Training Center Staff
Rachel Brostrom, CPDT-KA, CAP2
Training Center Manager
Rachel has been training and showing dogs for over 20 years. She is a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, and a Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the American Kennel Club. Rachel is also a Judge and Trial Official for APDT Rally Obedience and CDSP Obedience.
Rachel's competitive spirit, interest in training and showing, and love of dogs began as a child and continued into adulthood. Rachel and her family have constantly shared their home with dogs that she trains and successfully competes with in agility, competition obedience, rally obedience, herding and conformation. For more than ten years, Rachel and her canine companions have earned hundreds of titles in these events. Currently, she is training and competing with Corgi Maximus and Australian Shepherd, Kobe, at the highest levels of Agility, Rally and Competition Obedience, as well as getting a new addition, Georgia, started doing it all!
Rachel holds degrees in Biology and Education, and brings her experience as a school teacher to her classes. She has found that her teaching and dog training work hand-in-hand by the fact that humans are a lot like dogs in their need for positive reinforcement, good motivators, clear boundaries and consistency. Through teaching and training, Rachel enjoys helping people have fun and enrich their relationship with their dog.
Amee Abel, CAP2
Amee has been training her own dogs for as long as she can remember. Amee has been a frequent and successful competitor in Rally, Obedience, Freestyle, and Agility. Pictured here with her four dogs Collies Batman, Loki, and Spirit, and Rat Terrier Basil, Amee is a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT,) a certified evaluator for their new Canine Life and Social Skills (C.L.A.S.S.) program, and holds a Level 2 with distinction rating in the Clicker Trainers Competency Assessment Program (CAP2.) As the mother of a child with disabilities, Amee became interested in the healing power of the human/animal bond. Her three dogs are registered therapy dogs with Therapy Dogs, Inc., for whom she is also a Tester/Observer. Basil, Spirit, and Loki are frequent visitors to local senior residences, classrooms, and libraries. As an MHS volunteer, Amee coordinates Monadnock Therapy Pets, a group that develops and supports therapy dog teams in southwestern NH and southeastern VT. “Sharing my dogs with others has given me so much joy and the opportunity to meet the most remarkable people!” says Amee.
At the heart of Amee’s style is the belief that living with dogs should be joyful for both the people and the dogs. In her classes, Amee frequently uses games to challenge students to have more fun while training. Amee says her dogs are her personal trainers, causing her to embrace a healthy, active lifestyle and to keep learning new things. "I am always looking for something new to try with my dogs—nosework, skijouring, dancing, backpacking and whatever else comes along. I am eager to share these wonderful adventures with my students.”
Duke Champney, CPDT-KA, CAP2
Duke has had a lifelong interest in dog training. He has successfully trained many well mannered family canine companions. In 2008, Duke began volunteering at the Monadnock Humane Society. He focused his volunteer time by training shelter dogs, especially the more energetic dog. As a result of his successful work with the shelter dogs, Duke attended and graduated from the Monadnock Trainer's Academy in 2009. Since his graduation, Duke was a valuable assistant in all classes, and started teaching training classes offered at MHS in 2009. He is a Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowlege Assessed in 2011.
Duke's breed preference is the energetic Boxer. Currently training a new, young Boxer, his other Boxer Kiah, pictured here, turned into an accomplished canine learner via Duke's excellent clicker skills. Energetic, rowdy dogs are the type of dogs that Duke likes to train. He has experience working with rambunctious shelter dogs, giving them some self control skills.
Diane Gibbons, KPA-CTP
Karen Pryor Academy - Certified Training Partner
Diane is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and a graduate and certified training partner of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior. She is also a member and instructor for the Canine Agility Training Society. She has been competing in agility for nearly ten years, and has two dogs who have earned three championships in the CPE agility venue, along with other titles in USDAA and NADAC. Currently, she competes with Pilgrim her Australian Shepherd, Skye her rescue Border Collie, Star her tiny mixed breed, and Lexi her Sheltie rescue who she adopted from MHS in 2008.
Diane specializes in bringing together the principles of awareness practice, positive training methods, and "conscious cuing" into her work with dogs. She thinks that there is nothing better than feeling completely in sync as partners with your dog. She strives to help people reach that level of communication through agility training.
Ashley Lang
Ashley has a passion for dogs that has been strong for many years. After adopting her first dog, Roxy, from Monadnock Humane Society, she started volunteering her time on weekends, and quickly began assisting in agility and obedience classes at the Training Center. In addition to assisting in classes, Ashley has also worked with other animal shelters and individuals to assess dogs and help with behavior issues. These experiences have helped her develop her training and teaching style. She has been competing in agility with her MHS rescue Roxy for over 3 years and has since adopted a second dog, Issabelle, who is in training to be a rising agility star. Both of Ashley's dogs have given her a love for rescue dogs. Her experiences have pushed her into becoming a trainer.
Whether you are a first time dog owner, or just want to have some bonding time with your dog, Ashley believes structured classes are wonderful for any human/dog team. With a strong belief in the power of positive reinforcement and a degree in Psychology, Ashley's behavioral approach to training is fun and productive. She loves teaching the basic training classes, and is able to help you whether wanting a well-behaved family companion or future competition dog.
Also an elementary school teacher, Ashley loves working with children and dogs, and has found that teaching the people how to communicate better with their pets helps build a strong foundation.
Elise Paffrath- Guest Instructor
Elise Paffrath has been training, competing, instructing, judging and writing about Agility since first discovering the sport with her amazing All American, Breeze, in January of 1993. Irreversibly hooked, a year later she began teaching agility and over the past 18 years has instructed hundreds of agility handlers and dogs in seminars for regional clubs and in weekly classes at numerous training facilities around NH and MA as well as at her own Breeze Thru Agility business based in Brattleboro, Vt, since 1995.
Elise and her shelter-adopted dogs Breeze, Scout, Spryte & Smidgen have earned the sport's highest titles and qualified and competed at numerous national championship agility events (USDAA, NADAC, CPE). At age 10, Breeze won the Time Gamble class at USDAA Nationals, beating out hundreds of other (much younger!) dogs to take the trophy. Scout won a USDAA Regional event and finished 8th in the Cynosport World Games Performance Grand Prix Finals, while Spryte has ranked in USDAA's Agility Top Ten national standings and been a 3-time Grand Prix of Dog Agility and Steeplechase Finalist at the Cynosport World Games the past 6 years. Spryte also finished 7th in the year-long 2005 IFCS World Team tryouts. Elise's youngest shelter hound, Smidgen, is still in training and has just started competing. All Elise's dogs have also dabbled in herding, rally obedience, tracking, freestyle, and trick training.
Elise is a very approachable teacher who uses her well-honed observational skills, natural intuition and sense of humor to help handlers learn how to effectively communicate on course with their canine partners. She uses only positive training methods and believes that taking the dog's perspective into account and always keeping training fun goes a long way toward creating a great working relationship between dog and handler.
