A native of Michigan, Kathy has been active in the sport of dog obedience since 1972. Early on, she had a lot to learn coping with a variety of breeds. Seeking the right match in a canine companion in 1978, a friend suggested Kathy look at a litter of Golden Retrievers, a breed that matched her own outgoing personality. A pup with a freckled muzzle caught her eye, and at eight (8) weeks of age, Abbey joined the family. Abbey was a match made in heaven. Kathy began training immediately, and found an obvious advantage to working with such a young puppy. Instinctively using “cookies” as positive feedback, her common sense approach to training began to emerge. As her biddable sidekick, Abbey went on to become Kathy’s first obedience titled (198½) companion, sparking a love of the sport that has lasted to this day.
Relocating to New England in 1981 prompted Kathy to mobilize her budding training philosophy. Kathy’s Dog Training on Wheels was born. Impressed by the positive aspects of her approach to training, local veterinarians began referring clients to her. A love of kids prompted her to volunteer to be a 4-H dog-training instructor. The culmination of that effort resulted in the kids performing a training demo at a nearby nursing home. Realizing the need to change public opinion regarding the best time to start training a puppy, Kathy developed the educational program Back To Basics, complete with detailed handouts geared toward owners and their 8-week-old pups. The one missing link to her mobile operation, primarily one-on-one consults with clients in their homes, was a lack of socialization for these pups. In order to incorporate that key element, Kathy began teaching puppy classes at her home and in continuing education venues. Her goal: teaching owners to think like a puppy, incorporate voice modulation, and use cookies as a motivator. Her firm but gentle training program was embraced. Attendees learned to teach their pups rather than simply demand obedience of them!
Since its inception, the Back To Basics program grew to span Puppy Kindergarten, First Grade, Adult Dog, and the ever-popular Family Class, enlightening hundreds of student teams and encompassing all breed groups plus mixed-breed dogs as well. With a 100% attendance record for every class held, it is no wonder Kathy was dubbed by her students as, “America’s Answer to Barbara Woodhouse” and “The Puppy Whisperer”. The challenge by her students to put Back To Basics handouts into book form came to fruition in Puppy Possibilities.
A family friend once commented, "Kathy's training techniques are so effective that we not only used them on the dogs in our lives, but also on our three children with measurable success ... consistency, positive reinforcement, and fun."
Kathy has presented her Back to Basics program to local organizations, including the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), and the Massachusetts 4-H. In addition, she has been a welcome speaker at clubs in the dog community, including the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club (AADTC), the Connecticut River Valley Golden Retriever Club (CTRVGRC), and the Northeast Maryland Kennel Club (NEMDKC). Having a knack with dog owners interested in competing in AKC Obedience events, she is often invited to judge at local club training center matches and run-thrus. Her club affiliations include the Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA), Yankee Golden Retriever Club (YGRC), and Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue (YGRR). Kathy has served her local clubs as Breed Historian, AKC Tracking Test Secretary (GRCA National Specialty), Hospitality Chair (Gaines Eastern Regional 5-day event), Board Member, Tracking Chair, Obedience Chair, and Columnist for both the YGRC newsletter and the GRCA national magazine.
Always eager to share her love of obedience, Kathy and her Golden Retrievers were invited to perform at the Bethel Animal Hospital Fun Day (Bethel, ME), demonstrate Tracking and Frisbee skills at the Tufts Veterinary College Open House (Grafton, MA), perform the requirements of the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test at the Scottish Festival (Blandford, MA), and make the holidays a little brighter performing dance routines at local nursing homes with a group of friends from the Canine Learning Center (Boxboro, MA).
As soon as Puppy Possibilities was hot off the press, Kathy was invited to do her first book signing/meet the author event at the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue Auction in 2009. Since then, you can frequently find Kathy, accompanied by her Golden sidekicks, demonstrating the joys of owning a well-behaved companion while signing books at various pet stores, farmer’s markets, and pet festivals.
A natural in the studio, Kathy has delivered her message over the airwaves as a guest on the very popular Saturday morning radio talk show, “Mid-Michigan Pets” (WILS, AM, East Lansing, MI). Catch a glimpse of her in the booth, and tune in to one of her broadcasts at Where's Kathy???.
Although her senior Goldens, Brynbrae’s Lucy In The Sky CDX CAN CD, (2x) HIT/Maritime Show Spectacular Invitee and (2x) Front & Finish Honoree (Lucy), Canadian Champion U-CD Byrnbrae’s Goin’ Under Cover UD OA CGC, GRCA 2003 Veteran Agility High In Trial and (2x) Front & Finish Honoree (Tucker), beloved sidekick and the all around poster boy for Puppy Possibilities, CAN Champion Mirasol’s I Luv Ricky Ricotta CDX TD AXP CCA CAN CD (Desi), and her first Versatility / Achiever Dog, Malagold's Winter Storm Fairy VER UD TDX CDX NA NAJ VCD1 (Winnie, CD HIT 199½), have crossed the rainbow bridge, look for Kathy competing in Obedience, Agility, and Tracking with Sundial’s Keweenaw Northern Lights UD CDX TD (Kewee) and her up-and-coming lad, Sundial's Deck the Halls (Decker).
Contact Kathy
