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A Click Above's
Instructors and Assistants

Our staff of instructors and assistants are completely dedicated to providing quality instruction for our students and their pets. All instructors are currently competing in the discipline they teach and attend many seminars each year to keep their skills current and competitive.

(Please click on an instructor's name for their training biography.)

Instructors:

Nancy Hudson Walkins (Partner)
Elsie Maylott (Partner)
Claudia Bates (Partner)
Laurie Anderson (Partner)
Paulena Renee Hope
Carrie Jones
Kirsten Anderson
Karen Allen

Assistant Instructors:

Yuko Hurt
Peny Lang
Beth Mathews-Bradshaw
Kris Eckard
Diann Gastley
Kristen Clarkson

Nancy has been training dogs since 1984. She has a Masters degree in Education and teaches high school mathematics for Loudoun County Public Schools. She has competed with Australian Shepherds and Border Collies in the highest levels of agility, obedience, rally obedience, flyball, and herding, locally and nationally. Her dogs have earned titles in numerous registries: AKC agility (MX, MXJ), obedience (UD), rally obedience (RE), and herding; USDAA and NADAC: agility, including the championship titles, ADCH and NATCH, respectively; UKC obedience (U-UD) and agility (UAGII), ASCA obedience (UD), herding (STDs, STDd)), and agility; and NAFA flyball (30,000 point Flyball Dog Grand Champion title). The majority of her dogs have also earned both the CGC and TDI titles. Special achievements for Nancy's dogs include: third national ranking for ASCA Utility in 1993 and fifth national ranking for ASCA Utility in 1995 (Annie); third national ranking for ASCA Novice in 2003 (Riley); USDAA Top Ten Snooker Master for 1996 (Skye); eighth place in 20” at the 1998 NADAC Nationals (Riley), and top thirty in 20” at the AKC Nationals in 2000 (Riley). She currently owns four Border Collies with whom she competes in agility, obedience, rally obedience, and flyball. In addition, she has put numerous agility titles on a Border Terrier who is presently working toward his AKC MACH title. Nancy's hobbies include gardening, sports, reading, and raising Katahdin sheep, pygmy goats, and chickens on her 16 acre farm in Waterford, VA.

Elsie has been involved in dog training for over 20 years. She is a member of the APDT (Association for Pet Dog Trainers) and attends many educational workshops, seminars, and camps every year. In 1994, she discovered agility and the rest is history! She successfully competes with her dogs in UKC and AKC obedience and agility and in USDAA and NADAC agility. She is currently competing in agility and herding with her Border Collies, Tera and Prowler. Elsie owns Shelties and Border Collies and lives at the A Click Above Training Center in Leesburg. She devotes her spare time to friends and family.

Claudia is a former technical writer that has been training dogs and people with dogs since 1996. Her dogs have earned titles in tracking, obedience, herding, and agility. She successfully competes at the Excellent and/or Masters level of AKC and USDAA agility registries. She also competes in AHBA, ASCA, AKC, and USBHCA herding with her Border Collies. Their accomplishments include:  USDAA ADCh title for Giddy Up; AKC HXAS title for Max; AHBA HTCh and AKC HXAS for Jade; Bartleby: Top Winner (national ranking #1) for Novice A Standard Agility in 1997 and Top Winner (national ranking #1) for Novice B Jumpers with Weaves in 1999 by the Bernese Mt. Dog Club of America based on perfect qualifying scores of 100 and placements; Giddy Up!: semifinalist in both the 2005 and 2007 USDAA Grand Prix at the USDAA World Cynosport Games in Scottsdale, Arizona; 4th place cumulatively after 3 runs at the 2006 AKC National Championship competing in the Finals and finishing in the top 14 out of 300- 20” dogs; winner of the Dog Agility Masters Team Regional Tournament with team members “Jive” Jones and “Chai” Beardsley at the Southeast Regional USDAA trial in Perry, Ga, June of 2007; Kestrel: semifinalist in the 2007 USDAA Grand Prix at the USDAA World Cynosport Games in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Claudia, her husband Jim, and their eight Border Collies, two cats, and small flock of Katahdin cross sheep live on a small farm in Berryville, VA. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, playing with her dogs (training, training, training!), as well as attending camps, lectures, and classes to further her education in dog training, operant conditioning, and teaching.

