Liz Ulen has been competing in dog sports since 1992, when she started showing her first Golden in obedience. Over ten years ago she started showing in agility with her first agility dog, and has been hooked ever since.

Liz has shown her Golden Retriever, Clay, to his MACH title in AKC Agility and UD in AKC Obedience. Liz is earning a new series of titles on her Border Collies Jem and Scout, competing in AKC, USDAA, CPE, and NADAC events. She is currently training with Jennifer Crank.

Liz has attended agility seminars with Susan Clothier, Dana Pike, and Linda Mecklenberg, agility camps with Susan Garrett, Susan Salo, and Bud Houston and instructor camps with Julie Daniels, Wendy Pape, Stacey Peardot-Gaudy, and others. She holds a master's degree in psychology and uses operant conditioning to train her dogs. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), recognized through the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. In addition Liz is a field instructor, training service dogs for Paws with a Cause.

Elizabeth Ann (or Babs) Beck is the owner of Pawsitive Partners. Because of her business degree and background in teaching, Babs will be managing the business and teaching Beginner I Agility. Her goal is to manage using the same positive philosophy as is used with the four-legged clients.

She began teaching agility at Go Dogs in Omaha in 1992. She has personally trained as her own four Dobermans, a Dachshund, and a Border Terrier who have won nearly 50 titles. She is just beginning with a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Her students are currently competing at AKC Excellent, NADAC Elite and USDAA Masters.

She has been participating in and teaching flyball for several years, and her team is one of the top-ranked in the country.

Sharon is also involved in other areas of canine service. She and her "kids" do Pet Therapy, demonstrations, and other public service events. She is a tester/observer for Pet Therapy, Inc. She was named Volunteer of the Year at nursing homes in Columbus, Nebraska, and Mooresville, Indiana. She received a letter of recognition from the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association for her Doberman Coke's work at the Black Expo for two years in a row.

For Sharon agility and flyball are just part of the shared experience between canine and human, and this shows in her teaching. Sharon feels that working with your canine companion should be “fun” and insists upon positive methods and attitudes. She specializes in teaching motivation and distance work.

Yvonne Smith is one of our Beginner I & Beg II instructors. In 1999, she started dog training and competing in Obedience with her first Australian Shepard, Cody. However, when she tried agility she found her passion and now admits agility has become more an addiction.

Yvonne began competing in agility in 2000. At present Yvonne is working on a MACH title with her 5 year old Aussie Jordie. Her 18 month old aussie Cruise is currently in training for competition in the future.

Deb trained her first dog, a border-collie mix, in the late 1970s as a member of Boone County 4-H. She returned to dog training in the late 1990s, first in obedience and then in other dogs sports. Today, she has trained multiple dogs (a Border Collie, a Belgian Sheepdog, a Belgian Tervuren and three Golden Retrievers) to high-level titles in several dog sports, including agility, obedience, rally, tracking and hunting/retrieving.

Before returning to the Indianapolis area, Deb lived in the Columbus, Ohio, area where she was fortunate to train with some of the best agility instructors in the country. She has taken numerous camps and seminars with Linda Mecklenberg of Awesome Paws and continues her education with seminars and private lessons with Jennifer Crank of Incredipaws.

Deb has bachelors' degrees in animal science and agricultural communications, spending her professional career in public relations and communications. In her spare time, she trains her dogs and teaches others to do the same. No matter what sport she is teaching, her passion is training solid foundation skills on which advanced training is built leading to greater accomplishments. She also believes dog training is a team sport where both dog and handler work together to achieve success.

Shirley has been showing Great Danes in Obedience since she purchased her first Dane in
1977. This Dane, Bogart earned both a CD and UD (advanced AKC Obedience titles). From then on Shirley was hooked on dog training.

Over the years she has exhibited and trained her dogs in the Rally, Obedience, Agility, Tracking and the Breed Ring. She earned numerous advanced titles in all of these venues for her Danes, Goldens and Labradors.

Shirley started showing in Rally when it was first a special event. When AKC opened the licensing for judges, she became an AKC Rally judge. Over the past few years she has attended many AKC judging seminars.

She likes to make sure her students are well prepared to go into the show ring knowing all the skills needed to compete successfully in Rally Obedience. She also wants her students to understand the Rally O rules and have the confidence and ability to overcome challenges they may encounter in the ring.