Experience and credentials
Experience:
I bring a vast range of experience from growing up on an Ohio farmstead training Border Collies as stock dogs, 7 years racing my own middle distance sled-dog team (50-500 miles), employment at Guide Dogs for the Blind and over 10 year experience helping pets and their guardians live together in harmony through individual behavior consulting and training.
Credentials:
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants CDBC
Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers CPDT-KA
Professional Associations:
I am committed to bring you the best by staying current in my field through continued education via seminars, professional courses and scientific literature.
I acquired my first dog, Blue, an Australian Shepherd, when I was eleven. I studied the Shepherd's Guide Book by John Holmes while learning to train Blue to help me with my small flock of sheep. My first lesson in the importance of motivation as a key to training came from Blue.
At age thirteen I apprenticed with stock dog trainers Pat Welsh and Dave Jenkins and subsequently trained numerous Border Collies as livestock herding and geese control dogs (Mother Earth News, Sept/Oct 1987).
From 1990 to 1997, I raised, trained and raced my own mid-distance sled-dog team with my beloved late father Richard Barker as my assistant, based out Upper Peninsula Michigan. We competed in several events each season in northern US and Canada (50 to 500 miles in length). I trained my sled-dogs using motivational methods rather than coercion and the result was a competitive team who placed out of the top three only once in seven years of racing. I twice received the Cooley Challenge Humanitarian Award, awarded to the team who received the best husbandry during the race.
In Montana, I learned to skijor from German Olympic skier, Michaela Endler-Probst, and raced in Alberta, British Columbia, and Montana. I currently skijore when I’m able to with my German Shorthaired Pointer, Skipper. I was employed by Guide Dog for The Blind (in Boring, Oregon) completed the Assistance Dog Institute (six week seminar) and the High Schooled Assistance DogProgram, working with at-risk youth in the training of assistance dogs under Dr Bonnie Bergin in Santa Rosa, CA.
I received my Dip.PDT ( Professional Dog Trainer) 2019 and Dip. CPDT 2021 (Canine Behavior Science and Technology) from Dr James O'Heare, Companion Animal Science Institute where I graduated with honors.
I am a certified member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and a member of Pet Professional's Guild and follow their professional practice guidelines and code of ethics. I am CPDT-KA through The Certification Cousin for Professional Dog Trainers.
I continue to learn from each dog I work with and strive to stay at the forefront of my field through continued study of evidence backed training methods.
I live with my husband, our two sons, our canine family members Larry and Skipper and rabbits Paddy and Crystal.
About
