Where we train you to train your dog in a positive way!
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Where we train you to train your dog in a positive way!
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The Mad City instructors are professionals in their fields. Everyone is experienced in positive reinforcement training methods. All staff members have good observation skills with the dogs and strong communication skills with the people. The instructors will not teach the student’s dogs, but will teach the students how to train their dogs. We encourage our staff to stay current in their field by attending seminars, workshops, showing their
own dogs, and attending annual APDT conferences. It is the sharing of
information, experiences, and techniques among our staff that has created the
unique and successful Mad City Dog Training programs.
Activities: Obedience, Schutzhund, Flyball, Agility, Conformation, Tracking I have been training dogs since 1994 and began working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training in March 2001. I adopted Gypsy in 1994 and I got her into obedience training because she was naughty. I got hooked and decided to compete. I titled Gypsy in UKC obedience and in Flyball and have been competing every since. Gypsy passed away in June 2008 at 15 years old. In 2000, I got Jamie Lee. Jamie had incredible drive and we found our niche in Flyball and Schutzhund. Jamie Lee has gone on to be the # 1 Flyball German Shepherd in the North America. In 2002, I got my first Border Collie, Sprocket. I can never say enough about Sprocket. The main thing is he fulfilled my passion for competitive obedience. We have reached top levels in UKC and AKC Obedience, earning his GOCH (Grand Obedience Champion), UDX and is AKC OTCH pointed. In 2004 I got my lug nut, Ruckus. Ruckus is forever a puppy at heart, my own big teddy bear and is an awesome Flyball dog. In 2005 I got Razzy. She is a great Agility and Flyball dog. Razzy is currently working hard in Agility, Flyball and Schutzhund. In 2006 I got Steve McQueen. My newest obedience prospect. He has already earned his UKC Breed Championship, his UKC CD and his AKC CD with high score of 198 1/2. We are also working toward his AKC Breed Championship. Steve has a ton of drive and is such a joy to train. In March 2008, Pete was born. He is Razzy's son. A solid black German Shepherd who I will train in Schutzhund. I have a fondness for German Shepherds and Border Collies so I look for dogs in those 2 breeds who will be capable of competing in dog sports as well as make good family pets. I have wonderful dogs who have taken competing to a whole new level for me. All of my dogs are different and I learn from them in many ways. I learn from them in the way I train as well as in my daily doggy skills. Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my dogs, whether it be in training, hiking in the woods, swimming at the lake, throwing balls or just snuggling by the TV.
Dogs Names:
Rex Robert and Ivy Bean Activities: Obedience, Agility, Frisbee (Rex took 10th at a national competition in ’07), and Bike-jorring. My dogs and I have been students at MCDT for about a year, and I joined the training staff in June of ’08 as an apprentice. I have had a few influential dogs in my life – both mine and those of friends. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that I had dogs of my own and began training. I fell for herding dogs after adopting a collie mix. When she passed away, I adopted a homeless Australian Cattle Dog (red or blue heeler). I thought that all herding dogs would have similar temperaments! Was I wrong! After surviving the first few weeks with Rex (and it was close a few times…I nearly returned him to the shelter), we found common ground. He had a rough life in his first home, so has some behaviors that require careful managing. I have learned a great deal of patience and acceptance with him, as well as the great commitment required in having this breed of dog. Cattle dogs are not for the casual dog owner! Rex would love nothing more than to retrieve a ball or Frisbee all day long. He is fast and incredibly athletic, despite having one bad leg (broken in his first home). Not content to leave well enough alone, I adopted my second cattle dog in February of 07. Ivy Bean came from a shelter in Iowa. She was 12 weeks old. After recovering from pneumonia and subcutaneous emphysema, she developed into a very naughty, pudgy puppy. Now, at a year and half old, she is still a very naughty, pudgy girl. She loves agility, fetching balls and Frisbees, and she swims like a fish. My dogs keep me active and always thinking and I work hard to do the same for them!
Activities: Agility, herding, obedience, tricks, hanging out and cuddling I have been training with my dogs for six years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for three years. My dogs have taught me so much and brought so much joy into my life it’s hard to mention just a few examples. My first agility dog, Cody, besides being my heart and soul, has taught me one of the most important lessons in life. He has taught me to see that every dog and person has limitations, gifts, and challenges. We need to recognize these in our dogs (and ourselves) and work to make them the best they can be – not just what we want them to be. Though he loves doing agility, obedience, tricks – you name it, Cody stresses at trials and no matter how much I want him to be an active competitor, he’s not happy in that situation. Once I recognized this we both became happier – and now he is blossoming into the very best dog he can be – happy to work with me at home, be the best lap dog in the world, and even having fun running the occasional jumpers or tunnelers runs at small trials. And then there’s Cutter – the dog who loves to trial, loves to work no matter where we are, and a true partner in every sense of the word. He is my pushy, playful, hard working, and goofy boy who brings me joy constantly. He is the consummate Aussie – able to work difficult sheep one minute and gently kiss a child the next, to sleep in my lap sweet and quiet, but ready to go to work the minute I say “let’s go”. He has taught me about true teamwork and we keep getting better every day!
