapy dogs, which I especially chose and trained for this specific task.

In 2017, I moved to beautiful Sonoma County from Israel with my wife Ela, our dog Baruch (Bo), and our cat Pitzi (tiny in Hebrew). In 2022, we adopted our second dog, Umi, an Australian shepherd. In November of 2022, we said goodbye to our wonderful dog Baruch. He was one of a kind and was deeply loved by us and by everyone who met him. He will be in our hearts forever.

Since then, in parallel to managing and operating DOGMIND, I have been a trainer at Olivet Kennel in Santa Rosa, learning and working closely with the owner, Sapir Weiss, a widely-known trainer with over 40 years of dog training experience. My work with Sapir has helped develop my skills as a trainer and—more importantly—as a person who works with dog owners, teaching them to understand the way dogs think and learn. Sapir and his wife Jane sold Olivet kennel in 2019. Today, I still work closely with Sapir as he acts as a professional consultant at DOGMIND. I'm forever grateful for his knowledge and guidance, and I consider myself a lucky man that he took me under his wings.

I treat each dog I work with as if it were my own and tailor the training to their individual needs and character traits. My goal is to help families and individuals be the best leaders of their pack.