| Founding Instructors: The original seven CNWI |
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The Founders of K9 Nose Work®, Amy Herot, Ron Gaunt, and Jill-Marie O'Brien would like to acknowledge and thank the original seven founding instructors (CNWI) who helped us bring this activity and sport to many dogs and their people.
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These are the core seven instructors who have been doing K9 Nose Work® since the beginning. They have been instrumental in making nose work available for so many dogs and handlers.
Ramona Audette
Kimberly Buchanan
Julie Gaunt
Barbara Schwerdt
Penny Scott-Fox
Desiree Snelleman
Dana Zinn
See bios below for more information about each instructor.
For a complete national listing of instructors, please see the 'Find an Instructor' menu to the left or visit the NACSW website. http://www.nacsw.net/certifiedinstructors.html
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| Ramona Audette with Anton & Gretzky |
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Ramona Audette, Certified Nose Work Instructor, (CNWI)
Ramona first became
interested in training dogs in 1988 when she became a “puppy raiser” for Guide
Dogs of America. She became
interested in behavior and all the nuances of dog training when she realized
there was more to dog training than just giving commands.
In 1993, she went to work for
Guide Dogs of America and in 2002 went to Accord, New York to pursue more dog
training skills. To learn more about dog behavior, by training chickens, she
went to Hot Springs, Arkansas in 2004 and 2005 and to Sequim, Washington, in
2007.
Because she has fun with her
dogs and loves to watch dogs have fun while learning, Fun Nose Work was a
natural fit. In 2008, she became involved with Fun Nose Work and, in 2009, became
a Certified K9 Nose Work Instructor.
Because of her passion for
helping people, and their dogs, Ramona continually attends seminars and
workshops on training and dog behavior.
Ramona is an AKC Canine Good
Citizen Evaluator, a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a member of
the Southern California Dog Trainers Forum and a member of the National Association of Canine
Scent Work. She
competes with her own dogs in Agility, Obedience and Rally.
www.cadogbehavior.com
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| Kim Buchanan |
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Kim Buchanan, Certified Nose Work Instructor, (CNWI)
Kim grew up in Michigan with many family dogs and cats and moved
to California in 1988 with her Abyssinian cat, Josephine. After teaching Josie
to sit and down it became apparent that Kim enjoyed training and probably
needed a dog! Instead, Kim became an active member of the Friends of the Long
Beach Animal Shelter, coordinating and helping with programs designed to
increase adoptions for the animals. She added another cat, Napoleon, her first
dog, Maude, and then Harold. As shelter dogs, Harold and Maude had many
behavior issues to overcome that required creative training solutions.
In 1998, Kim decided to adopt an adult Belgian Tervuren who had
been returned to her breeder. Jazz opened the door to the world of competitive
dog sports, especially agility and sheep herding. In 2001 Kim jumped into
agility with both feet with a new Tervuren puppy from Belgium. Oscar proved to
be an excellent agility partner, making the finals of the AKC Agility Nationals
when he was just 2 years old! They have continued their agility adventures with
local competitions as well as the AKC Agility Invitational, Cynosport World
Games and the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. Oscar acquired his 3rd AKC
Championship in 2008. They provided agility background scenes for the movie, A
Dog Lovers Symphony and have participated as a demo team for Animal Planet. Kim
and Oscar also train and compete in AKC obedience, K9 Nose Work and the sport
of Schutzhund, which involves tracking, obedience and protection.
In 2004, Kim brought home Emmy, a Belgian Tervuren who was a
little firecracker! She brings her athleticism to the sport of Agility,
Schutzhund and Dock Diving and proves that she can also slow down enough to be
successful with K9 Nose Work. Emmy has given Kim the opportunity to travel and
participate with the Incredible Dog Challenge and National Diving Dog Tour.
After 12 years in the systems furniture industry, Kim
started her own contract Interior Design business in 1998. In 2006, she began
collaboration on a web-based informational site for pet travel, CarGoDogs.com.
In 2008 she decided to package her versatile dog training experience into
Joyride K9 and to bring her skills to the spcaLA agility program. Kim fulfilled
her requirements to become a certified K9 Nose Work instructor in 2009. She is
currently teaching K9 Nose Work classes at the spcaLA in Long Beach and is co-instructing local K9 Nose Work workshops and seminars. For more information visit the websites: www.joyridebelgians.com and www.joyridek9.com
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| Desiree Snelleman |
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Desiree Snelleman, Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI)
Desiree spent the first twenty five
years of her career as a personal health & fitness professional working with
such reputable companies as The Sports Club Company. During that time, she mastered the skills needed to help her
clients build strong and healthy bodies, She gained such a strong teaching and
learning philosophy that she taught other fitness professionals how to train
their clients. She officially added dogs to her training career with the launch
of Fido’N Friends…in Motion, a company that served to promote, educate,
influence and create optimal health and well-being through exercise and mental
stimulation for both dogs and people.
