Katie Brennan, CDBC, CPDT-KA - Owner/Trainer

Katie Brennan is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Professional Dog Trainer (CDBC & CPDT-KA). She has been training dogs professionally for over a decade. Her first dog, Kimma, helped forge her deep passion in dog sports. Once a fearful Finnish Spitz, Kimma became the first in her breed to earn numerous titles and hooked Katie on performance sports. Her notable accomplishments include: highest titling agility Finnish Spitz in history (also with the most QQs and MACH points), first female Finnish Spitz to be invited to AKC Agility Invitationals, highest earning Finnish Spitz in AKC Rally, and first female Finnish Spitz Trick Dog Champion.

Katie places a lot of importance on making the learning process fun and exciting for everyone, while still being sure to set up teams for success with proper foundational skills. She has also helped many students find solutions to behavioral hurdles that had previously prevented them from being able to shine in a competition setting. Through her success with her Finnish Spitz (a breed not typically seen competing), Katie has come to believe that there really is a sport out there for everyone. She loves helping owners realize the potential in their dogs.

Katie's expertise expands far beyond manners and performance training, as well. Throughout her career she has chosen to expand her knowledge into the working dog world, training Urban Search and Rescue dogs at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and at the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. Over the years, she’s found that what she has learned from training USAR dogs applies directly to performance training, as motivation, confidence, and timing are vital parts of successful working and dog sports teams.
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Along with her two Finnish Spitz, Kimma and Jari (who has broken his own share of breed records!), she also competes with her Sheltie, Sonya Blade, in a variety of venues.  She continues to work for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation as a recruiter, helping turn shelter dogs in need of rescue into rescuers.

​List of Finnish Spitz breed achievements include:
-First Finnish Spitz to earn an AKC Masters Standard and/or Masters Jumpers agility title (Kimma)
-Finnish Spitz with the most MACH points and QQs (Kimma)
-First female Finnish Spitz to be invited to AKC Invitationals (Kimma)
-First Finnish Spitz to title in Barn Hunt (Kimma)
-Among the first Finnish Spitz to earn a scent work title (Kimma)
-First Finnish Spitz to pass all 3 NACSW Odor Recognition Tests (Kimma and Jari)
-First Finnish Spitz Trick Dog Champions (Kimma and Jari)
​-First Finnish Spitz to earn the AKC Trick Dog Elite Performer title (Jari)
-Among only a handful of Finnish Spitz to earn a Rally Excellent title (Kimma)
-First female Finnish Spitz (and second of either gender) to earn an RAE title (Kimma)
-First Finnish Spitz to earn Rally Master legs (Kimma)
-First Finnish Spitz to earn an NW1 through NACSW and an overall Novice title in PSD (Kimma)

Other professional affiliations and certifications:
-AKC STAR Puppy, CGC, CGCA, CGCU Evaluator
​-AKC Trick Dog Evaluator
-Therapy Pets Unlimited Evaluator
-Performance Scent Dogs Judge

Katie's dogs:
★ Kimma - TDCH Loistava's Kimma RAE MX MXJ RATO CGCA CGCU TKP NW1 RL3-AOE SDN PSD-NB PSD-NC PSD-ND PSD-NE PSD-NS (10 year old Finnish Spitz)
★ Jari - TDCH Loistava's Jari RN THD CGCA CGCU TKE BID SSB RL1-AOE PSD-NC PSD-ND PSD-NE (7 year old Finnish Spitz)
★ Sonya Blade - Hartwyn Keepsake Outworld Battle Cry RA NA AXJ OF CGCA TKA ISD SSS AJ SG SS SR RL1-AOE RLPX-AOE ITD (4 year old Shetland Sheepdog)

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 Caitlin Puskas - Trainer

Caitlin's love and respect for animals was cultivated as a child, as she grew up on a small horse farm with parents who loved animals. As an accomplished Hunter/Jumper competitor, her journey in to animal training began in her teenage years when she started helping others with their horses. This soon paved the way for her enthusiasm for dog training.

Caitlin got her first dog, a Pug named Kyara, when she was 19 years old. She was able to accelerate through the AKC Agility levels quickly, earning numerous titles and accolades in a short period, including being one of the Top 5 Pugs in the country for four years. Unfortunately, due to injury, Kyara had to retire early, but during the years they were competing, Caitlin started to take on handling clients. She has also competed successfully with Border Collies, Shelties, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Dachshunds, Australian Shepherds, and mixed breeds. Now, her focus is on her up and coming Sheltie, named Teak, and teaching all levels of agility classes. 

She loves to work with both dogs and their handlers and believes in an individual approach over a "one size fits all" method. Caitlin is patient and focused, with an enthusiasm for both learning and teaching. She enjoys working on motivation and confidence building, and has a special knack for helping teams develop their play skills with food and toy rewards. In addition to agility, Caitlin creates fun toys, snuffle mats, collars, and leashes through her company ZIPAGILITY LLC. She is currently pursuing her Dog Behavior Consultant certification.