Ann

Meet the Fieldwood Family

Ann Withun, BS, CPDT

My two goals as instructor:

1) You enjoy class as much as I do!
2) Attending class helps you and your dog to enjoy your lives together.

Training:   At Fieldwood I have taught Basic Manners and Obedience, Intermediate Level Obedience (with CGC/TDI prep), Look Ma, No Hands!, Intro and Beginning Agility, and Creative Dog, clicker class. Lisa and I work together in the Reactive Dog program and it’s so rewarding to help these dogs and their people enjoy their time together more. I enjoy clicker training and often use a clicker when teaching a new behavior or trick and have even clicker trained my ferrets. I work to keep my training skills up to date by attending conferences, camps, and seminars every year, and through professional reading.

Canine Sports and Activities:   My dogs and I like to do a little bit of everything. I compete with both Rowdy and Seelie in APDT Rally-Obedience, CPE Agility, WCFO Musical Canine Freestyle, and DSA IMPROV Obedience. They especially enjoy hiking and playing clicker training games (and they don’t mind that there are no ribbons and titles for these). With Dog Scouts we’ve been able to try all kinds of cool activities like nosework, dock diving, and carting.

Dog Scouts of America:   I am the Troop Leader for our local troop of Dog Scouts of America, a national nonprofit that promotes responsible dog ownership and positive training. Our troop gets together to learn new things, spend quality time with our dogs, and we also do projects with our dogs that help the community. We teach our dogs to do everything from swimming to painting to ringing bells for the Salvation Army. It’s very rewarding as we’ve raised over $10,000 for charitable projects in our community and, of course, sometimes we just enjoy simply hanging out with our dogs. We always welcome new members! Find more info about DSA on the Fieldwood website and the bulletin board in the training building.

Certifications / Achievements:

* Bachelor of Science, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
* Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge-Assessed   www.ccpdt.org
* International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, Associate #467   www.iaabc.org
* Association of Pet Dog Trainers, Professional Member #71216   www.apdt.org
* Canine Good Citizen Test Evaluator, American Kennel Club, Evaluator #39711
* Certified in Pet First Aid & CPR, American Red Cross
* Dog Scouts of America: Board of Directors, Director of Competition & Titling, and Troop 161 Troop Leader  www.dogscouts.org
* Dog Scouts of America Certified Evaluator for the following:
Dog Scout, Junior Scout, Art of Shaping, Fine Art of Shaping: All-Dog Band, Rally Obedience, Advanced Rally-O, Tricks 101, “Naked Dog” Obedience, Musical Canine Freestyle, IMPROV, Puppy Paddler , Beach Buddies , Boating , Water Retrieve, Backpacking, Hiking, Overnight Camping, Obstacle 1, Obstacle 2, Obstacle 3, Agility 1, Agility 2, Puissance Jumping, Canine First Aid, Fundraising II: Put & Take.
* Volunteer, Furry Friends Network dog and cat rescue 2007-present.
* Volunteer, Washington County, MD Humane Society 2003-2005.
* Multiple training tips published in APDT’s book “Top Tips from Top Trainers,” published in 2010.

My dogs:

Rowdy Bones, DS[DSA, PDX], TDI, CGC, CL1, RL2 (AOE-L2). Australian Cattle Dog (Red Heeler), born around 3/1/03, adopted from rescue 3/9/05. Competes in Agility, Rally-O, and Freestyle. Has tried everything from lure coursing to herding to kayaking. Kind of has a bad attitude… but I love him!

Seelie Court, DSA, TDI, CGC, CL1-R, CL1-F, CL1-H, W-FD/MF. Border Collie, born 10/16/08, adopted 5/23/10 after being released from an Urban Search & Rescue program (too much of a scaredy-dog.) Competes in Agility, Rally-O, and Freestyle. Volunteers at the library with the Kids Read to Dogs program. Started beginning herding training. Sharp as a tack and cute as a button!

Brutus, DS[DSA, PDX], TDI, CGC, CSL1-R, CSL1-F. “Big Black Dog” (rottie/dobie/mastiff - or something), born around 10/1/01, adopted from shelter 11/12/02. Competes in CPE Agility and APDT Rally-O, handled mostly by my husband. Brutus is always “running for mayor,” and loves everybody and everything!