Instructors
Agility & Obedience – Betty Belliveau:
Betty has been happily involved in the sport of dogs for over 20 years. She started out showing in obedience, followed closely by conformation. In more recent years, she has added agility and herding, as well as teaching others to enjoy these sports.
Betty and her dogs have achieved multiple High in Trials in obedience and many 1st placements in agility. Her dogs have consistently qualified for the USDAA Grand Prix and Steeplechase finals and AKC Nationals.
She is also an Authorized Mentor Trainer through Animal Behavior College and a mentor to other dog trainers. Betty can be reached at bettybell1@verizon.net.
Obedience & Puppy K - Rebecca Pond:
Rebecca has been training dogs since 1990. Her breed of choice is the Rottweiler, but has worked with many different breeds over the years..
She has obtained upper level obedience titles as well as in conformation and other disciplines with her dogs.
She enjoys training all dogs and loves to help others work through problems and teach their dogs something new! Rebecca can be reached at wbic1@verizon.net
Obedience - Focus and Control – Diane King CPDT-KA:
Diane has been training dogs since 1991. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
Diane has attended workshops, seminars and instructors courses given by many experts in their field. Some of these include Dr. Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Pat Miller, Patricia McConnell, Pam Dennison, Leslie Nelson, Sue Sternberg, Donna Duford, Brenda Aloff, Nicole Wilde, Karen Pryor and Kay Laurence.
Diane uses the Positive Reinforcement Training Method. Not only is this humane, it is based on the science of operant conditioning which is a proven method of achieving a happy, thinking dog that loves to train!
Diane has put multiple titles on her Beagles in Obedience, Tracking, Agility, Rally-O as well as one dog that went on to become a working therapy dog (TDI).
Presently, she shares her home with three rescue Beagles (one who was adopted from a research lab). Diane also teaches private lessons to owners in-home for different issues.
Full member APDT
K9 Nose Work – Maria Corrigan:
Maria has been actively training dogs since 2005. She has been training in Nosework since it came to the East Coast in 2009. Most recently she has begun working toward becoming a Certified Nosework Instructor and expects to be certified by early 2013.
She is currently competing with her Labrador Retriever, Willcare Gypsy Shadow VCD1, CDX, GN, RN, NW2, FDCH, CD-C (aka Kirby). At the first Nosework Trial on the east coast, Kirby placed first in the overall trial, exterior, and interior elements. Maria and Kirby were the only team to be “Pronounced” at the trial which designates that all 4 judges at the trial felt they were an exceptional team. Kirby earned his NW2 in October 2011, placing second overall and winning the vehicle element. In addition to Nosework, Kirby also is competing in various sports including AKC Obedience, Freestyle, CDSP Obedience, and Tracking. He is now retired from Flyball, but still dreams of running to the box for the ball.
Her youngest dog Nightwind Lucky Penny (aka Penny), is just beginning her Nosework, Tracking, and Obedience career.
Breed Handling – Miki Cooney:
A professional handler for 35 years, Miki has shown some of the top dogs in the country and has finished champions from all seven groups. Among her accomplishments are many National Specialty Best in Shows, and numerous group wins. She specialized in coated breeds and hard-coated terriers.
More recently Miki has obtained her AKC license to judge Junior Showmanship. She has judged all breed matches and has judged sweepstakes at National and Regional Specialties.
In 2004 it was Miki’s honor to judge Irish Terrier Sweepstakes at the prestigious Montgomery County Kennel Club.
Breed Handling – Marsha Clamp:
Marsha showed her first dog (Siberian Husky) in the early 70′s; at the time, she had no idea which end of the dog the leash went on! Thanks to lots of help from handling instructors through a club she joined, she did learn the finer points of showing a dog.
She have shown all her own dogs over the years; they included Airedale Terriers, SIberian Huskies, Lhasas, and for the last 25 years Briards, and Chinese Cresteds. She became interested in showing for others as she just love to show the dogs, and many of her friends didn’t want to or just could not show their own dogs.
Over the years of showing she has learned much from the different dogs she has handled as well as the many judges she has shown to. She put on handling clinics at the Briard Nationals to help out people who need that extra TLC before being brave enough to go in the ring themselves She loves to watch any and all breeds being shown, and some of the bigger professional handlers have also helped her learn through the years.
One of her favorite things to do is to judge Junior Showmanship, as she believes these kids are the future of the sport of dog shows!
Rally Obedience – Pat Gaudette:
Pat has been training and competing with her dogs in obedience and rally since 2002.
Her dogs have multiple titles in obedience and rally in three organizations: AKC. UKC and APDT. Her Lab Summit also does tracking and has her NW1 Nose Work title. Pat believes that making training fun is essential for both dog and handler.
She has a variety of breeds: Lab, Corgi, and Italian Greyhounds.
