296 E. Brock St., Thunder Bay, ON Canada P7E 4H4

K-9 Studio is very proud of our instructors, and for a small town in Northern Ontario, we are busting at the seams with experience!!!

They are very active in many dog activities, and we all work towards positive, pet friendly training. We want our dogs to "think" and with our training program, we nurture this behaviour. Combining the number of years our instructors have been instructing, easily adds up to a couple hundred years of training experience, and many centuries of dog ownership!

Each instructor has been selectively chosen for her ability to work with people and their dogs - each has varied areas of expertise, and we all share our experience with each other. K-9's instructors attend seminars  and workshops around the world, broadening their knowledge base and are constantly working at updating our training program with new fun, effective and motivational methods.

Here is a brief introduction to our knowledgeable and experienced instructors. The "for more information"  click here, provides more detail into the history of our instructors.

Owner / Operator 

• began apprenticing to instruct at K-9 Studio in 1989. 

• actively trialing Cassie towards her Obedience Trial Championship title.

• has successfully competed with her German Shepherds in the show, obedience and schutzhund ring, who have had multiple obedience titles, championship titles, with multi group wins.

• accomplished German Shepherd breeder under the prefix Vonmatris.

• professionally shows dogs, winning several Best in Shows. 

• Canadian Kennel Club Rally Obedience judge.

For more information about Trish, click here.

Level 1 & Level 2, Advanced Novice, Trial Ready Novice, Open Instructor  

• began instructing at K-9 Studio in 1991. 

• has been very active in several venues with her dogs, and very successful at it.

• actively trialing Trace in obedience, rally, herding, tracking & schutzhund.

For More information about Marly, click here.

Puppy Kindergarten, Beginners, Whiz, Agility, Headstart Instructor  

• began training for K-9 Studio in 1985.

• bred Shetland Sheepdogs and Papillons under the kennel name Stryver from 1977 until 2003.

• currently has 2 Papillons, a Belgian Malinois, and an Irish Wolfhound.

• has competed in conformation, earning multiple group placings, Best in Show, and top conformation Papillon in Canada with a home bred dog.

• has trained her dogs for and won - obedience titles, agility titles, rally-o titles, tracking titles, the start of herding titles and is looking forward to earning lure coursing titles.

• was instrumental in introducing the use of operant conditioning (“clicker training”) to dog people in Thunder Bay, to achieve better training results and to improve relationships with their dogs. 

• organized Thunder Bay's introduction to Rally O with the president of CARO, & brought the first Rally-O trials to Thunder Bay. Carolyn is the chief organizer of our Rally trials held twice a year, often with workshops included to educate our students, but our out of town judges.

• one of the leading organizers and workers in our local agility events.

• is proud of the number of Humane Society dogs that have been placed because of their attendance in her Head Start classes.

We thank Carolyn for her numerous hours of patience and dedication she has exhibited over the years, for the betterment of dogs & their education in our city.

Puppy Kindergarten, Beginners, Whiz, Beginner Novice, Agility, Rally O Instructor  

• began training her first German Shepherd Logan, with K-9 Studio in 1989, and earned his Obedience Trial Championship by the age of 3 years old, and was one of the first agility titled dogs in Thunder Bay.

• has been very active in dog sports, such as flyball, agility, rally o, and freestyle.

• has trained dogs obtained later in their life, and earned titles.

• always learning, and full of energy, Diane is always ready to get up and go, which she exhibits in her finesse at training & teaching. 

For more information about Diane, click here.

All levels of obedience Instructor  

• began instructing at K-9 Studio in the mid 1990s.

• active in obedience, conformation (well Trish shows her dogs), agility, field training to name a few.

• CKC Obedience and Rally O judge.

• Hunt test and Working Certificate judge.

• employed by Lakehead University as a professor in Kinesiology.

• breeder of multi titled Flat-coated Retrievers.

• organizes many dog events nationally and locally.

For more information about Joey, click here.

Puppy Kindergarten & Beginners Instructor  

• began training her own dogs at K-9 Studio in 1996.

• began teaching in 2004.

• currently competing in conformation with Miss Marple, Malone & Sprout, and training obedience/rally with Miss Marple, Maysie & Mokee, and tracking with Miss Marple.

• has done alot of agility, but has since retired Mokee and Maysie, and has also participated in tracking.

• active in Dachshund Rescue.

• has a major in Psychology, and finds it comes in handy everyday in working with dogs and people.

• participates in any seminars / workshops hosted by K-9 Studio.

• a very conscientious breeder of miniature smooth dachshunds under the prefix Nomistakin.

For more information about Serena, click here.

• rode & trained pleasure horses for many years.

• always had dogs, but began training her dogs with K-9 Studio in the 1980s.

• has bred over 23 breed champion collies (rough & smooth) under the kennel prefix Glenwater, including a home bred Best in Show winner.

• has achieved an Obedience Trial Championship on one of her collies, and has earned many obedience titles on her collies & a sheltie, with multiple class placements and High in Trials.

• actively working her dogs in herding.

• constantly pursuing and learning more about dogs, training & responsible dog breeding.

• recently retired from professional grooming, she was and still is considered the best groomer in Thunder Bay, particularly on show dogs.

• exclusive handler of Ivan, achieving a championship on one of the most difficult dogs ever shown... heck, to train to walk on a leash!!!! (he's to the left - isn't he cute!!!!)

For more information about Arletta, click here.

Puppy Kindergarten & Beginners Instructor  

• began instructing at K-9 Studio in 2007

• a recognized Canadian Kennel Club Rally Obedience judge.

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• For more information about Susan, click here.

Advanced Novice Instructor  

• Misty, her first dog back in 1968, was the first tracking titled dog in the Thunder Bay area.

• has earned 3 Obedience Trial Champions plus multiple other titles.

• has first hand experience working with difficult dogs who lack confidence or have too much!

• actively competing in agility and Rally O.

• attends workshops and seminars.

For more information about Pat, click here.

Agility Instructor  

• Michelle began training her first dog, a Shetland Sheepdog named Jazz at K-9 Studio in 2003. Through alot of hard work in 2004, and dedication of the instructors at K-9, they were ready to compete in their fiirst agility trial in 2005, where they earned their first NADAC title!
• started working her second Sheltie Halo, in May 2007 at K-9 Studio, and earned two qualifying rounds towards her first title in 2008. In May of 2008, Michelle began apprenticing with the beginner agility instructors, and quickly learned that training others to train their dogs in agility, was a passion she thoroughly enjoyed. She enjoys every minute she spends working with her student dog/handler teams.
• her and her dogs compete in 4 trials per year and have numerous NADAC titles  at the Novice, Open and Elite levels.

Agility Instructor  

Previous Owner & Trainer in Residence

• since 1974, active in training her own dogs in competitive obedience, tracking, agility, flyball, rally o, conformation & for pleasure, pet therapy & plain ole couch dawg.

• has earned many titles in all of the above, High in Trials, Best in Shows, Best Puppy in Shows, Award of Merits, High in Class, and class placements, often being the first in Thunder Bay for many, and breed specifically, the first in Canada or North America for some.

• experience with working both small (pekingese who are not by any means, born obedient) & large dogs.

• graduate of the Ontario College of Art. Finds dogs a true inspiration with her creativity.

• appreciates her dogs more than ever in their assistance in her continuing recovery from a near fatal encounter with a moose in 2002.

• has been active in Belgian Tervuren rescue and Pekingese.

• meet her other dogs at http://www.k-9studio.com/illions/index.html

For more information about Linda, click here.

To read an article written about her recovery, click here.