Meet the Trainers
The Starmark family was founded in 1997 and includes approximately 40 staff members—15 of which are certified training and behavior specialists.
All of our certified training and behavior specialists are handpicked from the top graduates of our Starmark Academy for Professional Dog Trainers, the largest and most comprehensive dog training school in the world.
Your dog is a member of your family, and we look forward to welcoming your dog to ours!
Kyle Grider
Kyle has been surrounded by animals for most of his life but has always had a soft spot and interest in dogs. Moving to Texas in 2019 he got his dog Shelby, an Australian Shepherd, and quickly realized he needed to do some training with her. He started coming to Starmark as a Group Class Client and fell in love with training dogs during his journey through Basic and Intermediate Obedience. After realizing his passion he joined our kennel team to surround himself with dogs before finally going through and graduating from Starmark Academy. He has a passion for working with small dogs but loves working with dogs of all sizes and teaching owners how to effectively communicate with their fluffy friends!
Erica Fernandez
Erica’s love and passion for dogs started at young age. By the time she turned 15 she had saved up enough dog walking and pet sitting funds to put herself through school for dog grooming. At the same time taking up internships with local dog training facilities and continuing to study for education and experience. She officially started her small business when she was 16 years old and won awards and community nominations for her services and dedication to the community rescue efforts. She graduated from Starmark Academy School for Dog Trainers in 2020 as a Canine Training and Behavior Specialist and is certified in Pet Tech First Aid. Erica works alongside her Demo Dog Raven, a 5-year-old Doberman pincher who assists in the training process. Erica also owns two other Dobermans, Jaeger who is enjoying his retirement from demo work and Ruby the youngster who is the next prospect demo dog. Erica’s goal here at Starmark is to bring pet owners and their dogs closer together threw a balanced relationship-based training experience.
Keith Benson
Keith is a certified professional dog trainer and animal behavior specialist with over 20 years of experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with continuing education in Animal Behavior. He is the President/COO of Starmark Animal Behavior Center, Inc, which is one of the largest, most comprehensive training and behavior centers for dogs in the world. As President and Academy Director for Starmark’s school for Professional Dog Trainers, Keith oversees the school’s international curriculum and growth. The school attracts students from around the world seeking to learn the art and science behind a career as a professional dog trainer. Using client and behavioral research from these two corporations Keith helped found Starmark Pet Products, Inc., which designs award-winning training and behavior tools that are distributed in over 40 countries around the world. In addition to his executive role in these companies, Keith frequently provides media commentary and consulting for companies throughout the pet industry.
