LEERBURG - Key Persons
Andrew Ramsey is a former military working dog trainer with a life-long passion for interacting with canines. He has made it a personal goal to bring better training techniques implemented in other areas of dog training to the pet dog Nosework world.
Andrew Ramsey is a former military working dog trainer with a life-long passion for interacting with canines. His passion for dogs led him to the Military Working Dog Training Center at Lackland Air Force Base. He has trained military working dogs as a contractor for the Army and Air Force as well as an Air Force Civilian at the Military Working Dog Training Center.
Andrew has made it a personal goal to bring better training techniques implemented in other areas of dog training to the pet dog nosework world. He incorporates proper play skills to build drive and motivation, the exciting use of high value food to produce an interactive mini-event, the timing of a clicker or verbal bridge to precisely mark behavior and strategic reward delivery. He also believes in developing an efficient search pattern from the beginning and teaching a clearly defined final response. Andrew uses reward orientation to his benefit using a "Reward from Source" training system to create a Focused Response at Odor Source that is undeniably easy to read. All initial training is conducted on a series of dresser drawers arranged in a linear fashion that allows him to work the dog in a way that reinforces pattern, builds duration of the dog's willingness to hunt and also shapes a final response. Those familiar with operant conditioning and behaviorism will recognize the similarity between the RAMSEY Training Lab and a large Skinner Box. Andrew feels that since many of the pet dogs are sometimes lower in motivation that these training methods are that much more critical as opposed to the belief that these methods are solely for working dogs.
Early on in his journey of working with dogs, Andrew met someone whose gift with animals, clarity of explanation and patience with people literally changed his life in regards to human-animal interaction as well as human-human instruction. He strives to replicate that same experience for the people and their dogs that he works with in Nosework, knowing that just like our furry canine counterparts not all humans learn the same way or at the same rate. Because of this Andrew evaluates each dog and handler to discover the most efficient, effective and positive way to achieve success with them as a team.
With his love for dogs, Andrew rarely feels like his job is truly working and as a "confirmed" dog person, he will be the first to tell you that this is his way of life and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Ann is a professional dog trainer who has been competing in obedience ring and agility for decades. She is widely regarded for her skills as a trainer, but her true passion is sharing information and helping students excel. Her training philosophy focuses on positive reinforcement and building a strong relationship between the dog and the handler.
Carrie has been training dogs professionally for almost 20 years. She currently resides in Pinellas Park, FL with her husband where they operate their pet training business, The Doghouse, LLC, serving the greater St. Petersburg/Tampa area.
Chad Hunter has been a professional dog trainer since 2004. He has over 8 years experience in French Ring training, and has competed in over 70 trials.
In the early 2000s, Cindy Rhodes joined the Leerburg team. Cindy began training dogs when she was 13 and has bred Dobermans and Malinois under the kennel name Kaiserhaus since the late 80s. She has competed in AKC and CKC obedience and Schutzhund (IPO). In 1990, she competed in the USA Schutzhund III Nationals with a Doberman female she raised from a puppy. Her sports of choice now are Mondioring and Agility.
Cindy was also a professional dog groomer for 15 years and has raised and trained dogs of many different breeds. This experience has given Cindy a wealth of information on training and managing dogs of all breeds. If you are looking for free dog training advice from an expert trainer, you can view Leerburg's Ask Cindy section. Cindy also offers in-person training for puppy training and dog sport foundations. Learn more about Cindy's in-person dog training lessons.
Job Titles:
- Our Founder
- Sits Down With Travis Olson from Keeper Collars
Ed Frawley owns Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. Leerburg is a family owned business that Ed started in 1982. Ed has trained dogs since 1960. Ed started to video tape dog training seminars in 1978. In 1982 he started selling dog training videos that he produced. In 1978 he began breeding working bloodline German Shepherds and continued breeding for the next 35 years. In the early 1980's Ed began competing in AKC obedience, AKC tracking and Schutzhund. In the late 1980's Ed was an AKC sheep dog herding judge. From 1990 to 2000 he was a K-9 handler on the Dunn Country Sheriff Dept. During those years he worked with West Central drug task force in Western Wi. In 2011 Ed tasked the 7 members of Leerburg's IT department with writing the computer code for Leerburg's on-line learning software. Ed brings over 50 years of dog training experience along with many years of law enforcement to Leerburg's videos and courses.
Ed Frawley's New Online Course: Training Your Dog To Come When Called
Ed Frawley attended his first dog training seminar in 1974. In 1978, he bought his first video camera so he could film the training seminars he had been regularly attending. In 1982, he started selling dog training videos under the name Leerburg Video Production.
From the very beginning, Ed built Leerburg's reputation as a company that only provides quality training products combined with the best training information available.
In this video, Ed Frawley talks about how he got started in dog training, how and why he started videotaping dog training, how that led to the creation of Leerburg, and the experiences he had along the way.