Laurie has been training dogs and teaching folks to train their own dogs for over 22 years. She comes from a horse training and veterinary hospital background. She has extensive experience with evaluating, training, and re-homing rescue dogs. Laurie has trained and titled her own Golden Retrievers and Border Collies in agility, obedience, tracking, hunting (retriever) tests, and sheep herding. She discovered agility with her Golden, Phoenix, in 1996 and has been competing in the sport ever since! Currently, her Border Collies compete in AKC and USDAA agility, as well as AHBA and USBCHA herding trials. Her newest addition is a spunky Cardigan Welsh Corgi, who is in training for agility, therapy work, and herding trials, as well.  Laurie teaches and manages A Click Above’s Canine Good Citizen program, and has designed a wonderful curriculum for our CGC and Therapy Dog classes. Laurie has also fed her dogs a raw diet for more than 10 years, and believes that it has greatly enhanced the lives of her canine companions. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her dogs, faux painting, and world travel. She lives in Bunker Hill WV with her dogs, a small flock of Katahdin sheep, a retired horse, and an ornery mini-donkey.

Paulena Renee Hope teaches both advanced agility classes and private lessons at A Click Above. She has an extensive background in horse training and dog training. Her methods are positive and stress building drive, speed, and accuracy into every dog. She tailors her methods to fit each dog and handler, making her an excellent instructor.

Paulena has been competing in agility since 1996. In that time, she has achieved much success. In addition to earning multiple MACH and ADCH titles on her dogs, she has won the 20” division AKC National Agility Championship three times (1999 with Flurry; 2000 with Time Flys; and 2007 with Smart As).  She has also been a finalist at AKC Nationals with her dogs Never and Cloud 9.  In 2000, Paulena and Time Flys were members of the AKC/USA World Team placing 7th in Individual Jumpers and Time Flys was also named AKC’s MACH Dog of the Year.  In USDAA, Paulena has won the 1999 Steeplechase Finals with Flurry in the 30” division; 2000 Dog Agility Masters Team Champions with Time Flys; and with Never and Cloud 9 has placed in the Grand Prix Finals, Steeplechase Finals and DAM Team Finals.  Her youngest dog competing is two year old F5 Tornado and he has already earned his MX, MXJ, and XF.

Carrie Jones (Instructor):

Carrie Jones has been training and competing in agility over nine years.  Prior to agility, Carrie competed with her Jack Russell Terriers in terrier trial events (conformation, racing, go-to-ground).  Carrie's full-time job is a Marketing Coordinator for a real estate developer.  Carrie is a creative and thorough handler, trainer, and instructor and teaches upper-level handling classes at A Click Above, as well as private lessons and seminars throughout the country.

Carrie has three dogs, Tango (JRT - 14 yo - retired), Twist (JRT - 12 yo - retired), and Jive (BC - 6 yo).  All of her dogs have earned their MACH and ADCH titles.  Her dogs have been awarded USDAA Top Ten honors in years passed and have been Grand Prix and Steeplechase finalists.  At AKC Nationals, Tango won the International JWW class in 2000 and 2003, placed 2nd overall in the International Division in 2000, and made multiple Challenger Class appearances.  In 2005, Twist placed 2nd overall in the 12" division of the State Team Tournament at AKC Nationals. At the AKC Nationals in 2007, Jive placed 2nd overall in the 24" division, 3rd overall in the ISC 26" division, and Virginia State Team Champions.  Jive has been on the AKC/USA World Team for two years (2006 & 2007), with winning his way on the team in 2007 and placing 3rd overall in 2006 at Tryouts.  At the FCI Agility World Championships, Jive placed 20th overall individually in 2006 (Switzerland), placed 6th overall individually in 2007 (Norway), and he (w/teammates "Spree" Braue and "Stellar" Mecklenburg) won Team Silver in 2007 (Norway).  At the USDAA Nationals in 2007, Jive (w/teammates "Spree" Braue & "Sizzle" Holik) won the Dog Agility Masters Team Championship and placed 4th in the Grand Prix Finals. Jive and Carrie were chosen by AKC to be the dog & handler to represent the U.S. in the International Agility competition at Crufts in England in March 2008 and they won the International Agility final round. At the 2008 AKC Nationals, Jive and Carrie won the 24" division National Championship, placed 4th overall in the ISC 26" division, and were on the Virginia team that placed 2nd overall in the State Team Tournament finals. Jive has been chosen again to be a member of the 2008 AKC/USA World Team and will compete at the FCI Agility World Championships in September in Helsinki, Finland.

