Sara started training dogs in the early 1980’s. Her first dog was a Saint Bernard that pulled her down the street. Training was a necessary although not totally pleasant experience, in those days training was a lot of leash corrections and her Saint hated other dogs making training classes a tough place to be. Nonetheless, success was achieved and Sara was able to walk her on a loose leash and turn her into a pet with good house manners. More importantly, Sara was hooked on training and wanted to compete (with another dog, of course).
Sara’s next four dogs were Newfoundlands. The first two were breed champions and all four got their CD’s. Her last Newf also had his CDX, Draft title and was working toward his Water title. From this large breed start, Sara downsized to Labrador retrievers. Her first, a rescue with runaway issues was 1 ½ when she got her. When she retired from competitive events at 10 years of age, she had a CDX and was competing at the excellent level in agility. Her next lab, Kolby was 1 year old when he was given to her because he has a lot of drive and the people that had him didn’t know how to channel that drive into constructive channels.
At the age of 10 1/2 he has AKC, ASCA and UKC CD's, AKC and UKC CDX’s, and
an AKC UD. Currently, Sara and Kolby are toward a UKC UD. Sara and Kolby also compete in agility where Kolby needs one more leg for his AKC preferred agility excellent title. Sara and Kolby also compete in APDT Rally where Kolby has his ARCH and is on his way to his ARCHX - then they’re on to Level 3.
Mister, her German Shorthaired Pointer was given to her at the age of 2. He was a breed champion at 14 months of age and his owner (current co-owner) wanted to place him a performance home and couldn’t have placed him in a better one. Mister is just starting out but has 2 legs towards his AKC CD, 2 legs towards his AKC Novice Rally title and one leg toward his AKC Agility Novice Standard title.
Sara also has Jack, a young Golden Retriever who is also an offspring of Sandi’s Nash. Jack is just starting … but great things are expected of this one!
Sara loves training and currently uses a variety of positive training techniques including the clicker. Sara’s favorite part of training is when the small increments of training are combined into the finished product. She particularly enjoys when her students tell her that their dog couldn’t possibly do something and before they know it they have almost completely trained that particular exercise or behavior.
Sara’s advise to students – old and new - is to have FUN with your training. Keep it fresh and most importantly keep it up beat. Keep training sessions short and sweet. And NEVER train when you’re angry or frustrated. Always end each training session on a happy note with something you and your dog do well.
Sara’s pet training peeve: Too many people want success too fast and when they don’t see it get frustrated and start training with harsher measures. Sara’s advice: read your dog. Know how much they can take in a training session and plan your training sessions accordingly. Break up your training sessions – play with your canine partner and then train some more.
In addition to training her own dogs, Sara teaches obedience, rally, and agility. Sara is also an APDT Rally judge.
