Born and raised in New Zealand, Suzanne has been around dogs all her life. Her family had an English Cocker Spaniel and a Black Lab, and during school vacations, she learned to handle sheep dogs on her great uncle’s sheep farm. At twenty-something, Suzanne left New Zealand for London where she worked for three years and got to see the Crufts Dog Show. In the 1970s, Suzanne was recruited by an international agency to work in the U.S. She visited the Pacific Northwest on a vacation and decided she had to live here because it reminded her a lot of her native New Zealand. Once settled in America, dogs once again made their way into Suzanne’s life... A Boston Terrier: “...she was a pet and I loved her. She went everywhere with me as she was quite portable!”A Terrier-mix from the Bellevue Humane Society, who was dog-aggressive: “Because of her I was introduced to Larry and Dana and the sport of dog obedience. I got a mixed breed CD on her.” A Shepherd-mix: “I enjoyed a great deal of success with him. He eventually obtained four UD titles from different registries and accumulated 73 OTCH points with UKC, before I retired him from competition.” A rescued Golden Retriever: “...with him I was able to compete in AKC venues...earning his UKC-UD, AKC-UD, Canadian OTCH, Rally RE titles. He also got a perfect-200 score in Open B and that has been the biggest thrill I have had in obedience. He competed in WIOC events a number of times, was on the winning Western Washington team one year, and another year he was awarded the Top Open Dog award. Lately I’ve been tracking with him, which is a good activity to do with an older dog.” A second Golden Retriever: “She has her AKC, UKC, Canadian CD, and Rally RE titles. With this dog I got interested in field events and she has her AKC and Canadian Junior Hunter titles, a UKC Started Retriever title and a Working Certificate title. She is currently training for her Tracking Dog title.” All of Suzanne’s dogs also got their CGC certificates and her Shepherd-mix was also a Certified Therapy Dog. As an instructor, Suzanne likes to train positively and make training fun for both the dog and student. “I’m not rigid regarding training philosophy...I like to present opportunities for the dog and handler team to be successful, and then build on a good foundation by presenting increasingly difficult challenges. I think dogs need feedback and need to know when they are wrong and be helped to be right.” What would Suzanne advise any dog owner who was interested in advanced obedience training? “If you have a dog that clearly loves obedience and has some talent, going further in obedience may be a wonderful new adventure.” But, be warned: “This dog obedience stuff is addictive!” In addition to teaching, Suzanne is a judge for the Mixed Breed Dog Clubs of America. “I wanted to do this as a way of giving back to the sport which has given me so much.” Suzanne also enjoys hiking, attending plays, dance and symphony performances, traveling, gardening and Native American art. “I’ve done wood carving and basket-making, although I don’t have much time to do that these days.”