The video is long (about 2.5 hours) and has been broken it down into chapters. You can view the video with chapters on Video On Demand. There, you can also stop watching the video at any time and pick up where you left off on any device that you are logged in to. Read more about Ed Frawley...
Ed Frawley grew up with dogs in the family and started to take training seriously in high school. He started Leerburg Video and Kennel in the mid 1970's and has produced dog training videos since.
Ericka always knew that she wanted to work with animals. Like most kids that liked animals, she was encouraged to become a vet. In going down that path, Ericka worked in various animal fields ( veterinary technician, boarding kennel manager, grooming assistant, surgery technician, ect.) and it gave her the opportunity to work with just about every breed, mix, age, size, and temperament of dog in many different environments. Her favorite part in all these jobs was the canine behavior aspect. Ericka knew that was what she was supposed to do.
Since 2000, Ericka has been detected to all forms of dog training. Her list of accomplishment includes: Running a working ranch for an Australian Shepherd Breeder, developing and managing the behavior department of the local humane society, training and competing with dogs in agility, conformation, obedience, rally-o, weight pull, nosework, mondioring, and lure coursing, and helping thousands of people and dogs live better lives together.
Some of the greatest experiences she's had were in New York at Round Out Valley Animals for Adoptions. There she was certified in the Train to Adopt program. The goal is to make dogs in the shelter more adoptable as well as provide them with daily mental stimulation through training. Ericka was also certified in the Training Wheels program, that keeps dogs out of the shelter by providing behavioral and medical assistance to the community. She also became a part of the Lug Nuts program that helps intercity kids keep out of dog fighting and give them an outlet to "show off" their dogs while using positive reinforcement training and fostering a community bond. In the Asses-A-Pet program Ericka excelled in the ability to match dogs and people together to make life long matches. In addition she became certified with the Humane Society of the United States in the Pets for Life program and attended countless workshops and seminars with Puppy Works, HSUS, and Positively Trained to name a few.
Today Ericka works with pet owners and their dogs, as well as working as a consultant for various animal shelters. Dog sports are her passion. Ericka love to help pet dog owners make the jump to dog sports and reap the benefits! For her, training is more than just teaching dogs behaviors. Seeing the relationships that develop between dog and owner and the freedom that well trained dogs can experience is what is it all about for her. Nosework has become a big part of her training program and she is a Certifying Official Judge for the United Kennel Club program.
Forrest Micke is a professional dog trainer located in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a midwest native who began his career working with shelter and rescue organizations in the areas of behavior modification and lifestyle obedience. He now conducts workshops in competitive obedience and protection sport for private and public groups across the country.
Janice is a top dog sport competitor, in-demand obedience seminar presenter and and the author of a number of online courses for dog training as well developing all the course curriculums at TNT Training. She is known for being among an elite group of trainers who have achieved the perfect 200 obedience score and she has done it with 9 different dogs and from the Novice class all the way through Utility.
Janice has created a number of popular competition training video series including: Positively Powerful Heeling, Clicked, Hold & Retrieve and the Step by Step Series which takes trainers from preparing for Novice competition all the way through Utility. Janice has also created tons of free training resources check out her youtube channel and her training tips blog.
Jens Frank (PhD) from the Scandinavian Working Dog Institute (SWDI) train dogs and handlers from most branches of the Armed Forces and Police in a large number of countries around the world. He does research related to this topic and has a position as Associate Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences · Department of Ecology.
Jens Frank from the Scandinavian Working Dog Institute (SWDI) trains handlers and service dogs, mainly from police and armed forces. He also has a position as Associate Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. He is responsible for and working as a dog handler in, the Swedish governments program for service dogs used in the management of large carnivores (bears, wolves, and lynx).
Jim Closson has been professionally training dogs for 27 years. He attended Southern Oregon State College at Ashland, where he majored in Pre-Veterinary medicine. Jim was fortunate enough to study animal behavior under renowned animal behaviorist Dr. John Sullivan. He was able to interact with Dr. Sullivan's pack of wolves & wolf hybrids along with his pack of Dingos, thus improving his education on dominance, hierarchy positions and canine communication and Pack Leadership development.
While in college Jim recognized the need for quality dog training, training that would help dog owners eliminate their pets' undesirable characteristics. He successfully completed a formal apprenticeship of over 1,500 hours, which included training techniques geared toward puppy imprinting, adult and puppy potty training, behavioral problem solving, Real World Obedience, Advanced Obedience, Police Service and Narcotic Detection and the European dog sport of Schutzhund. In addition to learning from several respected European and American trainers and then spending many years - and hundreds of hours - researching different training methods from around the world, Jim took the best available techniques from a variety of different trainers and combined them with his methods of training he uses today.