She parlayed that expertise into working with her own dogs who have
become national competitors in their own right. T’ai, one of her Siberian Huskies is ranked as the nation's
top Siberian husky in dog agility. Chi, T'ai's sister, is not quite as
accomplished as her brother, but is beginning to blossom and is doing her best
to close the gap on the list for the national rankings. Stinger, her young
border collie is a rising star in agility and has made it into the finals at
every Regional and National event he has competed in his short career. Her dogs have also earned titles in
Obedience, Rally Obedience and are Canine Good Citizens.
Desiree has been involved in scent detection and Fun Nose Work classes since their inception. She worked all of her dogs at every class level and went on to become one of the first instructors to complete the apprenticeship program and certification in scent work. (Certified Nose Work Instructor - CNWI under K9 Nose Works and certified by the National Association of Canine Scent Work - NACSW.) Her dog, Chi took First Place Overall in the Inaugural Fun Nose Work Competition August 2008 and T'ai and Stinger were on the teams that finished first and second in the team event. Since then her dogs have competed in all the FNW trials. T’ai and Chi have earned their NW1 titles and Stinger has earned his NW2 title. Her love of nose work and working dogs has led her to teaching and also conducting seminars to support handlers and dogs in this new sport.
Desiree has become a sought
after lecturer and has presented nationally at many of the most respected dog
training and behavior programs around. This includes, but is not limited to Dog
Sense and the Instructor Course at Terry Ryan's Legacy Canine Behavior and
Training Center in addition to Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, Los Angeles.
Some of Desiree’s educational
accomplishments include gaining her teaching and coaching credentials from the
Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education and another degree in
athletic training, sports medicine from San Diego State University. She has also earned a Counseling
Certificate from The San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers with Jean
Donaldson and has attended two of the Bailey and Bailey chicken camps.
Desiree is a member of the Association of Pet Dog
Trainers (APDT), the American Canine Sports Medicine Association (ACSMA) and
the Southern California Dog Trainer's Forum (SCDTF). Desiree has been a member
of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and is a certified personal
trainer/member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
http://fidonfriends.com/
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| Julie Gaunt |
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Julie Gaunt, Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI)
Julie’s brings to Nose Work instruction a lifetime of K9 education and training. Growing up in a home shared with many a working police K9, Julie quickly built an understanding of the working dog and their unique requirements. Julie prides herself on developing solid working relationships with her K9 partners through mutual understanding and respect.
At the age of 9 Julie won her first competition with her young German Shepherd Dog. That young dog continued a training career that included Schutzhund, a sport that encompasses obedience, tracking and protection elements.
Currently, Julie is a professional detection dog handler and is a certified member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians & Investigators as well as the International Explosive Detection Dog Association. Julie works in the private sector in the Los Angeles area as a detection dog trainer/handler.
Julie successfully completed schools in both Narcotics and Explosive Detection. Her passion for dog training goes beyond detection and because of this Julie continues to attend many workshops and seminars on dog training and behavior. Julie brings her passion for dogs and for learning to her time instructing Fun Nose Work classes.
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| Barbara Schwerdt with "LANDIS" |
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Barbara Schwerdt, CPDT, Certified Nose Work Instructor, (CNWI)
Barbara’s career as a dog trainer began in 1997 when she found a young dog she named Amanté wandering the streets in need of a warm, dry place to stay (okay, live). With Amanté, Barbara learned quickly that some dogs have problems that only professionals can help with. Amanté‘s dog to dog aggression became overwhelming at the time and Barbara sought the assistance of a trainer who specialized in aggression cases.
Barbara’s experience with Amanté and the work of the professional she hired helped her realize that there was much to be learned about the needs of dogs and their human companions. She began to pursue a career as a canine professional.
After applying herself to the study of canine behavior and training theory, Barbara began an apprenticeship with My Best Friend Obedience in Southern California. Her skill led her to the position of lead trainer, teaching classes in beginning obedience and Canine Good Citizen preparatory classes. Barbara has been a certified AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator since 2003. She is grateful to have the assistance of her rehabilitated shelter dog, Shadow, a CGC himself, to assist her with evaluations.