Dogs Names: Abbigail Rose VI "Abby" – black Lab; Elizabeth Clare "Lizzy" – yellow Lab; Jacob Henry "Jacob" – chocolate Lab Activities: The four of us enjoy hide-and-go-seek,
hiking, and road trips. Abby and I obsess on agility runs and retrieving. Jacob
loves long distance swimming (I watch) and is well on his way to becoming a
superb agility teammate. Lizzy is still finding her niche. She humors me with
Rally, but her real forte seems to be tracking geckos. During the past 4 years, one or more of my dogs and I have trained in agility (beginning-advanced), obedience (basic-competitive-Rally), and flyball classes (and private lessons) at Mad City. I have been working as a trainer at Mad City for one year. I can’t remember a time without a Lab. Currently I have an amazing, challenging, delightful pack of three; 3 Labs with very different temperaments, personalities, and backgrounds. Each has enriched and redirected my life in major ways I never could have imagined. Abby arrived as a puppy in 1997. From day one, she demonstrated an amazing drive to work with people with special needs and an uncanny ability to empathize with them. For the past 8 years, we’ve been doing animal assisted therapy at Meriter Hospital as a Delta Society Pet PartnersÒ team. A few years ago, thinking Abby needed a relaxing outlet from therapy work, I enrolled her in an agility course. She turned into a ‘wild woman’! NADAC tunnels (any tunnels) are her favorite. Beautiful, sweet Lizzy came from L.E.A.R.N. at age 2 in 2002. For too long, we spent our days with animal behaviorists and our nights with demons and nightmares. Abby and Lizzy bonded quickly, and a little of the best and worst of each has worn off on the other. I’m so proud of Lizzy! She recently earned her CGC, is learning Rally and doing some beginning tracking. Jacob was about 9 months old when he came from L.E.A.R.N. in 2005. He’s a natural at agility and the smartest of the 3; thankfully, Abby and Lizzy (sometimes) have enough sense not to be taken in by his antics. Jacob doesn’t walk – he swaggers and struts. He’s a clown, obnoxious and lovable at the same time. Since Jacob arrived, the energy level in our home has risen considerably. I love it when 8 pound, kitty Emma tells him to “knock it off”, and he finally squeezes in between Abby and Lizzy on the bed and falls asleep.
Dogs Names: Jumbo Jet "JJ"; Drumlin Sweet Liberty,
"Libby" Activities: JJ does agility with Ted, but I get to show him in UKC agility, and he does obedience and herding with me. Libby does agility and obedience. I have been training with my dogs for four years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for three years. I’ve always loved herding group dogs, and particularly Shelties. JJ and Libby are smart, easy to train dogs that love to work and that makes ‘training’ a blast. JJ is a lovable dufus, and Libby is a sweet princess and they both keep me laughing and having a good time no matter what we do. I look forward to many more years of running fast in agility and thinking hard, (but not TOO hard), in obedience with them. Sprocket came to me as an agility partner through my good friend and trainer, Melinda Clark, who owns him. She saw how much I loved agility and knew Sprock did too, so she asked me to start working and running him in agility in October of 2005. Sprocket has taught me plenty—most importantly to NOT get in his way on a course, or I’ll be run over in the process.
Dogs Names: McKenzie & Quicksilver Eye For A Crime "Spy" Activities: Flyball, Agility, Herding, chasing tennis balls and frisbees, swimming, and getting dirty at the farm I have been training with my dogs for 4 years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for 3 years. I had dogs while I was growing up but never really got to be very involved in their training. My husband and I got McKenzie from a Border Collie rescue in the spring of 2003. I started doing agility with her and soon we were hooked. McKenzie was a very shy dog and agility really helped her gain confidence. Shortly after that I started teaching at Mad City. We got Spy in the fall of 2005. I started sheep herding once we got Spy - never in a million years did I think I would be doing sheep herding with my dog! My dogs have taught me to have patience and they have really kept me going through some rough times. They are both very funny and I don't think a day goes by that they don't do something that cracks me up! I love being able to teach people to do new things with their dogs. I think it really helps make a great connection between an owner and a their dog (or is the dog and the person they own?) when they have an activity they do together.