JJ Belcher has been training training dogs professionally since 1999. He is the owner and founder of Sublime Canine in Tucson, AZ where he and his staff teach everything from basic obedience and behavior modification to competitive dog sports like Schutzhund, Flyball and Barn Hunt. JJ is committed to helping the rescue dog community as a volunteer, a foster and even developed his own rescue organization with the help of his wife Nicole. "I believe owning a dog is not just a commitment or responsibility, it's a lifestyle… My goal is to make my clients as passionate as I am about training their dog"
Mark is a dog trainer from Hudson, Wisconsin. He has been training dogs professionally since 1998 in various forms of obedience, agility and protection work. He works and trains primarily at Red Star Kennel in Hudson, where he serves as one of 3 trainers who conduct private lessons, teaches group classes, and handles and trains dogs who stay for the boarding and training program.
Mark is a retired competition French Ring/Mondio Ring certified trial decoy. Mark has officiated over 30 trials as a decoy under primarily French Judges, including a regional selective. In 2007, Mark competed in the North American Ring Association Decoy Super Selection. Mark took first place amongst the American Decoys earning the honor of the Decoy of the Year award, and the Golden Baton award.
As a handler, Mark has handled two dogs in French Ring. A Dutch Shepherd/German Shepherd cross named Kalib, whom he brought to the Ring I level, and a Belgian Malinois named Lot whom he brought to the Ring III level. In June of 2008, Mark and Lot set a record for highest score to that date in Ring II history with a score of 292.8 out of 300 under French Judge Philippe Touy.
As a coach and training decoy, Mark has brought several dog/handler teams to title in Ring. To date, Mark has trained all of the bitework, and coached the obedience and jumping of the following dogs:
As a general dog trainer, Mark has been assisting dogs and handlers in the midwest since 1998. From teaching group obedience classes, to behavior modification, Mark has worked with over 1000 dogs to date. Since 2004, Mark has been training exclusively at Red Star Kennel, in Hudson Wisconsin. Mark teaches private lessons in obedience, behavior problems and modification, competition preparation, sport style obedience, agility, and protection work, puppy imprinting and socialization, puppy/dog purchase consulting, in home lessons and search work.
For the last 3 decades, Marko Koskensalo has been a world-renowned expert in dog training. His expertise has been widely recognized from seminars held all over the world. With a 2-time World Champion title and numerous national accolades achieved in the past 20 years, Marko is undeniably one of the best IGP/Schutzhund protection trainers in the world.
Job Titles:
- First Principle of Recall Games Without Your Dog
Michael is an internationally renowned dog trainer and teacher with 30 years of experience in competitive dog sports. He has taught extensively to a very diverse group of trainers, from competitive sports trainers, police departments, and the US military, to search and rescue groups, service dog agencies, and pet dog trainers.
In this 2 hour and 10 minute video, Michael Ellis teaches dog handlers the fundamentals of training the object guard for the various ring sports. The goal of the video is to show dog handlers how to establish a good foundation for this exercises. The streaming video is also offered on DVD. The object guard is the most difficult exercise in all dog sports. In a competition the dog is left alone with an object while the handler moves out of site. When the decoy approaches the dog guarding t
This micro course led by Michael Ellis will cover several topics on building motivation with your dog. You'll learn how to use conditioned reinforcers, when to teach the "Out", and begin mastering operant conditioning including how to modify behavior. If you have already purchased December 2019 Michael Ellis Three Day Workshop, you do not need this course. There are 20 clips totaling to 35 minutes of content to watch. Outline: Introduction Conditioned Reinforcers Building Value in
Learn the ins and outs of engagement in this micro course. Michael Ellis talks about engagement principles and the importance of sustained engagement in dog training. If you have already purchased December 2019 Michael Ellis Three Day Workshop you do not need this course. There are 24 videos totaling to 45 minutes of content to watch. Outline: Introduction Keep A Training Journal Practice without the Dog Dropping Food Understanding How Your Dog Learns Training Leash Manipulati
Regardless of your ultimate training goals, everything must start with how we raise our puppies. How do we interact with them at a young age while they learn what is appropriate behavior? How do we teach our young dogs how to live in our home? How do we develop the drives needed to train in specific disciplines? In this DVD, world-renowned dog trainer, Michael Ellis, will teach you exactly how he does just that. The DVD starts off with how to select and pick your next puppy. From there, we
Tami McLeod has been a professional dog trainer for twenty years. She titled her first dog in IP (schutzhund) at 16 year of age. She has contributed to dog clubs over the years as founding member of the American Working Malinois Association, board member/delegate to the American Working Dog Federation, serving on past committees including the National Events Committee, former Pacific Northwest Training Director, and Training Director for local clubs.
Tyler started K9 Connection in Buffalo, NY in 2007 to fulfill his dream of helping dogs and owners to live harmonious lives together. Tyler oversees and developed the training programs at K9 Connection, and works diligently to coach the staff and advance their training techniques.