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Cathy Hivner |
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Dogs were family pets as Cathy was growing up, including Pepper a black and white mix and Candy a toy poodle, but she doesn’t remember training being a part of the family story. As an adult, Cathy lived in rentals for many years but promised herself that as soon as she bought a house, there would be a dog in her home. That dog was Sasha, a handsome red and white husky. He was a handful, especially for the first six months of his life, and Cathy knew he should have some obedience training, but fearing she would not be able to handle him in class, she never pursued that training.
When Sasha passed on at ten, two sheltie sisters, Kenzie and Becca, came into her life. This time Cathy was determined to go the training route, but a first try in a training class was disappointing because the instructor used some harsh methods and seemed unwilling or unable to address the individual issues that Cathy had with her dogs. Then a friend recommended obedience classes with Deb Sangrey at Bella Vista Training Center. That opened a door to the wonderful world of dog training.
The journey began with Kenzie’s extreme shyness, which led to attending Deb’s classes for eight months. During that time Cathy came to understand that training was a lifelong process, not an eight-week excursion. A few years ago, she had the good fortune to begin assisting in Deb’s obedience classes and continues to discover just how much there is to learn about training dogs.
She and her shelties began to have fun in freestyle and rally as well. Kenzie has earned her beginners and novice titles in freestyle, and Cathy credits the training with helping Kenzie to be less afraid of the world. Becca earned her beginners freestyle title in April 2010. Both girls have AKC rally novice titles and have earned their APDT Level 1 titles as well, including the Award of Excellence.
In 2006, Seamus, a border collie, was added to her family, and while they also participate in freestyle and rally, Cathy and Shea are now in training for competition obedience as well. Seamus has earned the beginners, novice, and intermediate singles freestyle titles and beginners and novice pairs titles (with his brother Jiggs) , his AKC rally novice and advanced titles, and APDT rally level 1 and level 2 titles, including the Award of Excellence.
Cathy is a member of the York County Dog Training Club and has helped to plan the annual awards banquet for a number of years. She chaired the fall obedience trials for several years as well. Cathy has helped Deb Sangrey to present school programs about dog training and dog safety to both elementary and middle school students. Cathy is an active member of Bella Vista’s training team that works at the York County SPCA. This program is directed by Deb Sangrey and is designed to train shelter dogs to help make them more adoptable.
Updated 12/21/10 |
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