Ever since I was a child watching the “Lassie” and “Black Beauty” TV series, I’ve been an animal lover. This love took me to the University of Guelph where I received a B.Sc. majoring in Animal Science.
From there I started teaching riding in York Region and now, over 30 years later, I’ve taught hundreds of students as an Equestrian Canada certified Competition Coach Specialist and now as a Coach Developer, I help new coaches start their own rewarding careers.
My passion for agility began in 2011 when I brought my young dog “Temple” to Good as Gold and under Nancy Hatch’s guidance Temple and I went on to have huge success, competing at 4 national championships, winning 2 national steeplechase finals and being named Top Canadian Amateur Owner/Handler at the 2017 AAC National Championships.
I currently train and compete with “Wren” my 4 pound Papillon and “Twist” my supersonic Border Collie.
What fascinates me is how we as humans with our verbal language can communicate with our dogs who are all about energy and body language. When that understanding happens, it’s magic and with my coaching and training experience, nothing makes me happier than helping others find that connection!
I believe in positive reinforcement training and creating joy in your dog. I just love teaching agility to both recreational and competitive teams – it’s a sport for all breeds and their humans – and I also teach trick classes to build foundational skills and teamwork.
I am constantly learning myself, new agility skills (the sport is rapidly evolving), a movie role for “Wren” and I just recently started herding with “Twist”. So much joy!
