Instructors

AGILITY INSTRUCTORS

Undine Bistany
ubistany@roadrunner.com
716-885-0003
Undine Bistany has been teaching competitive
agility classes for at least 6 years. Her Border Collie ADCH MACH 3 Minka PAX is nearing retirement and her young Lab Missy is competing in Excellent classes.
She is the owner of PAWSITIVE SOLUTIONS and has given
seminars and workshops in the past.
She has competed at National events and taken lessons from several competent and well known agility competitors including Linda Mecklenburg.

Amanda Lowery
amanda@alkemi.org
I have had dogs almost all my life, and have been involved with dog agility since 2003 (my first agility mentor was Debbie Spence at Pawsitive Agility Working School in Texas).
I have a strong interest in positive, science-based training. I breed and show Swedish Vallhunds,and have served as a board member in various positions (including VicePresident) of the Swedish Vallhund Club of America.
I also wrote the quarterly Swedish Vallhund breed column for the AKC Gazette, and have written for (and been interviewed for) several dog publications, including Dogs in Review, Dog Fancy and ShowSight.
My dog Nina finished 2013 as the #3 AKC Agility Swedish Vallhund. I have trialed regularly in AKC, NADAC, CPE and TDAA agility events, as well as herding and conformation. I also do tracking with my dogs.
I attend agility, general dog training, behavior, breeding and conformation seminars both in person and online.

Nina

Sue Verbocy
verbocy@buffalo.edu
716-465-2470

Sue Verbocy has been involved in agility since 2001 and has put multiple titles on her Vizslas, from MACH/CATCH to MACH 4 and everywhere in between. She has been teaching for over 11 years in various places throughout WNY. She has taught all levels of the sport from puppy foundation to the master level. Her first Vizsla, MACH4 Onpoint’s Tuff Guy (Molson) taught her to think out of the box. He developed fear, motivation, and sound sensitivity issues shortly after getting into the AKC Excellent Class. Sue sought out numerous seminars devoted to stress and motivation. Her newest additions, MACH Red Oak’s Chariot of Fire (Blaze) and Avalon’s Defying Gravity (Zest) have thrived under her positive and motivational training modules.

As an agility instructor, Sue focuses on teaching handling skills while improving focus and motivation. She has worked with many top trainers, most extensively with Susan Garrett, Silvia Trkman and most recently with Janita Leinonen and Jaakko Suoknuuti co-founders of One Mind Dogs . Sue believes that there isn’t one training system that works for every dog. As a handler you need to have an open mind to new ideas while sorting out what works best for your team and add it to your personal toolbox thus creating our own unique handling system.

Her guiding principle is that a handler's most important job is to find the lines so that the dog knows where they are going. The handling goal is for the dog to have the right obstacle in sight as early as possible. She also believes that each team should come out of the ring thinking about the positive as opposed to the negative things that happened on that run.

OBEDIENCE INSTRUCTORS

Amy Swietlik
justforthedogs956@yahoo.com
716-574-5006
Amy is a long time member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, Southtowns Dog Training Club and Volunteer at the Erie Co. SPCA.
She has been involved in Private Dog Training and a Dog Walking Service for the past 6 years.
Amy has assisted and has been mentored by a number of excellent trainers in the area and regularly attends seminars focused on both dog training and behavior issues.
Doing Private Dog training has helped her to incorporate real life challenges people face with their dogs into class room training to address their issues. Being a long time volunteer in the SPCA's Enrichment program has given her a unique opportunity to work with many shy, fearful dogs, many puppy mill dogs and plenty of "rough around the edges" dogs who were never given the chance to be all they can be.
Amy believes dogs and their humans learn best when they are having fun and her classes are geared to building a wonderful relationship with our dogs. Amy shares her home with 2 rescue dogs: Barney, her Obedience, CGC, agility dog and Opie her sound sensitive, storm phobic shy guy.
"No dog is too young or too old to learn new behaviors when we train with gentleness and respect for the incredible animals we have".

Rally Obedience:
Kim Alexander-Thomson
ladybugccv@yahoo.com
716-839-4379

Kim has been doing Rally in AKC, UKC & CARO.
In 2011 in UKC Abra & Kim were the #1 dog in UKC in RO2 and #2 in RO3. They were also in the Top Twenty for 2012.
They continue to continue in all venues.
Additionally, Kim has judged matches for the Western Lakes Training Club.

CONFORMATION INSTRUCTOR

Michelle “Missy” Hoelcle
whiplashsmiler77@yahoo.com
716-903-4520
Missy has been showing dogs since she was 12 yrs old as a Junior Handler. She is now a professional handler and has finished several Champions and Grand Champions.
She has competed at Westminster and has handled several different breeds.
She knows the ins and outs of the show ring procedures and rules.

Beginner Obedience

Kathy Galbraith

galbraithk9@aol.com

(716) 622-5790

Kathy is a professional trainer, obedience instructor, and canine behavior expert with over twenty years of classroom teaching experience. She has worked with animals throughout her entire life. Although Kathy (and her dogs) initially achieved a number of obedience, agility and conformation titles, she found her interests gravitating to animal rescue, and the challenges associated with the behavior of rescue dogs. It is Kathy’s belief that many of the fundamental aspects of dog behavior that present a learning opportunity for shelter animals are common to family pets and competition dogs as well. She has developed training programs that address these common concerns and help students and their families transform unruly pets into well-behaved canine companions.