Kirsten is the youngest member of our team and is a part-time student at NOVA Community College. She works full-time as a Vet Assistant/Tech at a small animal practice that specializes in exotics. Don't let her age fool you! She has been training dogs as long as she has been able to hold a leash and has competed in obedience and agility. She finished an impressive third at the 2001 AKC Invitational (agility try outs for the US World Team) with her dog, Flurry, and also attended the 2001 AKC National Championships. Together, Kirsten and Flurry earned her MACH2 title, as well as placed 4th overall in USDAA's Dog Agility Masters team tournament in 2003. Kirsten's knowledge of training and handling well surpasses her young years. Kirsten is also an accomplished three-day event rider. Kirsten and her dogs Flurry, Dare, and Skid can be seen competing in USDAA Masters and AKC Excellent.

Karen Allen is an internationally known animal artist who enjoys capturing the beauty and personality of her subject in a variety of mediums and surfaces. She has been successfully breeding, showing, and training German Shorthaired Pointers (GSPs) since 1977. Karen has put 34 obedience titles (from CD to OTCH), 12 Rally titles, 16 agility titles, three championship titles (CH), and two obedience trial championships (OTCH) on her own GSPs. She and her dogs have won over 60 high in trial awards (HIT), and a National Specialty Best of Breed (beating almost 1,000 other GSP's) at the 1992 GSP National Specialty, while a littermate took HIT at the same specialty. Karen has the distinct honor of being the only person showing a GSP who placed at the Gaines Classic (a very prestigious obedience competition). Her dog, Linn, was a four time winner of the Obedience Dog of the Year - an award given by the GSP Club of America. Karen has been teaching all levels of obedience since 1992 and has a loyal following of students. Karen is currently trialing her GSP's in agility for the Master titles, enjoys watching her dogs in the hunt tests and has started tracking her GSP's. She loves seeing many students achieve there goals. She has two grown married children and two Grandchildren who she loves to visit them in Arizona, enjoys reading and photography in her spare time.

Yuko came to this country in 1970.  She grew up with German Shepherds and Akita’s.  She’s been teaching dog obedience for more than 20 years, including in-home private lessons.  She has dealt with many people/dog aggression issues as well as basic obedience and helping with the fine-tuning of assistance dogs for the physically challenged, including children.

She’s been owned by Golden Retrievers, German Shorthaired Pointers, Vizsla and numerous Boston Terriers in the last 25 years.  They all compete(d) in various venues, including obedience, agility, hunting, conformation and tracking. She has competed at the highest level of agility both in AKC and USDAA. 

Yuko is active in Boston Terrier Rescue, and she also worked with GSP Rescue.  She prides herself in working with “troubled” dogs and giving them the second chance, to become both loving pets and performance dogs.  She truly believes in “the journey” even though she loves ribbons as well! 

She and her husband Tom have two grown children and live currently with Quest (Vizsla), Klair (GSP), and three Boston Terriers, Elliott, Murphie and the newest addition Oscar (found in the dumpster!)

Peny has been training dogs for many years, beginning with a miniature poodle that she got when she was 11 years old. Since then she has owned and trained terriers, retrievers, a collie-mix, and Italian Greyhounds (IGs). She adopted her first IG (8 years old) from IG Rescue in 1993; Sprite became her first titled obedience dog, earning her AKC Companion Dog title at 10 1/2 years old. Since then her love of IGs and her joy in training and competing with them has expanded to become a passion for learning and teaching, sharing her excitement with others. Peny is committed to using positive reinforcement and clicker training, to enhance and strengthen dog and handler relationships. Peny is both a student and an instructor at ACA and loves the moments when she or her students "get it!

Peny's dogs are currently competing very successfully in agility, obedience, rally obedience, and AKC breed conformation. Her very talented IGs include:  Sprite, aka. Ch. Klassic Koke of Sundowner CD; Twig, aka. UAGI Fantasia Spritely Ramoschella; Chia, aka. UCD UAGI Marchwind Spritely Lucia CD RA NA NAJ NAP NJP; Lili, aka. UCD UAGI Infiniti Fantasia Spritely Lili CDX RE OA OAJ; Brez, aka. Spritely Brezza d'Estate CD RE; Kyss, aka. Suez Spritely Eco del Cuore RN; Aura, aka. PHF One Wink At A Time At Spritely; PJ, aka. Swiftess Vision Poetic Justice CD.

