Instructors

Doreen Suchting

Dogs have always been a focal point in Doreen's life. Growing up, she worked German Shepherds on obedience and socialization. She bought her first herding dog in 1975 to work cattle. Over the years, she has also worked and trained dogs in both obedience and agility. She currently trains and shows her Border Collies in agility events.

Michelle Beardsley

Michelle has been a professional dog trainer for the last 13 years . She has been active in Dog Agility since 1999. She has experience training a wide variety of breeds and currently competes with Aussies , a Cocker Spaniel and a Border Collie. Her achievements include  winning the 2007 AKC National with Willow (12 " Class) and The 2006 AKC Invitational with Willow (12" Class) and numerous placements at AKC National and USDAA National . Her dogs compete in the highest levels and have earned numerous titles, including 16 Machs, 2 ADCH's and multiple top ten rankings.

Michelle believes that first Agility should be fun for you and your dog . She strives to help her students solve handling and training problems and develop a system of communication with their dogs to achieve their maximum potential.

Donna Brown

In 2004, Donna left the public school teaching profession to devote her energies full-time to teaching agility.  She places emphasis on the handler-dog relationship to create a team that enjoys working together.  She develops and enhances communication in teams with motivational issues as well as high drive teams that need to build self-control.  Donna owns/trains/competes both mini and open dogs so she can address the distinct characteristics of running a small or large dog.

As an agility competitor she has achieved the highest titles in both USDAA and AKC.  She competes with her Pembroke Welsh Corgi, “Morgan”, and her Border Collies, “Skeeter” and “BAM”.

Lori Chambers

Our beginner and advanced obedience instructor has been training dogs for seven years. She currently holds titles in obedience, water work, confirmation, and agility. She is in the process of training her first dog for a title in tracking. She has also given seminars in water work and obedience.

Marta Coursey

Marta has been helping people to train their dogs for many years. She has been a Certified Pet Dog trainer since 2002 and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She currently competes in Agility and Rally Obedience with her Australian Shepherd, Mia and her Border Collie Ember.

Marta has previously competed in obedience with a Bullmastiff and agility with a Shar-Pei and a Golden Retreiver.

Janet Gauntt

Janet has competed in and instructed many dog sports including obedience, tracking, flyball and dog agility since acquiring her first Sheltie in 1981. She has exhibited in, judged, and instructed dog agility (group, private, and seminars) since 1989. Many of her students have gone on to place in National competitions and represent the USA in international competition. Currently, she shows and trains her Border Collies, Legend and Romance, and her Swedish Vallhund, Sci-Fi.

Bridget McKnight

Bridget currently competes at the national levels of both USDAA and AKC with her two Border Collies, Kestrel and Molly McPerfect, both of whom have recently competed at the AKC World Team Tryouts, in the finals at the 2007 AKC Nationals and in the finals of the 2006 USDAA Grand Prix. Molly, a rescue, won Round one at the 2007 AKC Nationals and finished second in a very exciting Challenger round. She has also competed with and titled dogs in earthdog, lure coursing, racing and herding. Her methods are all positive and stress building drive, speed, and accuracy into every dog. She believes that a strong foundation plus consistent handling cues that make sense to both dog and handler are the building blocks of agility. And, above all else: Agility should be fun!

Eunice Morgan

Eunice began her "dog career" about 30 years ago in conformation with Border Terriers. She progressed to obedience competition, then tracking and eventually to agility. She also served 5 years with the Oriole Dog Training Club obedience training director, and brought flyball to the mid-Atlantic region. She has trained 7 dogs of her own in agility: a Rottweiler, an Australian Shepherd, a J.R.T. and 4 Border Collies. She has instructed agility classes at all levels.

Because she could not keep up with the speed of her dogs, she developed a method of distance handling, enabling her to cut corners and run a shorter route than the dogs. Then a loss of physical agility in herself made her extend the distance at which the dog would work. She broke down the strategy into simple exercises, which anyone who is prepared to practice can do.