Shawn Cossart is the founder of Heart of Texas Dog Sports and has been training dogs professionally since 1995.  Shawn was trained by, and worked for Dr. Ian Dunbar who was one of the pioneers of positive dog training methods and founded the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).

Shawn's background in behavior training and her emphasis with using positive training techniques makes training fun and easy for both the dog and handler.  Shawn believes that the relationship between the dog and handler should always come first and that it is that bond which is the foundation for all successful training.  With a solid relationship as the foundation all other skills come easily.

Shawn's commitment to continuing education reflects her interest in finding and using the best methods available for individual situations. Her philosophy is that training dogs should be done with love, patience, understanding, and most importantly, a sense of humor!  Shawn has received personal instruction from many well known professional dog trainers and animal behaviorists, including Dr. Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, John Rogerson, Nancy Gyes, Rachel Sanders, Gerry Brown, Elicia Calhoun, Greg Derrett, Jo Sermon, Wendy Pape, Jen Pinder, Ann Braue and that's just to name a few.