Debbie Guntly Owner Debbie's interest in dog training began over 20 yrs ago with Peaches, her Bichon Frise, and a very independent Siberian Husky named Niki who taught her the meaning of patience and perseverance. Training a Siberian might have been an exercise in futility, but Niki taught Debbie that all things are possible with love and understanding.  Because of Niki, Debbie became interested in the world of competition obedience.  With her next dog, a Border Collie named Gator, Debbie successfully competed in several Gaines Obedience Championships and the World Series. In 1990 Debbie and fellow obedience trainer Don MacManus joined forces and opened Exercise Finished Dog Training Center.  Agility was next on the agenda for Debbie, who trained her next Border Collie, Coach, through his Advanced Agility Dog and Open Agility titles before retiring due to injury.  Taking a break from agility, Debbie began sheep herding for fun with Rumor, another Border Collie.  Rumor and Debbie went on to compete and earn a Started Sheep title before Debbie was drawn back to agility and other new endeavors.  Keepers, a Petit Bassett Griffon Vendeen, joined the family in 1996 and taught Debbie the unique requirements of training and competing with a small dog.   Debbie and Keepers earned success on the agility field competing in three different titling venues, retiring after competing in the 2000 AKC National Agility Championship and earning her MX, MXJ and  AD.  Keepers was the first PBGV to attain the AKC titles of CH, MX & MXJ.   With Keepers' son, Jay, Debbie entered the world of breed handling and conformation showing for the first time; Jay completed his championship at the tender age of nine months.  Debbie's next challenge was an abused Border Collie adopted from New England Border Collie Rescue in 1998.  Debbie helped Duncan overcome his fear and trust issues and together they earned his Novice Agility title.  Sheep herding provided a deeper connection for Debbie and Duncan, and they continue to break new ground in this venture; however recognizing that Duncan's true happiness is at home.  Debbie is also pursuing herding with Sam, another rescued Border Collie with a history of broken homes and broken promises, whose passion and fire demand an outlet and are propelling them both forward down new paths.  In addition to her canine family, Debbie also shares her life with her husband, John, and her two children Joshua and Caitlin. Elise Gouge  Instructor Elise initially began her career in social services working with children and their families.  For many years she worked extensively with families in a clinical capacity, navigating their troubled paths to find ways to live together in harmony and without stress. Armed with years of clinical expertise, Elise began working with pets and their people full time in 2004. She had the wonderful opportunity to study dog behavior with some of the best trainers in the world and eagerly participated in every training seminar available, including the wonderful Instructor Training Course with Sue Sternberg and Pia Silvani. Elise's professional background includes managing training and behavior programs in shelters and doggy day cares, training animals ranging from primates to horses to domestic pets, mentoring novice trainers, presenting at national conferences and guest lecturing at universities on animal behavior. A believer in trying anything she is going to teach others she has also competed in various dog sports such as herding, Rally, and agility. She is currently preparing for competition obedience trials. To see Elise in action, check out some of her media appearances on Animal Cops: Houston! She holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Community Health Education. She is a Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the AKC, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and a Certified Dog and Cat Behavior Consultant through the International Association for Animal Behavior Consultants. A high percent of her practice focuses on aggression and behavior problems. Elise has been the Vice-Chair of the Awards Committee for the APDT for several years and recently joined the Board of Directors of the IAABC. She actively volunteers with New England Border Collie Rescue and happily has three border collies of her own. Elise Gouge, MPH Owner, Pet Behavior Consulting Certified Dog & Cat Behavior Consultant Certified Professional Dog Trainer Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator www.petbehaviorconsulting.com (413)230-9873

Tibby Chase Puppy, Rally & Obedience Instructor Biography is currently "under construction" Nicole Levesque Agility Instructor Since the age of 12, Nicole's life can be defined by which dog was walking next to her.  Her love of dogs began with a Shepard/Hound Mix, Buck, who was the first dog she could call her own.  What began as an obsession with horses and an active 4-H hobby became a fascination with dogs that would last a lifetime. While working in a Veterinary Hospital in 1994, a furry 15 week old Husky/Aussie cross was brought in after having been hit by a car.  It was love at first sight, and Zachary was here to stay. Two years and surgical bills totaling thousands of dollars later, Nicole found herself with a very willful, powerful, and energetic dog.  After months of basic obedience, Nicole had become frustrated by the lack of relationship that the two of them shared and tried a new kind of class called Dog Agility. The injury Zach had received in his accident prevented them from getting serious about the sport but at the age of 8, Zachary did compete in a few USDAA and NADAC events.  