Dog Days Dog Training
Classes
Facility
Nick, Frannie, Joan, and Q:
Bob Bailey (with friend), to whom I owe deep and heartfelt thanks for
teaching me everything I know about operant conditioning:
Instructors
Joan Armstrong
Joan is the owner of Dog Days Dog Training. She has studied Operant
Conditioning and dog behavior since 1994 with Karen Pryor,
Bob and Marian Bailey, Ian Dunbar, Suzanne Clothier, John Rogerson, Sue
Sternberg, and others. She has worked with many breeds and mixes from
Rotts to Rat Terriers to Pharoah Hounds, and specializes in herding
breeds.
360-608-0867
Julie Wilcoxson is the cornerstone of Dog Days' basic classes. She has
been training and competing in conformation, obedience, and weight
pulling with her own dogs(Rottweilers) since 1993. Teamed with her
dogs, they have titles in AKC, CKC, International and USRC Sieger shows.
She has trained many breeds, specializing in the Working breeds.
Besides her own dogs, Julie has shown many breeds in the conformation
ring including Mastiff, Bullmastiff, Otterhound, Siberian Husky, and
Rottweilers.
She teaches positive reinforcement and has studied Operant Conditioning
and dog behavior under Bob Bailey, Dr. Ian Dunbar, Suzanne Clothier,
Karen Pryor, John Rogerson, Jesus Rosales-Ruiz Ph. D., and others.
She has training in structure under Catherine Thompson, Pat Hastings, Suzanne
Clothier and more.
Julie teaches companion obedience and puppy kindergarten classes and
offers private lessons.
360-901-1053.
Emily is a professional handler and breeds Cardigan Welsh Corgis. She
started in 4-H and Jr Handling, and has been involved with dogs ever
since. To learn more about her history, please visit her website at
www.pawcific.com/handling.htm
Emily teaches Focused Conformation Handling classes and drop-in
conformation classes.
360-904-5765
Megan Cruz
Megan Cruz has been training animals in some way or another since she
learned to ride horses at age 3. Besides horses, chickens, goats, fish,
cats, numerous small rodents, and of course dogs, she trained and
handled animals for the Oregon Zoo's "Zoo to You" program, which
included ferrets, parrots, snakes, box turtles, and rabbits. She
majored in Zoology with a focus on Ethology at OSU.
Megan and her husband co-managed a large (100 capacity dogs, 30 capacity
cats) boarding kennel/full-service veterinary hospital/grooming shop in
CA for several years, where she was also resident trainer for
board-and-train dogs, as well as a private lesson instructor. She has
continued to teach private lessons or small group classes since
returning to Oregon, and has been teaching Beginning and Advanced CU
classes (based on the book "Control Unleashed" by Leslie McDevitt) since
2007.
In January 2008 Megan completed the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer
program and is a Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner.
Megan teaches the Control Unleashed classes.
She is available for private training and
behavior modification.
503-653-9973
"Greta Kaplan is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and a Certified Dog
Behavior Counselor who focuses on coaching owners whose dogs are
experiencing challenging behavior problems. Greta combines positive-
reinforcement-based training methods with an understanding of normal
dog social behavior to create individualized training plans for each
client and student. She has studied with and learned from a wide
variety of authorities including Bob Bailey, Ian Dunbar, Donna Duford,
Jean Donaldson, and Leslie McDevitt. She teaches the Feisty Fido and
Control Unleashed classes at Dog Days. She also teaches flyball
classes and captains the Portland Tail Blazers, a Portland/Vancouver-
area competitive flyball club. A former lawyer who saw the light,
Greta lives in Portland with two Australian Shepherds and a Border
Collie who keep her busy with several dog sports and activities.
Greta teaches the Feisty Fido and Control Unleashed classes. She also
offers flyball classes.
971-732-5529
Judi Truskey
Judi Truskey has been a TTouch Practitioner since 1999. Her background
in engineering (she was a design engineer for the most powerful
commercial jet engine in the world) and her experiences with her
personal dogs and clients all lead her to believe in optimizing the
dog-human relationship as a whole, rather than "fixing" just the dog or
just the person.
Judi shares her life with two Australian shepherds who have been
variously trained in conformation, obedience, agility, canine musical
freestyle, and herding. In addition to TTouch, she swims dogs for
fitness, water safety, and graceful aging.
Judi teaches the TTouch classes.
360-624-6632
Dixie Matson started teaching pet dog obedience classes in 2001. Prior
to that, she rode and showed horses for 20 years. Over the years, Dixie
has developed skills for working with people and their dogs and has a
clear and enthusiastic teaching style. She believes that training,
playing and having fun should be one and the same!
Dixie works with many different breeds and mixed breeds in her classes.
She and her Portuguese Water Dogs compete and earn titles in obedience,
agility, rally-obedience, conformation and water trials. She regularly
attends seminars in dog training and dog behavior.
Her memberships include the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), the
Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, the Pacific Northwest Portuguese
Water Dog Club, the American Kennel Club, and the Columbia Agility Team.
Dixie teaches the Agility classes.
360-834-6355
Bobbie's website: pawsitive-performance.com
pawsitiveperformance@yahoo.com
Lisa LeTourneau began training dogs in 1987 with a shy cocker spaniel.
Currently, she and her English Setters compete in agility,
conformation, obedience and rally obedience. While training and
competing are fun, her favorite dog-related activities are "pet
therapy" visits. Lisa and Gunner, her registered Pet Partner, visit
hospice patients as a Delta Society Pet Partners team. During these
visits, Lisa sees the comfort and joy her dog brings to others. The
positive response to her dog's visits drive Lisa's desire to help more
dog/handler teams prepare to enter the therapy dog world.
Lisa uses positive training methods and regularly attends dog behavior
and training seminars. She is a member of the Association of Pet Dog
Trainers, National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors, the
English Setter Association of America, the Willamette Valley English
Setter Fanciers, Columbia River Agility Club and Columbia Agility Team.
Lisa teaches the Therapy Dog classes.
360-609-2917
Joan is addicted to dog sports and competes in AKC/UKC/ASCA obedience,
agility, and tracking. She is an AKC CGC evaluator and has worked with
many rescue and "problem" dogs.
Joan teaches competition obedience, rally obedience, and
tracking, and offers private lessons and behavior consultations. Member APDT.
Joan's dogs:
We lost Frannie in August, 2008. She is my angel watching out for us
all.
Still with us:
Nick,
Q,
and baby Aanya!
503-329-1235
