About Kristen:
Education
Blaze – Rally Novice
Like most dog trainers, my own challenging dog led to an interest in dog training. I have a degree in animal behavior from the OSU. With a formal background in biology, animal sciences, and psychology, I can approach dog training as a science instead of “this sounds good.” I completed the Karen Pryor Academy program the first year it was available. As a result of wanting to provide the best services, I attend many continued education events on teaching, training, and behavior.
Volunteer
Dog training can be about problem solving but it’s also about relationships and communication. I volunteer with the Ohio dog 4-H program at a local and state level. This has given me a huge amount of time spent with families and youth. I was a 10 year volunteer with a local shelter. I occasionally foster dogs for local rescues.
Dog Experiences
I love having new and different opportunities. Most of my time is spent teaching lessons in manners, problem solving or dog competition activities. Other interesting opportunities have included judging rally obedience, 4-H dog show judging, teaching at a college program in a companion animal department, working with shelter/rescue groups, grooming, and as a dog handler for a detection dog project. This allows me to meet many dogs and many people.
Activities
My dogs and I compete in dog activities – primarily obedience, agility, and rally. We also have had a few experience in mondio obedience (Griffin was the first golden retriever to get an obedience certificate!), working certificates, conformation, and nosework. While I know that not everyone wants to do those games with their dogs, I learn a lot from the experiences. We work on details, precision, and getting tasks right on the first try. Most activities are done off leash, in challenging environments and with many distractions. We like finding opportunities for off leash hikes and love traveling to new places. Sometimes I have to do other things, but almost all of my time is spent with dogs!
Dogs
“Griffin”
Gaylan’s Siriusly Not Joking CDX PCD BN RA OA AXJ OB1 SCN SEN CDX-C ISD APD PD CL-3 CCA ARCHMX NN (obedience, rally, breed-club conformation, agility, nosework, mondioring obedience)
Griffin is the best dog! We have traveled the world together and love having adventures together. After 12 years together, we’ve had so many great experiences. Even now, we’re still competing in obedience. We teach hours of classes each week together and love our off leash hikes. We’ve had the wonderful opportunity to compete in obedience and agility in Sweden (with a huge thanks to our friends who made that possible!).
“Viktor”
Durmstrang’s Wronski Feint RL1 (rally)
Viktor has various physical and behavior challenges that limit our competition options. He enjoys our travels, swimming, and playing with Tonks. While he currently lives a fairly normal life, we continue with behavior modification to help him be more comfortable in everyday life.
“Tonks”
GoodNgold’s Nymphadora RL3 PDI
Tonks is adorable and fast. She loves playing, swimming, and people. She has done some agility and rally trials. Her primary activity is working as a detection dog for wildlife research projects.