by Heather Kolesa | Jul 15, 2021
Katie Conn’s agility career started at Y2K9s where she began taking classes in 2000; she has been competing in agility since 2001.Since 1999, Katie has owned and trained a number of Shetland Sheepdogs.She trains and competes in AKC, UKI, and USDAA. Several of her dogs have earned multiple championships in all these venues, including earning several MACHs in AKC, a Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award in USDAA, (Ritz is only the 8th Sheltie to receive this title), and UKI IWAC (championship with all blues).Several of Katie’s dogs have been on AKC World Teams multiple years.
Katie likes to challenge her students in class with different handling options and have them look for best ways to run a sequence. She maintains a positive attitude, but likes to push her students outside of their comfort zone to expand that comfort zone. She looks to help each student achieve their individual goals.
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by Heather Kolesa | Jul 15, 2021
Alexa Karaoulis, CPDT-KA, CCUI, CGC Evaluator, has been working with dogs, sports, and training for more than 15 years. She has participated in Freestyle, Agility and Flyball. One of her most notable talents is working with dogs that, for a myriad of reasons, have difficulty coping with stressful environments. Often when a dog becomes stressed, their ability to cope with a situation diminishes resulting in a dog that barks uncontrollably, cannot sit still, pay attention, or worse yet behaves wildly. Alexa had the opportunity to work and train with Leslie McDevitt, the author of “Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog,” a book which addresses this stress-related behavior. Alexa’s teaching methods are positive, and her gift working with dogs also extends to the people who own and love these dogs.
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by Heather Kolesa | Jul 15, 2021
Janie Harris’s original profession, in health/physical education and coaching, allows her to bring years of teaching experience to her work with students and their dogs. She started playing with discs over 20 years ago and quickly moved to competing and demonstrating disc play with her dogs at fairs, expos and for Animal Planet. Janie says that those who discover the joy of disc play find the play itself so rewarding that no treats are ever needed. She teaches her students to throw simple and complex passes safely, and to teach their canine partners to master the art of chase, catch, and return. Through her business, Doggy Days Demos, the Harris team performs for schools and similar programs. Janie is also an accomplished Agility competitor.
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by Heather Kolesa | Jul 15, 2021
CJ Hazell, KPA Certified Training Partner, Certified Dog Parkour Instructor, Certified Trick Dog Instructor
CJ has been training dogs professionally through her company, Bad Dog Good Dog Trainer, since 2010. She became an instructor for Y2K9s in 2013 teaching Basic Manners and Puppy Preschool. She also taught Walking Manners, Recall and Tricks classes before discovering Dog Parkour. She now teaches both beginner and advanced Dog Parkour classes. CJ started on her journey as a dog trainer when she decided to use a dog to help her with her research into wolves and golden jackals in Kyrgyzstan from 2002 to 2005. Teaching her first border collie, Mara, to locate jackal and wolf scat and partnering with a scent dog for 3 years got her hooked. Since then, she has helped dogs with all kinds of behavior issues from fear and anxiety, separation anxiety, and hyper-arousal to aggression cases.
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by Heather Kolesa | Jul 15, 2021
Lisa Woodard, Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) with the National Association of Canine Scent Work®. She has been participating in nose work since 2015. In addition to instructing, she competes regularly and has held and hosted her own NACSW® trials.
Lisa regularly attends K9 Nose Work® seminars to expand her knowledge of dogs in odor as well as coaching the handler to build their human observation and leash handling skills to become the best team possible. She currently shares her home with three Golden Retrievers that have all successfully titled in Nose Work. Two dogs are competing in the Elite division and the youngest, at 2-years-old, is working on his NW3 title. All three Golden Retrievers have received their CGC Titles. Two have been certified therapy dogs with Therapy Dogs International and are currently with Angels on a Leash. After 36 years, Lisa has retired from corporate America and is thoroughly enjoying her next chapter - expanding her K9 Nose Work® teaching and training through her own business, K9 NOSEN AROUND, LLC.
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