Dogs Names: Stonedog Cousteau "Cousteau" & Onesti She's HavanA Ball "Havana" Activities: Flyball, Obedience, Agility, Rally, Confirmation, Herding I have been training with my dogs for seven years and working as a trainer Mad City Dog Training for five years. Cousteau is not only the first dog I've owned as an adult, but also my wedding gift to my husband. Why I'm the one who does all of the training and exercising, and most of the feeding and grooming is beyond me! We did pretty much everything wrong in choosing him, such as doing no research or preparation, and really suffered for it in the first year we were together. I finally learned to embrace positive training and found out that I really enjoy it. In fact, if Cousteau hadn't been the devil's spawn, I wouldn't have decided to quit my job as a teacher and do what I really love, which is teaching obedience and starting a dog walking business. I really owe much of my current (and much happier!) life to him. Havana was a much more carefully planned addition. I wanted a dog who had more of a will to work and compete than Cousteau does, but most importantly, I needed a dog who was temperamentally sound and physically healthy. She has fit into our family beautifully and is everything I could want in a dog...except for the barking, but a perfect dog wouldn't be able to teach me as much!
 Dogs Names: Lazers Silver Buckles CGC aka Buckles: Shelti & Shadowdance Mischief Maker CGC aka Loki: Aussie Activities: Agility, herding and lots of games of ball I have been training with my dogs for 8 years and working at Mad City Dog Training for two years. Having the pleasure of being owned by dogs most of my life, the one lesson they have taught me is that it is the simple things in life that bring the most reward.
Activities: Agility, Molly is a certified Therapy Dog, we plan on competing with Wylee and Molly in Obedience We had dogs as kids and grew up with American Cocker Spaniels. We have been training our own dogs for about 25 years. We have been working as trainers at Mad City Dog Training for one year. We adopted Dixie at 7 months of age, little did we know she was going to be a special needs girl. The breeder was going to show her in conformation but because she was so timid it was decided she couldn’t handle the ring. She was basically sheltered for the initial period of her life so she was pretty much afraid of everything when we brought her home. She also has leash aggression which she has made considerable improvement with. This was totally new to us and we spent a lot of time with an animal behaviorist. After numerous hours and continuous work on re-conditioning she can enjoy going to the park and doing things she couldn’t do before. Of all the dogs we have owned in our lifetime Dixie has taught us the most about animal behavior. In 2000 we adopted Molly, she is a certified Therapy Dog and an overall great companion. In 2002 along came Sadie, she was adopted by our sister however she was unable to keep her so she came into our pack. Sadie actively competes in agility and is an all around great dog. Last but certainly not least is Mr Wylee. Wylee is training in Obedience and Agility and we would like to eventually compete with him in both sports.
Dogs Names: Diester Vom Ostfriesland & Boomer Vom Haus Behm Activities: Agility, Obedience, flyball, confirmation (dapple in Schutzhund I have been training with my own dogs for 22 years and have been working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for 8 years. I began training dogs when I was 13 years old. My parents never let me have a dog. but was fortunate to have a family friend, Sue Bruce (in loving memory) who would take me to the Fond du Lac Kennel club where I became active in sweeping, rolling mats and poop clean up. As time went on, people started asking me or allowing me to handle their dogs (I am sure it was to get me to shut up) and I started taking classes with their dogs. I was hooked. I started volunteering at the local vet (again thanks to Sue) and the local humane society. I fell in love with Tailer, a very, very, shy, mixed breed, who was going to be euthanized, hence with my Dad’s permission and my Mom not knowing, I brought her home. It is her I give credit to teaching me how to be a positive dog trainer, one who would not allow old school correction training methods. As time went on I was able to get the dog of my dreams, a German Shepherd Dog named Diester – who has taught me so much about working dogs, he brought me into the world of search and rescue, agility, and a life of unconditional love. It is my honor to have Boomer, a German Shepherd Dog present in my family – he reminds me every day to not take life to seriously, laugh a little, drink a lot, and don’t worry about spilling. He will be a partner in crime for a long to come, excelling in anything he allows us to participate in, agility, obedience, flyball or whatever else we decide to tackle.
