Stephanie Capkovic

Owner, Agility/Obedience Instructor.

Experience:

Stephanie has been a breeder of West Highland White Terriers (Westies) under the Bella Vista name since 1989.  In 1994, Stephanie decided to take her new puppy, "Amelia", to an agility class just for fun.  Soon Stephanie became an agility instructor for the Obedience Training Classes of Harrisburg and later founded Bella Vista Training Center in 1998.  Earthdog training was added in 2000, followed by Tracking & Obedience (2001).  In 2003, Rally Obedience and Freestyle Classes were included in the curriculum.  In 2008, disc dog practice sessions (Frisbee) and the “Total Team” Agility Classes were added.  There is never a dull moment at BVTC and Steph is always willing to try a new dog sport!

Stephanie is a Master Level AKC Earthdog Judge and a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. She is a member and Rally Obedience Representative, Levels 1, 2 & 3 Judge for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She regularly attends dog training seminars and workshops, and was an annual participant at Clean Run Camp from 2001 to 2004. In 2005, she completed the dog training instructor course conducted by John Rodgerson.  In July 2007, she attended Clean Run’s Instructor Camp.

Stephanie actively competes with several of her Westies, Portuguese Water Dog and Yorkie in agility, earthdog, obedience & tracking. She is occasionally present in the conformation ring with a Westie. Stephanie's dogs (The Bella Vista Gang) have earned a wide range of titles in a variety of dog sports which include agility, obedience, rally obedience, tracking, freestyle, and flyball.  

In August 2002, Stephanie purchased her "mid-life crisis dog". While all of her friends were buying fast black sports cars, Stephanie got a Portuguese Water Dog, named "Gator". Gator was to be her fast big dog for agility, however, recurrent  Lyme Disease and various self inflicted injuries have had a negative impact on his agility career.  He still competes on a limited basis. Gator is now focusing most of his time on obedience and has earned his AKC CD and RAE Rally Obedience Titles.  He is also consistently rated in the top 20 dogs in APDT Rally Obedience.
 

In September 2007, Stephanie became a foster mother for a rescue Sealyham Terrier who she named “Lena”.  Lena lived the first 18 months of her life in an outdoor cage in a puppy mill is Missouri and had little to no human contact. When she first came to Bella Vista, she had no life skills.  Lena has made significant progress and is now enjoying life as part of the Bella Vista Gang.  She has daily lessons and is just starting to trust humans—a huge step for the little girl that took almost 2 months to wag her tail.  Needless to say, Steph failed as a foster mother and officially adopted Lena in December 2007.

Her other dog activities include serving as President of the York County Dog Training Club since 2000 and being an active member of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America, Bark-A-Ritaville Freestylers, the Obedience Training Classes of Harrisburg and the Lancaster Kennel Club.

Listed below are the dogs that Steph currently shares her home with and the highest level of titles they have earned by organization as of March 30, 2008:

The Westies:

 “Bubba”           Ch. Bella Vista’s Oh Yes He Does

·        AKC Titles:  Ch., MXP, MJP, AX, OAJ, RAE, JE, CD

·        UKC Titles:  UACH

·        NADAC Titles:  S-TG-N, O-NAC, TN-N, OACK, NJC, NCC

·        APTD Titles:  RL1X2,RL2X2, RL3, ARCHX

·        WCFO Titles:  SS-FDX-MF, FDX-MF

“Charlotte”  Bella Vista’s Tangled Web

·        AKC Titles:  RN

“Claire”  Bella Vista’s The Girl Next Door

No titles yet just born on January 5, 2008

“Cuss”  Ch. Bella Vista’s Expletive!

·        AKC Titles:  Ch., RA, JE, NAP, NJP, CGC

·        UKC Titles:  AG-1

·        NADAC Titles:  O-TN-N, O-TG-N

·        APTD Titles:  RL1X, RL2

·        WCFO Titles:  FDN-MF

“Dot”  Bella Vista’s Animaniac

·        AKC Titles:  RN, JE,

“Joyce”  Bella Vista’s Erin Go Braghlass

·        AKC Titles:  RE, JE, CGC

·        APTD Titles:  RL1, RL2

“Phyllis”  Ch. Bella Vista’s Running Amuck

·        AKC Titles:  CDX, NA, NAJ, CGC

·        APTD Titles:  RL1X, RL2

The  Yorkie:

 “Tiger”  Margaret’s Fault At Bella Vista

·        AKC Titles:  OAJ, OA, NAP, NJ,

·        UKC Titles:  AG-1, AG-2

·        NADAC Titles: NAC, NCC, NJC, O-TNG-N, S-TN-N 

·        APTD Titles:  RL1

The Portuguese Water Dog:

 “Gator”  Riverrun Navigator of Bella Vista

·        AKC Titles:  NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, CD, RAE

·        UKC Titles:  AG-1, AG-2

·        NADAC Titles: O-NCC, O-TG-N, O-TN-N, TG-O, NAC , NJC

·        APTD Titles:  RL1X, RL2X, RL3, ARCH

·        WCFO Titles:  FDX-MF

Westies that have moved to their new homes:

“Lincoln” Ch. Bella Vista’s Heads Up

·        NJP, NAP, RN

"Meme"   Ch. Dawn Put N' On the Glitz

·         RN, NJP

“Chrissy”  Ch. Dawn's Hole N' One

·        ME, NA

“Devon”  Ch. Dawn's Fun N' Games

·        JE, NJP

Ones that have passed over the rainbow bridge—they taught us well & live in our memories.

They are gone but never forgotten.

"Alexis" Alexis of Daisy Valley

           ·    CG, JE

"Bella" Ch. Dawn's Sabella Vanilla

           ·    CD, CG

“Indy” Bella Vista's Indyan Summer

           ·    CDX, SE, NA, CG, CGC, TDI

“Ava” U-CD Ch. Bella Vista's Avalanche Lily

           ·    CDX, JE, NA, CGC, TDI, R1-MCL

"Otis" Ch. Bella Vista's Traveling Man "Otis"

“Amelia” Bella Vista's Flying Solo

           ·    VCD-1, AX, OAJ, AXP, AJP, CD, SE, TD, NAC, NAC-V