 Sue has been involved in dog training since 2001 when she purchased her first Hungarian Vizsla. She has owned and loved dogs since a child but this was the first time that she took an active role in training. Sue has trained in obedience, field, rally, flyball, and agility. Training specifically in agility since 2002, it soon became her #1 dog sport. Her background includes a degree in Human Resource Management, and she also works as an HR Director at UB’s Graduate School of Education. She has two dogs: Molson, 8 years old and Blaze, 14 months old, both Hungarian Vizslas.
Molson, MACH2 Onpoint’sTuff Guy, C-ATCH has taught Sue many lessons in patience, motivation, and drive, and has blossomed into a quick, accurate, and driven partner in spite of very humble beginnings. It took a while for this bird dog to love agility but once he did, they moved very quickly into the higher levels of competition. Molson and Sue have competed in AKC, CPE, USDAA, and NADAC events. Since competing in AKC’s Excellent B classes, Molson and Sue have qualified every year for the AKC Agility Nationals and the AKC Agility Invitationals where the top five dogs in each breed are invited. Molson was a finalist at the 2005 CPE Nationals where he went high in standard Level 4, 24” division. In 2006 they attended the very first AKC Agility Invitational in Long Beach CA. and they were named the #1 Vizsla in the country by the Vizsla Club of America National Breed Club.
Blaze, Red Oak’s Chariot of Fire, is the new kid on the block and has been in training since he was a little red bundle of joy. Sue spent most of his early days shaping tricks with the clicker, building his toy and food drive as well as building a strong bond with him. Most recently Sue and Blaze have started training for conformation events which is proving to be quite a challenge for Sue; they are having fun nonetheless.
Sue has spent hundreds of hours learning from the best in dog training and dog agility. She has traveled up and down the East Coast, learning the very latest in handling, dog training, and jumping techniques. Sue has attended numerous seminars with a variety of elite instructors such has Jane Simmons-Moake, Donna Rohaus, Leslie Renaud, Linda Mecklenburg, Christine Frank, Carrie Jones, Susan Garrett, and Nancy Gyes. She has the unique ability to absorb information and pass it along to her students in a friendly, motivational way. Sue believes agility dogs need to be well rounded and balanced so she chooses the seminars she attends based on methodologies that will create that balance such as jumping skills, distance training, motivation, dealing with fear issues, and those dogs who either stress up or stress down, basically always looking to add to her toolbox so that students come away with an agility partner who has a good balance between speed, control, and motivation.
Sue uses only motivational techniques. Utilizing food reward and increasing play drive is her main objective in training. The main focus of her classes will be efficient handling, training and an emphasis on speed with safety and positive performance - all while having “fun” with your dog.
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