Rocky Mountain Stage Stop Sled-Dog Race 1996
More about Maggie
Maggie acquired her first dog, Blue, an Australian Shepherd, when she was eleven. She studied the Shepherd's Guide Book by John Holmes while endeavoring to train Blue to help her with her small flock of sheep. Her first lesson in the importance of motivation as a key to training came from Blue.
At thirteen, Maggie began an apprenticeship with stock dog trainers Pat Welsh and Dave Jenkins and trained numerous Border Collies as livestock herding and Geese control dogs (Mother Earth News, Sept/Oct 1987).
She has been a core member of the Montessori based educational program for children The Country School from 1990 to 2019.
From 1990 to 1997, she raised, trained and raced her own mid-distance sled-dog team. She competed in several events each season in northern US and Canada (50 to 500 miles in length). She trained her sled-dogs using motivational methods rather than coercion and the result was a competitive team who placed out of the top three only once in seven years of racing. She twice received the Cooley Challenge humanitarian award.
She conducted programs for young families and teens including dog sled and pack dog adventures in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
In Montana, she learned to skijor from German Olympic skier, Michaela Endler-Probst, and raced in Montana, Alberta and British Columbia and trained her Catahoula Hound, Bill, for search and rescue. Maggie currently skijores with her German Shorthaired Pointer, Skipper and is a member of International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA.)
She helped support her studies in Italy ("Figurative Sculpture"at the Florence Academy ofArt) in 2000-2001, by training pets in Florence where her perspective on the canine/human relationship was broadened.
She has been employed by Guide Dogs for The Blind in Boring, OR, has completed theAssistance Dog Institute (six week seminar) and the High Schooled Assistance DogProgram (working with at risk you in the training of assistance dogs) under Dr Bonnie Bergin in Santa Rosa, CA.
Influenced by the work of Jean Donaldson (author of The Culture Clash), Dr Ian Dunbar and Dr James O'Heare as well as other progressive trainers and behaviorists, Maggie's approach to training evolved to fully embrace methods backed by science and never include pain, force or fear to achieve results.
In 2003, Maggie first received her CPDT-KA from the Certification Council For Professional Dog Trainers - (CCPDT). As of April 15 2020, she is current in this certification.. She attended a Karen Pryor Clicker Training seminar Berkley, CA. From 2003-2006 Maggie worked as a trainer and behavior consultant helping numerous pets and their families in Sacramento, CA. She received her Dip.PDT ( Professional Dog Trainer) 2019 and Dip. CPDT 2021 (Canine Behavior Science and Technology) from Dr James O'Heare,Companion Animal Science Institute.
In 2006, Maggie married Fabricio and they moved to her home state, Ohio. They reside in Wooster with their sons William and Luca, two dogs, Larry the boxer and and Skipper the pointer and four lively rabbits. She is a certified member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and Pet Professional's Guildand follows their professional practice guidelines and code of ethics.
She continues to learn from each dog she works with and strives to stay at the forefront of her field through continued study of evidence backed training methods .