Dogs Names: Brett - Brittany & Reggie (deceased) - Lab Activities: Brett has participated in Flyball, Agility, and Competition Obedience. He also is a pheasant hunting dog. I have been training with my dogs for six years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for 3 1/2 years. My dad bought Brett almost 5 years ago as a hunting dog. As he got to be around 3 years old, I started borrowing him and taking him to classes. He has been in regular obedience classes, flyball, agility, and competition obedience classes. Brett alternates from being a farm/hunting dog out at my parents to a house dog with me at my home. I took him with me to a Clicker Expo and that’s where our training really took off. He is awesome at shaping with the clicker. I have been able to teach him so many things because of his ability to learn from the clicker and his drive to get the “click”. I have learned a lot about the tiny steps in clicker training because of the way I can “see” him think about what it is that I want from him. Along with being a dog trainer, I am also a Certified Veterinary Technician and a former Doggy Daycare employee. Through both of those jobs, I am able to pull from my knowledge and experience to help the students in my classes and to be a better trainer. Not to mention the lessons in patience and humility Brett teaches me every time we work!
Dogs Names: Birch Hollow’s Amazing Grace “Gracie”, Harley, Lilac Hills Renaissance Heart “Rennie” Activities: Gracie – Herding, Harley – TV watching! - Harley is a rescue boy who is shy and prefers to hang at home. Rennie – Conformation, Obedience, Herding. I have been training with my own dogs for about 17 years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for 7 years. I got into formal dog training back in 1990 with the addition of “Frenzy” to my family. She was a 5 month old “wild child” Akita/Lab mix. She was the naughtiest dog that has ever walked the face of the earth! After taking her to a local behaviorist and being told it was me, not her, I became fascinated with learning more about canine behavior. Frenzy taught me so much… We had a roller coaster relationship trying to establish that I was truly the leader of our pack. But all the lessons I learned along the way have made it possible for me to have some amazing K9 companions in my life. I lost Frenzy to cancer in 2000. I will never forget her, because if it wasn’t for her, I would not have the passion I now have for dog training and canine behavior.
Activities: Obedience, Tracking, and Flyball I have been training with my dogs for two years and working as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training for two years. Johnson was my first dog, a Basset/Lab mix we got from a shelter, not looking for anything but a great pet. I started working in the Doggy Daycare just because I wanted to work with dogs. As I was exposed to training I got interested and started taking more and more classes. Now I’m teaching. Johnson is half Basset and gets distracted by his nose in Obedience and Flyball, but he’s a great tracker! We rescued Max as an answer to my desire to have a dog that’s a little harder working and more athletic than a Basset. He’s still very young, but he shows a ton of potential in Obedience and I’m really looking forward to seeing where we’ll go with that. I just think its fun to work with them and to teach them, and I try to bring that to my classes.
Dogs Names: Henry Ham – “Henry” – Miniature Schnauzer & Posey Canyon Wins By A Nose – “Derby” – Parson Russell Terrier Activities: Agility, Flyball, Obedience, we tried Earthdog – that was highly entertaining. Chase A LOT of tennis balls, take a lot of walks/hikes Sara has been training with her own dogs for 7 years and training at Mad City Dog Training for 5 years. After a very bad dog bite in high school, I stayed away from dogs for a long time. In 2000, I decided I was ready to try dogs again and got Henry, my Miniature Schnauzer. I never planned to do much more than take a few obedience classes, but my instructors kept saying, “He’s catching on really fast, you should take another class.” Pretty soon we were taking more and more classes and started to compete in agility and then I was hooked!! Starting as a trainer at Mad City Dog Training followed soon after that. After having such a great experience with Henry, I just had to add another dog to the pack and in 2005 got Derby. Dog training allows you to develop such a great relationship with your dog and working together as a team is a very rewarding experience. There’s nothing better than when I am teaching Henry or Derby a new behavior or skill and I see that light go on in their heads when it all comes together. It’s a great feeling to help students have that same experience with their own dogs.
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Contact Information: Mad City Dog Training
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Dogs
Names: Blitzen’s Vanity Fair “Jamie Lee”, Blitzen’s
Sprocket To Me “Sprocket”, Earnhart Raising A Ruckus “Ruckus”, Brazen vom haus
Behm “Razzy”, Brackenhill Cooler Than Ewe “Steve McQueen”, Altpeter vom Gildaf
"Pete"
Dogs
Names: Istari’s Fourmile Ruff Cut “Cutter”, Black Tri Australian
Shepherd & Red Merle Australian Shepherd
& 
Dogs
Names: Moody’s Dixieland Jazz, “Dixie” American Cocker Spaniel, Harvestime’s
Mischevious Molly “Molly” Golden Retriever, Harvestime’s What’s One More “
Sadie” Golden Retriever, Winterhaven’s Lagniappe “Wylee” Cavalier King Charles
Spaniel
Dogs
Names: Johnson & Max
