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Karen has been awarded Member of the Year for 2007 by the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), of which she is a professional member. Karen is humbled and honored by this award. She is an active member of the IACP, and during the past year served as chairperson of two committees for the international organization. She continues to serve as Chairperson of the Canine Legislation Committee. She also earned another President’s Star Award.
Karen attended the IACP Conference in May, where she had the honor of hearing a number of professionals in the canine industry speak during various seminars. She also met authors Brian Kilcommons, Stanley Coren, and Wendy Volhard, and renowned animal trainer Kayce Cover. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about dogs and dog training.
Karen is teaching group dog training classes through the Muskegon Lakeshore Obedience Training Club this fall, as well as providing dog training services through BCT. Our summer dog obedience class was full, as was the spring training class! Class space is limited, and we expect another high number of registrations for our obedience classes this fall. Contact Karen for registration information.
Karen and Rocky have attended an obedience seminar in NJ for dog trainers. It was a long and exciting journey for us, and we learned a great deal. Karen was able to meet with a number of professional dog trainers from around the country, and returned with new ideas to use for the Palmer dogs as well as for our other dog training programs.
Karen will travel to another obedience training seminar in August as part of our continuing educational process. Our goal is to attend a minimum of one quality educational program of this sort each year, so we can learn, grow, and share our new experiences with others through our work. We are very excited about attending these dog trainer seminars this year, as they are sure to help us build better students and more advanced obedience skills into the programs we offer. Two of the Palmer dogs are also expected to attend this next seminar for dog trainers in Harrison, Michigan.
Rocky Road is training for Open level obedience in two registries. We started competing last summer, and Rocky has his first titles-- he is a UKC Companion Dog (UCD) and also has a Companion Dog title with ASCA. He won first place in his first two ASCA trials, and placed third in his third trial! He is assisting Karen in teaching a group obedience training class with MLOTC in Muskegon this summer, while also learning new Open level skills. What a responsibility! He’s a busy boy! We are very pleased to have our own building to continue training in as well.
Lucy earned first place in her first trial in Kalamazoo. She did well in her first try in the ring in the subnovice class. We plan on competing more in the Novice class later this year. Lucy is also working as an occasional assistant in our training sessions.
We’ve Moved! We now have a property in Twin Lake. We are currently offering limited consults and private obedience training for dogs in West Michigan in our new building while we get it ready for classes. Keep watch on our “New” page for updates!
Karen attended the Bedrock Essentials 4-Day Training School, including the “Nuts & Bolts” seminar in Chicago last year. This was a wonderful professional educational opportunity, and part of our efforts to maintain a high level of knowledge and experience in our services. She and Rocky returned with plenty of new ideas and skills to share with our students. These new skills have improved our personal and public dog training experiences in the last year.
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