CODAC annually provides every one of our coaches with personal, hands on, coaches training by Kathy Keats (a well known trainer of agility instructors).
Kathy brings a wealth of information on coaching strategies and problem solving solutions and says "when dealing with people who are coaching, there are so many questions that come up." Kathy is able to provide CODAC's coaches with answers and instruct them on the best and current methods of dealing with dogs and progressions to learning. As an agility team world competitor, Kathy knows what methods and strategies produce the best results for both recreational and competitive agility enthusiasts.
All of CODAC's coaches are able to draw from the best materials available, bring their own individual passions to our member students, and have a solid faculty for camaraderie. Together, CODAC coaches provide good solid training for all levels of agility.
Barb grew up on a farm with Border Collies all around, and she worked with her dogs on a small level. At the time, she did not know anything about the dog sport called Agility. The sport was introduced to her when she saw a demonstration at a local SPCA fundraising event.
Barb has been a member of CODAC since 2000 and has been a CODAC coach since 2007. At the time she was introduced to Agility, she did not have a dog of her own, so she borrowed a Standard Schnauzer named Murphy from some friends. From that day on, Barb was hooked on Agility!
Murphy had to retire at an early age due to injury. Then along came Pepper, and Australian Cattle Dog. Barb worked with Pepper until her retirement in 2007 at the age of ten.
Now Barb is without an Agility dog, but she loves Agility so much that she still coaches our potential members and new members in classes. When Barb does get her next dog, she'll be "gung-ho" to start training and competing again as soon as possible!
I have been active in the sport of agility since 2001, working with five different dogs. My first agility dogs were three Pembroke Welsh Corgis who earned a wide variety of agility titles in CKC, AAC, and NADAC over the course of their agility careers. I got into agility to help socialize one of my Corgis and absolutely fell in love with the sport. It creates such a positive bond between a handler and their dog - I knew I was hooked. I also earned titles in obedience, rally, conformation, therapy dog, and tracking with my Corgis.
My current agility partners are Emma, my Black Labrador Retriever and Gabby, my one-year old Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Working with these high drive and crazy fast dogs in agility is an amazing adventure that we love. When not doing agility we participate in nosework, tracking, obedience, rally, puller, musical freestyle, disc dogs, dock dogs, retrieving and trick training. Emma has earned an impressive 83 titles in the last six years of "playing" these sports together and Gabby has 11 titles already in her young career.
I have attended numerous dog sport and agility workshops over the last 18 years to help improve my skills as a coach and dog sport enthusiast. I am also a C-WAGS Nosework and North American Diving Dogs judge. CODAC is an incredible agility club that always keeps the best interests of the dog and dog owner in mind with all of their activities and classes. I am pleased to be part of the CODAC coaching team.
I entered my first agility trial in 2002 with my standard poodle. I've been hooked on dog sports ever since. I've competed in agility, rally obedience and tracking, and have taken my standard and miniature poodles to titles in all three sports. I have added retriever training to the mix, so we're a busy pack of poodles!
I have been fortunate to train intensively in agility with Stacy Winkler of Keen Performance Dogs in Vista, California, and I continue to expand my knowledge of all things dog with online courses and in-person training whenever possible. I compete in Canada in AAC, CKC and CARO events, and have competed in the US in USDAA and AKC agility events.
There's nothing like bringing a new dog into the sport to learn the value of building solid foundation skills. I am currently teaching starters through masters level classes as well as a foundation handling class called Alphabet Drills for CODAC.
I began training with CODAC in 2000, not long after the club's inception. My amazing Shetland Sheepdog/American Eskimo cross, Picasso, has been a pleasure to train and trial with. At his first AAC Regionals in 2003, he placed 6th on the Podium and won the "Best Starter Dog" award. We were invited to compete on the AAC Invitational Team in 2006, and he also placed 4th on the podium at the AAC Regionals that year. In 2010, he placed 2nd on the podium at the AAC Regionals, and 7th on the podium at the AAC Nationals in Spruce Meadows, Calgary. He was the first dog at CODAC to achieve his ATChC , and one of only 2 CODAC dogs who have achieved the AAC Silver Lifetime Achievement award.
My new guy, Morocco, is a merle Shetland Sheepdog from California. He's a lot of fun and a quick learner. I'm proud to say that he earned his MADC in 2010 (after only a year and a half of trialling) and his ATChC in March 2011.
In the past ten years of training in agility, I've attended many seminars - Guy Blancke, Barb Davis, Kim Collins, Terry Simons, Susan Garrett, Justine Davenport, Kathy Keats. As a coach, I really believe in keeping up to date with the current teaching methods and concepts. Agility training is constantly being improved and updated, so it can be a challenge to stay current.
I love to see my students "getting" the concepts too. It's very rewarding to see them beginning to form a team bond with their dog as they both learn to communicate with each other. To me, that's the best part of agility - establishing the handler/dog bond. When it's all in sync out there on the course, there's no better feeling...and I want all my students to experience it!
I have only recently come to the "dog world" after conquering my lifelong fear of dogs when I acquired my first dog, a wonderful border collie/lab mix named Cody.
I embraced the challenges of training Cody in Obedience, Agility and Rally-O. Cody has also attained the Canada Good Neighbour and Visiting Therapy Dog certifications, has earned both his Starters and Advanced Agility titles, and is presently competing at the Masters level. I am now training my second dog, a 1-1/2 year old border collie named Chloe in the fundamentals of Agility and hope to compete with her as well.
I have been coaching the Beginners Foundations of Agility for 3 years and very much enjoy watching the dogs as they progress through the exercises and gain confidence. I continue to upgrade my coaching skills/training knowledge by attending many Agility clinics and seminars, and enjoy the rewards of sharing this information with other handlers and their dogs.
