Our Trainers

Expert trainers specializing in positive reinforcement for all dogs.

Dillan Folkerts started training dogs in 2021, as an assistant to Heidi in her classes. He learned through a mentorship under Heidi for 2 years and Dillan started taking on his own clients in 2023. Prior to working with Force Free Paws, Dillan was a paramedic and worked with search and rescue dogs in the field. He has a passion for SAR training.
His specialty is puppies! Dillan is great at teaching manners and obedience, and helping puppies develop into healthy, well adjusted adult dogs.

Heidi Joy Clem has been working with animals for over a decade. She started working with dogs in 2012, when she completed her first online course in obedience training. During that time she volunteered hours assisting in agility and obedience classes in Los Angeles. She also ran agility trials with her own dog, Rocket, between 2012 and 2014. In 2015 She enrolled in The Animal Behavior College. She graduated from the Animal Behavior College in 2017, and started her first business training dogs in 2018 in San Diego. In 2019 She moved to Minnesota and opened Force Free Paws. She has since found a niche in solving aggression and reactivity in our canine companions, and a love for training service dogs, particularly psychiatric service dogs. Though, between Heidi and Dillan, they have the skills to tackle any doggy situation that comes knocking.