Louise Kuipers

Louise has had dogs all of her life and fell in love with Labrador Retrievers after her brother acquired one as a hunting dog when she was just a young girl. In 1992 she began raising, training and showing Labradors. She trains in obedience, show and field. Her dog, Willow, was 10th in the AKC All Breed rankings in 2004. She is currently training her dog, Moon, who obtained his UD (Utility Dog) title in October.  He finished the title in just 6 shows.  He is now training in Agility and will be competing in local trials this summer.  Louise is also training her new puppy Digger.  Follow his training progress on the Dog Club Blog on Live Journal. Two of her dogs are therapy dogs, actively working in the community.

Louise is the owner of The Dog Club. She is active in the Longs Peak Dog Training Club, Colorado Association of Dog Daycares, Larimer Animal People Partnership (a local animal therapy group), and The Fort Collins Dog Network (a local group of dog related businesses). Louise is a AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer—Knowledge Assessed).

Kathleen Holland, DVM

Agility classes at The Dog Club are given by Kathleen M. Holland, DVM

"My training philosophy is to provide a safe and positive atmosphere for handlers and their dogs. Toys and treats are encouraged with instruction provided on how to use these tools to obtain the desired results. Agility should be fun for both the dog and the handler, even the most rudimentary skills."

Kathleen has had amazing success in Agility competition with her Border Collie MACH ADCH Boy Named Sue HSAS, HSAX, HSBS, HSBI. Sue was a Steeplechase finalist in 2004 and a Grand Prix finalist in 2005 at the USDAA Nationals. Kathleen and Sue were also members of the USA team that competed at the European Open in Montechiari, Italy in 2007. Kathleen has also competed very successfully with MACH, ADCH Mel CD, HSAS, HXAS and Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Jones, AX, AXJ, MAD, CD, PT. Mel competed in both the USDAA Nationals and the AKC Nationals in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Mel is still competing in herding trials at the age of 12. Kathleen has experience in training both small and large dogs.

Before she began training dogs in agility, obedience and herding, Kathleen Holland was a professional horse trainer. After moving to Colorado to study veterinary medicine and receiving her DVM in 1995 Kathleen trained her Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Stuart, and earned a CD (obedience title) with him. After becoming interested in Agility, Kathleen trained Ben, also a PWC, who earned an agility title and a herding title before he was retired because of injuries.

Kathleen's Agility Training website can be seen at Get Over It Agility.

Kit Goodrich

Kit Goodrich has owned and trained dogs for 36 years. She started out in 4H when she was 8 years old. Her 4-H leaders were professional handlers and she became their assistant and kennel help when she was 13 years old. Currently she breeds and shows Welsh Springer Spaniels and Pembroke Welsh Corgis. She competes in conformation, obedience and rally. She professionally handles other breeds including Australian Shepherds, English Springer Spaniels, Golden Retrievers, and West Highland White Terriers among others. Her Welsh Springer, Gavin, finished 2006 as the #1 Welsh Springer All Breed and is currently in the top 10 in breed and all breed. He has received 2 Best in Shows and Best of Breed at Westminster in 2007. He has always been breeder-owner handled. Kit’s positive reinforcement techniques, with the use of treats and clicker training, make her a great addition to the training staff at The Dog Club.

Visit Rock Springs Kennel website where Kit helps provide All Breed Professional Dog Handling with her daughter Tina Secord.

Cheryl Kolus

Cheryl Kolus is currently a vet student at Colorado State University and is past president of the Behavior Club there. How animals learn and why they do what they do has long been of interest to her, even as an undergraduate studying wildlife biology, and now her goal is to become a board-certified veterinary behaviorist. Cheryl is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and has completed several courses and seminars relating to animal training and behavior, including a semester-long dog behavior class at CSU and an intensive week-long class at Purdue University. An avid fan of clicker training, she has used this fun method with not only dogs, but cats, horses and even chickens. But Cheryl realizes you don’t have to have a clicker to train effectively, and as a past volunteer for the Larimer Humane Society, she has helped others use positive reinforcement techniques for training and behavior modification.

Cheryl's four-legged kids include Jax, a golden retriever who has won local tricks contests for his performance of the Hokey Pokey, and Peanut, a cute geriatric cat whose tricks videos have been featured in two behavior-related national conference presentations.

Cheryl will be teaching our Good Puppy Classes.