Barbara became interested in canine scent work in 2005 after attending a seminar with John Rogerson. She discovered that her Yellow Labrador, Jarrah, showed talent for the task of scenting, and they both trained for a short period of time with Missing Pet Partners, an organization that trains dogs to find missing pets.
After a hiatus from scent work with her Labrador, Barbara and her husband Gerry adopted a young German Shepherd puppy they named Landis. They quickly found out that Landis would not be satisfied with a quiet pet life. In January 2008, Barbara began training Landis with Ron, Amy & Jill through K9 Nose Works. In August 2008 Landis placed second overall in the Inaugural Fun Nose Work competition sponsored by the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) and K9 Nose Works and in January 2009 Landis took first place in the first official NACSW Titling Trial, earning a NW1 with Pronouncement,which designates the exceptional handler-dog teamwork demonstrated.
In November 2006 Barbara earned her CPDT designation, making her a nationally certified Pet Dog Trainer. She was awarded the Most Valuable Volunteer – Special Support award in 2005 and the Dog Volunteer of the Year award in 2006 from Pet Orphans of Southern California.
Some of Barbara’s other accomplishments include the founding of Amanté Dog Training, a division of Safe at Home Pet Care,a business Barbara owns with her husband Gerry. They specialize in in-home care of companion animals and are now also providing dog training services. In addition, by day, Barbara is a corporate trainer helping humans to be more effective and efficient in their daily work lives. Barbara holds a degree in Deaf Studies from California State University Northridge. She is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the National Association of Canine Scent Work , and the American Society for Training and Development.
Barbara was one of the first seven instructors to complete her certification in the K9 Nose Work/NACSW Instructors’ program in early 2009. Barbara shares her home with her very supportive husband, along with 3 dogs and 3 cats who are still trying to keep up with her frenetic pace.
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| Penny Scott-Fox |
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Penny-Scott Fox, CPDT, Certified Nose Work Instructor, (CNWI)
Penny-Scott Fox is one of the nation's most respected dog behavioral specialists and is owner of Scott-Fox Training, Alta Dena, CA. She worked for the Pasadena Humane Society in Pasadena, California for twelve years, and is a Fellow of the Pet Behavior Institute, Durham, England.
Penny is an accomplished speaker, she has lectured around the country for Emily Weiss Consulting on the SAFER behavior assessment for dogs in animal shelters and has developed several behavior modification programs for dogs and cats in the shelter and rescue environment. Aside from her very popular classes for dogs and their families, Penny's experience includes training shelter dogs and evaluating their behaviors.
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Her successful techniques have been covered by media outlets around the world, among them the Discovery Channel, CNN, Fox, French television, Japanese radio, the Los Angeles Times, and People magazine of Australia.
http://www.scott-foxtraining.com/
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| Dana Zinn |
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Dana Zinn, CPDT, Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI)
Denver, CO
Dana Zinn has been working with
and training dogs since 1999. Her
many years of dog training experience include working at the spcaLA as an
Animal Behavior & Training Specialist. It was the time working with dogs in the shelter that drew
her to the sport of K9 Nose Work; not only for her own dogs, but for the many
dogs in need of a “job” to do.
Dana was
involved in the first publicly offered Nose Work class in the Long Beach
area. She not only participated
but eventually assisted in instruction.
From there Dana became involved in the development of the K9 Nose Work
instructor certification program.
Dana was one of the first participants to be certified as an instructor
for the K9 Nose Works curriculum approved by the National Association of Canine
Scent Work, LLC.
Dana has participated in a
variety of canine activities such as obedience, herding, agility and of course
K9 Nose Work. Dana recently moved with her family to Golden, Colorado and has
brought the sport of K9 Nose Work to the Colorado area.
Dana strives
to increase her knowledge about canine behavior and instruction. She has
attended and helped coordinate many seminars featuring some of the world’s most
sought after speakers. One of her
most memorable educational experiences was working with and learning from the
renowned dog behavior expert and trainer John Rogerson. She has traveled to England and
Washington state to work with and assist him on many courses including his
21-day Instructors’ Course.
Dana is a member of the
Association of Pet Dog Trainers and a member of the Colorado Trainers’
Networking Group. Dana was
certified as a professional dog training in 2005 by the Certification Council
for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT).
Dana currently shares her life
with her wonderful husband Ken, two beautiful children Jessica & Benjamin,
as well as two resident cats and her best learning tools: her canine partners
Sierra, a Belgian Sheepdog Mix, and Kudos, a Belgian Tervuren.
Contact: http://zinndogtraining.com/
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