In 2002-2003 Deborah trained under
Agility World Team competitor- Steve Frick
USDAA top ten competitor- Julie Daniels
Canine athlete and performance authority- Chris Zink DVM, PhD,
Authority on canine structure as related to performance-Pat Hastings (AKC judge).
She attended agility camps lead by Bud Houston, Linda Mecklenburg, Wendy Pape, and Jen Pinder - all authorities in agility training and instruction. Deborah also attended a class given by AKC for establishing and judging Rally obedience events.
In 2004, Karl joined Deborah to begin instructing the group obedience classes.
To enhance and grow the obedience group classes to support and reinforce social skills and manners as well as basic obedience, Karl attended a two day seminar given by Terry Ryan for group class instructors.
In an effort to meet a growing need, we decided to expand our offerings to include clicker training classes. In support of this decision, Karl and Deborah attended educational and training seminars held at the Clicker Expo in Orlando, Florida, hearing from Karen Pryor, Angelica Steinker, Emma Parsons, Kathy Sdao, Kay Lawrence, Ken Rameriz and many more.
In 2005, our education was concentrated on behavioral problems such as aggression and shyness. We attended several conferences on behavior, dog language, and aggression given by Sue Sternberg, Emma Parsons and John Rogerson.
In 2006, Deb attended a four day seminar with Ian Dunbar in November. 'This seminar was for trainers who desired the easiest, most effective, most enjoyable, and most expedient ways to produce equipment-and-gizmo-free, reliable, off-leash distance control for dogs.' It was great!
2007 brought us in depth training on behavior.
We heard the thoughts of Sarah Wilson on behavior. She began her seminar with breeds and breed characteristics to build a foundation to help understand the basis for stress, reactivity, and aggression.
We also heard Bob Bailey instruct on the fundamentals of animal training from foundation theory to practical application.
Karl attended a seminar in Winston Salem on structuring, conducting and enhancing group classes.
2008 was a year for intensive study.
Deborah enrolled in Companion Animal Science Institute and began studying for a diploma in Animal Behavior specializing in Aggression and Fear. It has been a challenging effort, but worth every moment. The study should be completed in 2009.
In 2009 we continued to study the behavior of dogs. We feel that an understanding of the dog's mind is essential for an understanding of how to relate to him. Deborah will be attending seminars by speakers renown in their fields of study.
Ray Copppinger is a behavioral biologist and is one of the foremost researchers on canine behavior and evolution in the world. His seminar was intriguing and demonstrated why dogs do what they do.
Nicole Wilde is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) who specializes in behavior issues. Nicole is an internationally recognized author. Her subject matter includes wolfdogs, instructional books for dog trainers (including So You Want to be a Dog Trainer and Help for Your Fearful Dog). Nicole spoke on working with fearful dogs including anxiety, fears and phobias including causes and prevention.
Roger Abantes PhD in Evolutionary Biology and
Ethology, and BA in Philosophy, DHC, DF, MAPBC. Dr. Abrantes is
especially known for his views on social behavior and its applications
to the daily understanding of pet behavior; and for his no-nonsense
working methods, a practical and thorough application of Ethology and
Learning Theory, teaching the animal the new patterns patiently and
efficiently step by step. His seminar addressed canine social behavior
and problem behavior in dogs.
Stuart Mah is one of the nations foremost authorities on agility course design and course analysis. He has been a top competitor in USDAA and AKC earning world team and championship titles. Stuart's agility handling workshops focus on strategy and obstacle versus handler focus.
In 2010 Deborah attended a workshop given by Debbie Gross Saunders on fitness, stretching and injury prevention in the performance dog and another agility seminar in September with Stuart Mah focusing on building drive.
In 2011 Deborah attended workshops with Trish King on canine evaluations, Pat Miller on Dog Aggression Modification and Chris Zink on the canine athlete.
In 2012 Deborah attended a seminar given by Jean Dodds, DVM about Canine Nutrition and a workshop by Turgid Rugas about canine stress and calming signals.
2013 brought Ian Dunbar and Nicole Wild to Charlotte where Deborah attended Ian's two day workshop about training and games you can play and Nicole's two day seminar on canine fear and anxiety.
2014 - 2015 was taken up with a year long study with Susan Garrett on training an agility dog from puppy to accomplished agility dog. Deborah also participated in Susan's Recaller program which focused on improving your dog's focus and recalls through games.
