Dina Zaphiris has been a professional dog trainer for over 30 years...
She is the first American dog trainer to train dogs for federally funded studies involving dogs detecting early stage human cancer. Her work has been published in a medical journals. Dina has trained over 50 dogs to detect early stage cancer in humans, and has participated in federally, as well as privately funded studies.
Dina is the founder of her non-profit, a 501c3, In Situ Foundation, dedicated to training dogs to detect early stage human cancer, and publishing research.
Dina has collaborated with UC Davis, Duke University, and Enloe Regional Cancer Center to determine the dogs ability and accuracy levels to distinguish malignant from benign cancer samples in blood, urine, and exhaled breath.
Dina grew up in Chico, California...
surrounded by dogs, horses, chickens and more. As an only child of older parents, animals became her best friends.
Her entire life is dedicated to the connection between humans and animals, particularly where we have helped each other survive. Her primary interest is where animals, dogs in particular, help humans.
"Over a lifetime of having dogs, Dina is the best instructor we've ever had. She's smart, clear, kind, fun, and patient. There's no behavior she doesn't know how to help with. She so clearly loves what she does and was amazing in including our 8 year-old daughter in the sessions. And she was able to effectively do it all over Zoom!"
Gabriel and Katherine Tigerman
Dina participated in...
search and rescue, with her wilderness search dog, Django, and was certified as a mission ready wilderness search dog team, deployed by LA Sheriff’s Department.
Dina has taught classes for police and search dog handlers at SAR City, Barstow College.
She is a published author, and appears on several TV shows providing her expert advice and training for dogs and humans.
Dina has titles in both competitive obedience and agility work with dogs.
Dina has trained the dogs for...
Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Tony and Ridley Scott, Barry Manilow, Ozzy Ozbourne, Patricia Arquette, Kate Beckinsale, the Annenberg family, Elon Musk, Paul Stanley, Slash, AJ McLean, Fran Drescher, Hans Zimmer, and Ron Meyers.
"Seeing eye dogs, bomb-detection dogs, search and rescue dogs, and cancer detection dogs are my inspiration.
Very few creatures have coevolved the way man and dog have. We have actually effected each other’s evolution. Dogs guarded our agriculture, livestock, and our communities, helping man to make it past the agricultural stage, and bringing us to where we are now. We, in turn, have allowed these wonderful dogs into our homes, forever changing their evolution, as well."
Dina Zaphiris
