Rebecca Golian

Rebecca grew up in Frederick County, Maryland and found her passion for working with animals at a young age. She competed as an equestrian athlete for over 15 years and ran a successful equestrian training and sales business in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Rebecca started professionally training dogs in college. While attending the University of Maryland, Rebecca offered a variety of dog training services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Rebecca also raised and trained German Shepherds for The Seeing Eye, a Guide Dog school based in Morristown, NJ. In 2010, Rebecca graduated with honors, receiving her B.S. degree in Psychology with a minor in Animal Science. In 2012 Rebecca decided to pursue working with dogs full time and moved to New York City to start a professional dog training company.

In 2015 Rebecca was offered a rare opportunity to enter an apprenticeship program to become a Qualified Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI) at Guide Dogs for the Blind. A GDMI trains guide dogs for people who are blind or visually impaired, matches trained guide dogs with clients, conducts client training and O&M support, and offers follow up services for guide dog users throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to her work at Guide Dogs for the Blind, Rebecca started offering private service dog training, and in her five years living out West, she trained and placed over 100 service and guide dog teams.

In 2019 Rebecca moved back to the east coast and started Love in the Lead Canine Training, LLC in Charlotte, NC which has become one of the top dog training companies in the area. In 2024, Rebecca accepted the position of Executive Director for Project 2 Heal a local non-profit that breeds Labrador Retrievers and donates puppies to service dog organizations across the country. In addition to their national impact, Project 2 Heal will also begin training and donating fully trained service dogs to residents of the Carolinas.