Sometimes, the most powerful healers are the ones who’ve walked the hardest paths.
That’s the story of Nicole Buck, the founder of Buck’s Dog Training in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.
Nicole isn’t just a trainer who teaches sit and stay. She specializes in helping dogs riddled with anxiety, fear, or trauma—rescue dogs with heavy pasts.
And she doesn’t approach their healing from a textbook. She approaches it from experience—because Nicole knows trauma, too.
As a child, she was adopted from South Korea after her mother passed away. Her early years were marked by unbearable trauma: abuse, fear, and the chaos of uncertainty.
She literally knew what it felt like to be unsafe and unloved. Today, she channels those experiences into something incredible—helping dogs trust again.
On National Dog Day, Nicole appeared on WHYY’s “Morning Edition” to share how those childhood wounds fuel her empathy now.
She explained that aggression isn’t usually born in the genes—it’s created through pain, neglect, or fear. “Most times,” she says, “it’s the environment.”
And she’s dedicated to transforming those environments for dogs who’ve never known safety.
Everyone’s heard horror stories—but Nicole lives them daily. Dogs abandoned, tied outside for years, starving, never socialized with humans.
She hears their stories and sees the connection: “The ones with the least human contact often crave it most,” she says.
Many become the sweetest souls once they learn they can finally trust.
One dog she remembers couldn’t even walk on hardwood floors or pass through doorways—she was frozen by fear.
But Nicole worked slowly; she nurtured trust until, just two months later, the dog was exploring confidently, tail wagging, comfortable in her own paws.
In her training, she relies heavily on positive reinforcement (R+), because trust isn’t built through fear—it’s built through reward, patience, and kindness.
She listens to each dog’s history, designs programs to fit their personality, and moves at their pace.
Many of her family’s own dogs now help teach others—like a team of trauma-informed canine teachers.
Nicole recognizes that impact isn’t one-way. She says, “Dogs don’t give up—neither do I.”
They share the stubbornness of survival. By mirroring that, she builds trust grounded in authentic understanding, not shortcuts.
For Nicole, the turning point come when those once-frightened pups start getting mischievous.
That playful spark means they feel safe—not just surviving, but thriving. That’s when healing happens.
It’s worth remembering: when you see a dog crumbling in fear, remember the story behind the paws.
And remember that there are people like Nicole—people who’ve known abandonment, fear, and chaos—who are quietly repairing hearts, one dog at a time.
