We have some truly excellent trainers at Meyer’s. They dedicate themselves to making sure their canine and human students are learning and progressing in their classes while also having fun. We often highlight the accomplishments of their students, but today we’re giving them the spotlight! Read on to learn all about their impressive achievements.

Adrienne Kelence recently completed the Professional Dog training program through the Karen Pryor Academy (KPA), earning her national certification as a professional dog trainer. The six month long program required Adrienne to master a curriculum that teaches both the science and the practice of dog training, client teaching, and canine behavior problem-solving. For the final step in her certification process, Adrienne had to pass two practical exams: one teaching actual students and the other in which she and Chica demonstrated a 10-step behavior chain. Both of those exams required her to earn a score of 90 points or better (out of 100). The KPA Professional Dog Training program is based on the most up-to-date behavior science and modern training and teaching practices.

Adrienne teaches the Rescue Puppy Foundation and Rescue Dog Foundation classes held on Sunday afternoon at Meyer’s. She is also a certified Trick Dog Instructor and teaches a trick dog class on Sundays, too. Even with four rescue dogs at home and a professional career as a nurse, Adrienne still finds time to compete and earn titles in Rally Obedience, Nose Work, Barn Hunt, FasCat, Tricks, and Stunt Dog.

Adrienne was assisted in her certification pursuit by her rescue pup, Chica, pictured here with her.

Loretta Swanson was recently named a Trick Dog Trainer of the Year by the trick dog titling organization, Do More With Your Dog.

To date, Loretta has titled 63 of her trick dog students and ranks 10th among Trick Dog Trainers in the State of Illinois.

In addition to being a Certified Trick Dog Instructor, Loretta also earned her Dog Training Certification from the Karen Pryor Academy and her Nose Work Instructor certification several years ago. She is a Canine Good Citizen evaluator and an Alliance of Therapy Dog evaluator.

Loretta teaches Puppy Kindergarten, Fundamentals I, Fundamentals II, Nose Work, Rally Obedience, Urban/Farm CGC, and Dock Diving classes at Meyer’s and has been a college professor for over 25 years. She competes with her Dalmatian, Bobby, in Dock Diving (in 2019 he was the #2 ranked Dock Diving Dalmatian in North America), Nose Work, Conformation, Rally Obedience, and Drafting.