After a lifetime of wanting a dog, when she turned 25 Cathy decided that finally she would have the time and space to devote to a puppy. Two years later, after much reading, Cathy finally got her first pup in the spring of 2001: a Golden Retriever she named Aza. Cathy was an AnimalSense student right from the start and after years taking classes as a student, then apprenticing and assisting, she has been an experienced head instructor since 2004.

Cathy loves training dogs, and is AnimalSense's "trailblazing trainer" as she does a great deal of research and reading to incorporate the most up-to-date and groundbreaking techniques in her classes and private lessons. Her focus is always to help training be easier and make communication with your dog, clear, effective and fun.

You will usually find Cathy teaching Clicks, Tricks & Games, All Puppy, Basic Manners and Bowser and Baby. Cathy is our resident expert on child-dog relationships, and for good reason as she has two daughters and another child due in February, all of whom get along famously with Aza the Wonder Pup. In addition to teaching classes and seeing private clients with AnimalSense, Cathy produces and publishes our new Video Podcasts! You can find them on the video page of our website or you can subscribe to them via iTunes.

Teaching dogs and their humans has helped Cathy round out her educational background. Until the Fall of 2005 she worked as a computer science lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She graduated from Purdue University with a Masters in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Computers and Electrical Engineering. While at Purdue University, she took electives in psychology studying behavior modification and learning theory. Cathy still moonlights as a Computer Science instructor, most recently for MacCormac College.

An activist in the community, Cathy loves supporting As Good As Gold, the Golden Retriever Rescue of Northern Illinois. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Chicago Area Pet Trainers Association (CAPTA) and the current head of the Technology Committee for CAPTA. Cathy is also an active member of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers and has attended the national APDT conference in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. She has also been participated in countless local conferences and seminars.

Cathy balances volunteering, training and teaching with spending time with her husband, Mitch, and their two daughters, Anastasia, born May 2002, and Victoria born May of 2004. And, of course, playing with Aza, the Wonder Pup.

You can reach Cathy at cathy@animalsense.com.