Lenore is a past president of CODAC and one of the founding members. She enjoys working with people and dogs and thrives on teaching the sport of agility. She loves to train individuals who are passionate about agility and who are willing to spend some extra training time with their dogs.
Lenore has attended numerous seminars given by world renowned agility competitors and instructors such as Susan Garrett, Greg Derrett, Susan Salo, Barb Davis, Guy Blanche, Terry Simons, Theresa Rector, Kathy Keats, Nancy Ouellette, and Mary Zacharatos. She has been a student of Kim Collins for many years and attends Kim's summer agility camp every year. As well she has attended seminars on clicker training and operant conditioning by Sue Ailsby, and on aggressive dogs by Monique Anstee. She is constantly upgrading her teaching skills and her own handling. Most recently she attended a seminar given by Dr. Sophia Yin from California. She is an animal behaviourist who specializes in many areas such as how animals learn, how they interact and how we as people can learn to become better partners with our dogs by being able to read their body language.
Over the past 12 years that Lenore has been teaching and competing in agility she has run several different dogs (mixed breeds, Rottweiler, Australian Cattle Dog, and Border Collies) - those with both high and low motivation so she understands the intricacies of handling both types of dogs. She has achieved numerous titles with her dogs - the most current being Jordie, her 9 year old border collie who has his MADC and ATCH and Bronze Award of Merit. She has competed in the BC Regionals for the past several years and qualified to go to the Nationals every year.
Lenore has been doing Dartfish video feedback classes on dog agility skills for students. This helps students see themselves while they are running sequences and understand how their body movements affect where the dog goes.
For those who want extra help with any issue or just want to improve their handling skills or their dog's independent obstacle performance, Lenore offers private and semi-private lessons at the Club.
Lenore organizes the CODAC demonstrations. She believes it is an important part of a dog's training to be exposed to crowds of people and all sorts of distractions before being introduced to trialing. CODAC has done demos for the Okanagan Sun, the Kelowna Riding Club, the SPCA, the City of Kelowna, the RCMP Musical Ride and the Interior Provincial Exhibition.
Overall her life is currently centred around agility!
Lorne has been involved in the dog sport of agility since 2001. First with Brandy, a yellow Lab cross; then with Jessie, a Rottweiler. Jessie achieved titles to the advanced level. After Jessie came Jock, a very fast Border Collie.
Unfortunately, Jock had to retire at 7 years old due to a bone spur in his back. He achieved titles to the Masters Level including Steeplechase. Currently Lorne is running a very fast Border Collie, Lacey, at Masters level while starting Cole, another Border Collie puppy.
Through the years Lorne has attended many training seminars as well as Agility Training Camps. Some of the agility seminar presenters include Barb Davis, Susan Salo, Guy Blanche, Terry Simons, Kim Collins, Susan Garrett, Greg Derrett, Justine Davenport, Theresa Rector, Mary Zacharatos and Kathy Keats. Lorne is also a student of Kim Collins Outreach program.
Lorne has been an instructor with CODAC since 2002 teaching all levels from puppy entry foundation classes through to Masters handling classes.
Lorne believes in teaching using the positive reinforcement principals, plus tailoring the exercises to suit both dog and handler within the Greg Derritt/Susan Garrett framework.
Roger is a student of agility and loves to keep abreast of the newer teaching and training techniques. He firmly believes consistency is the key to successful dog training and enjoys teaching the consistent handling system credited to Greg Derrett.
Roger has attended seminars from such skilled agility handlers and teachers as Susan Garrett, Barb Davis, Guy Blanche, Terry Simons, Greg Derrett, Kim Collins, Mary Zacharatos, Justine Davenport and Kathy Keats. He's also studied clicker training with Sue Ailsby.
Roger, an AAC & UKI agility judge, specializes in teaching handling classes for the club and is currently spearheading the training that CODAC is doing through video analysis. CODAC has invested in the latest sports video analysis software (Dartfish) in an effort to take advanced agility training to a new level.
Roger's current working partner is a 4 year old Berger des Pyrenees named Bandit, who is just a bundle of energy. Bandit is coming along nicely with his trialing career, having qualified for Nationals in 2012 and finishing 11th in the very competitive 16" Regular class.
My love and passion for agility go way back. I started with CODAC as a Junior Handler with my childhood Golden Retriever "Honey". I grew up but my love of dog agility and dog training never changed.
I began coaching Agility in Grande Prairie and relocated to the Okanagan Valley in September of 2009. I rejoined CODAC's training team shortly afterwards and my journey has never stopped.
I am currently training & trialing with 3 dogs. (Meeko, Rylee & Rio) I compete locally, regionally and nationally and have finished on the podium both regionally and nationally each time I've competed. I'm a big believer in continuing education through seminars, local classes and online classes. As of 2017 I expanded my agility passion and I began teaching seminars.
My philosophy for Agility is that it should be fun. If it isn't fun for you or for your dog, then there is something wrong. I coach my classes with that philosophy in mind. If you don't make Agility fun for the dog, you will end up with a demotivated dog. I also believe in spending time getting the basics trained right. Too often, people try to fly right by the basics or skip the foundation work, but I believe that in order to have a successful dog, you need to spend time working the basics. Oh... and REWARD YOUR DOG is the line most likely to be heard in my classes.
I look forward to meeting new students and dogs, and working with you as you develop that special Agility bond together.
C.O.D.A.C.
3345 Bulman Road
Kelowna, B.C.
V1X 7V1
(250) 765-1145 info@codac.ca