Beth began training dogs for competition seven years ago when she and her 10 year old Cattledog, Sydney, earned a CD title. A year later she started training her Doberman, Tessa, in agility, competing through the Excellent level in AKC. Beth currently competes in USDAA and AKC agility at the Masters and Excellent Level with her dogs Dixie, Bounce, and Diesel. Dixie is currently one of the top rated Manchesters competing in AKC agility, and one of the first Manchester Terriers to achieve a USDAA MAD title. Dixie placed 10th overall in the 16" division at the 2005 AKC National Championship. Beth lives in Leesburg with her husband James, Tessa, Dixie, Bounce, Ping Pong, Kramer, and Miss Kit.

Kris began training and showing dogs in 1979. She was also active in raising and showing cattle, horses, swine, sheep, and rabbits.  She is a member of the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America, the English Foxhound Club of America and the Professional Handlers Association.  Kris is very active in AKC events such as Breed Conformation Shows, Obedience, Rally-Obedience, Agility, and Hunt Test.  She handles both client and her own dogs professionally in the AKC conformation ring.  Kris has owned, trained and shown many different breeds of dogs.  She trained and handled CH Rivrwray Mavrick Marco's Polo JH, CDX, MX, MXJ, RE (German Shorthaired Pointer) to all his points and titles and is still competing with him today. Kris’s English Foxhound, CH Sunups Flirtnaround at Stilpt NA, NAJ, RE is the first English Foxhound to trial and title in AKC agility and Rally-Obedience Advanced and Excellent levels.  Flirt was a top 10 breed contender in the show ring during her conformation career with multiple group placements and has 2 consecutive Obedience High in Trials at the EFCA National Specialties in 2006 and 2007.  Traveller, CH White Acers Road To Sunups RN was also a top 10 Breed contender and Obedience High in Trial winner at the NSS in 2005.  “I believe in happy versatile dogs, high drive training and titling dogs on both ends of their registered name!”

Diann grew up with dogs and became involved with her own dogs when she got her first Jack Russell Terrier, Cayenne, 11 years ago.  She was active with the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America's Russell Rescue and participated in their terrier trials.  Before her retirement, Cayenne participated in earthdog and visited local nursing homes as a therapy dog.  Diann rescued her second JRT, Winston, in 1998 and together they have earned numerous agility and obedience titles, including the AKC MACH title.  Winston was named the Parson Russell Terrier Association of America's 2006 Agility Dog of the Year.  Diann is an AKC Earthdog Judge and a member of the Parson Russell Terrier Club of America, serving as Trial Chairman for their National Obedience and Agility events.   Border Collie, Reddi, is now competing in AKC and USDAA agility.  Diann also trains and runs Boston Terrier, Hemi, in agility, now that Winston has retired to focus on obedience.

Kristen has always loved dogs and animals. She used to compete in horseback riding; mostly in dressage. She has been doing agility for seven years with her first dog, Puppy, a nine year old Shetland Sheepdog she purchased from a breeder ad in a newspaper in Canada . Before that, she did a lot of obedience practice but never competed. Kristen and Puppy compete in the Excellent/Masters divisions of AKC and USDAA. Puppy recently earned his MACH in AKC. At the USDAA Nationals in 2003, Puppy placed 5th in the Steeplechase Finals and his team placed 4th overall in the DAM Team Finals. In USDAA in 2004, Puppy won a Grand Prix Regional Championship and placed fifth in the Grand Prix Finals at Nationals. Puppy was ranked 3rd in Tournament Top Ten in USDAA for 2004. Puppy is qualified for both AKC and USDAA Nationals in 2005, with this being his third year attending. Kristen's newest addition is an Australian Kelpie who came all the way from Australia. Her name is Ruthless and she is great fun. She is not yet competing with Ruth, but is looking forward to it in the near future. Besides agility, Kristen is a full time student at NOVA and works as a medical assistant in a doctor's office. In her spare time, she mostly is doing homework or training her dogs, but on occasion she enjoys traveling and spending time with her friends.

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