Before long, the family was joined by Reis, a shy and nervous Australian Shepard rescued from an inner city pound.  Reis's health issues introduced Nicole to the world of alternative diets and an awareness of the importance of complementary healing modalities such as feeding a natural diet, massage therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic maintenance.  Despite gastric problems, hypothyroidism, motivational issues, and severe separation anxiety, Reis went on to compete to the Masters level in USDAA, the Excellent level in AKC and Elite in NADAC.  Reis was nationally ranked by the AKC in the year 2000 and was a Top 10 Performance Snooker Dog in USDAA in 2004. In 2003, Nicole began training Shen, an explosive and very high drive Border Collie.  Shen has taught her the need for consistency in a training program and how important it is to have clear body cues when running your dog.  Shen's level of drive convinced Nicole very early on that she needed to have a clear and consistent contact performance and start line in order to compete with him.  Shen has been featured in several Clean Run produced DVD's including The In Focus series, Stretching the Performance Dog, and Serpentines and Threadles by Stacy Peardot-Goudy.  He is currently competing in Masters in USDAA and in AKC Excellent. Nicole has also started training her first girl dog!  Bliss, an independent and energetic Border Collie joined the pack in July and is well on her way to becoming a wonderful agility dog.  All of Nicole's foundation skills are being tried and proofed on this confident little dog and she is really starting to shine! Nicole believes in the use of positive training methods and learning how to communicate with your dogs by learning to speak their language.  She has searched for trainers that utilized these methods and has tried to learn as much as she could about how dogs process their world.  She believes that the greatest benefit in training a dog to do Agility is the development of a strong bond between dog and person.  Her professional training as a Massage Therapist and Veterinary Technician allows her to recognize the benefits that agility foundation work can offer a dog as they grow old and need to use their body in different ways.  She feels that Agility Foundation work makes dogs easier to live with at home and in the veterinary environment as well.  She has worked on these techniques and attended seminars or lessons with Mary Ellen Barry, Brenda Buja, Rhonda Carter, Barb DeMascio, Greg Derrett, Donna Duford, Susan Garrett, Karen Holik, Linda Mecklenburg, Wendy Pape, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, and Jen Pinder.   Nicole is currently employed at the Animal Health Practice in Granby, CT, a practice that specializes in Chinese medicine and works on hundreds of performance dogs and horses a year.  She is also a co-owner of Criterion Agility as well as one of their instructors.  She is a Massage Therapist that has studied sports massage and trigger point therapy for humans. Lori Carver Breed Handling Instructor  Lori is a 1984 Graduate of Stockbridge School of Agriculture and has been employed USDA Farm Service Agency for 20 yrs.  She began training dogs at 11 years of age as a member of 4-H.  Lori obtained her first purebred dog a Newfoundland when she was 14 years old.  She showed dogs in both breed and obedience through high school.  After college she got another Newfoundland and started working with a professional handler. While working with the handler she met June O'Neil and her Wicksford's Field Spaniels.  June entrusted Ch Wicksford's Nicholas to Lori and a so began a great working relationship   Lori has had the opportunity to show, co-own and breed with June for over 10 years.  Lori showed and co-owned the 1997 Pedigree Award winning Field Spaniel CH Wickford's A Touch of Magic.  Lori also showed, co-owned and co-bred the top Field Spaniel Bitch in 2002, AM & Can CH Wickford's Stormy Seabreeze.   She has also showed and co-own Sussex Spaniel Am & Can CH Grinstead Seamus, who was the 2003 National Specialty Winner.  Lori considers myself a semi-professional handler.  She enjoys handling a variety of dogs (mostly the rare spaniels) for other people   Lori is a member of:  Owner Handler Association, Pioneer Valley Kennel Club, Newfoundland Club of America, Newfoundland Club of New England, Field Spaniel Society of America, and American Spaniel Club Cathy Figueroa  Breed Handling Instructor Cathy started working with dogs in 4-H at 10 yrs of age with a GSD/Beagle cross.  Her Mom inherited a Saint Bernard when Cathy was a young teenager and Cathy worked with him in 4-H and also became involved with horses.  Cathy took a break from dog training and showing to raise her family.  About 15 yrs ago she returned to the "dogs" and bought a Saint Bernard and began showing in breed and obedience.  She know breeds and shows Saints.   Cathy worked with a professional handler for about 6 years and for the past 3 years she has been focusing on becoming a professional handler.  She currently show several working breeds and has begun showing other breeds.   Her Saint Bernard, CH Royalty's Freedom Road has been listed in the top 10 Saint Bernards in the country for multiple years.  When time permits she likes to pursue obedience and agility with her Saints, but with a growing kennel and a busy show schedule she unfortunately doesn't have a much time for those endeavors as she'd like.