My love of dogs began as a child, and I’ve owned dogs all of my life. As an adult, I settled on the Standard Poodle breed because of their intelligence and goofy personality. I’ve owned 5 Standard Poodles and have trained 4 of them beyond basic pet training. Three of them have competed at the highest levels in agility in 4 different agility organizations. In addition to agility, I’ve trained my dogs for AKC STAR Puppy, AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC), competition obedience, rally obedience and fastcat, earning titles in all. I’ve taken online dog and dog training courses through Fenzi, One Mind Dog, Avidog and AKC, to name a few.
After joining GLKC I was an assistant instructor in several agility group classes, and I was the developer and lead instructor in a Dog Tricks class. I became certified as an AKC CGC evaluator, have taught CGC classes and most recently taught STAR Puppy classes for over 6 years.
I have a strong interest in dog intelligence and how dogs learn. I love watching the development of a behavior as the dog figures out how to gain their owner’s approval. I love figuring out how to adapt my training to a dog’s learning style. I believe dog training is much more than teaching a dog to behave. Dog training builds a deep bond between an owner and their dog that is hard to appreciate until you’ve experienced it.
I began training dogs and became a member of GLKC in 1984. At that time, I trained my first Shetland Sheepdog in obedience and tracking. Positive training was just entering the scene at that time and it became a fascination for me and still is today. I have trained my own dogs in obedience, tracking, agility, herding, rally, and lately treibball.
I began teaching classes for GLKC about 20 years ago. Over the years I have attended many dog training seminars, private lessons, and classes and continue to be fascinated with dogs and dog training. My philosophy as a trainer is training should be great fun for both the dog and the handler.
I started agility 15 years ago by taking a beginning agility class at GLKC. I started agility with just a vague idea of having a fun game to play with my dog and it has become a very important part of my life. I am currently training my 4th and 5th personal agility dogs. My corgi mix, Pixie, earned a CS-ATE (CPE Agility Trial Extraordinaire) and 9 CS-ATCH’s (CPE Agility Trial Champion) titles as well dozens of other titles, too numerous to list. She has many placements at CPE agility Nationals, including and overall 5th place in Games that she earned in 2019. Pixie retired from agility at the age of 14. I am currently training and competing with my two border collies, Jazzy (age 10) and Minuet (age 2).
I have also helped at least 100 others to train their dogs in agility. I have worked with breeds from every AKC group and every size from Papillons to Newfoundlands. Many of these dogs have gone on to earn their own championship titles.
My teaching philosophy is simple: teach the dog through games and positive reinforcement. I will never use force or punishment to train your dog. I teach agility by building up layers of understanding in your dog, starting with very simple behaviors that will build your dog’s confidence and then gradually moving to the more difficult and complicated layers. I subscribe to Susan Garrett’s Handling 360 training system and will teach the handlers and dogs using these techniques.
While I have had the privilege of sharing most of my life with dogs, my true understanding of them came in 2000 when we adopted a dog with separation anxiety. It was then that I took the DOGS! Class through the Purdue Animal Behavior Clinic and learned about positive reinforcement training and all of the aspects of how animals learn. I worked with referrals from Purdue for behavior modification cases with dogs and started teaching puppy and basic manners classes.
And I discovered dog agility at The Greater Lafayette Kennel Club! It was part of the protocol that helped Sadie, the dog with separation anxiety, build confidence and become all of the dog she was meant to be! I began assisting with classes there, and eventually teaching agility classes. My rescues have earned titles in obedience, barn hunt, rally and agility. Annie, my second rescue, earned 13 championship titles in agility in four different venues.
I am excited to be teaching classes again! Watching people learn how to shape their dog’s behaviors are so amazing and seeing them grow as a team is very fulfilling.
John Yackel started AKC Agility with his Shiba Inu/Border Collie mix around 2018. They both had a lot to learn, especially John, but the two have since succeeded enough to attend AKC Invitationals and Westminster.
He began the sport for his dog’s sake, but stayed with it for the supportive and inclusive community where everyone roots everyone else. John loves to watch his friends and students learn to work and play with their dogs, progressing through their own challenges. He will learn your dog’s name before yours.