Michele Pouliot has trained dogs for more than three decades. Since first joining Guide Dogs for the Blind in 1974, she contributed to the organization in many different ways, and today is the director of research and development. Michele is also a champion in canine musical freestyle and participates in equestrian combined driving events. This year, we're proud to welcome Michele to the ClickerExpo faculty. We recently spoke to Michele about her breadth of experience and success.
service
Service with a Click
By Gale Pryor on 05/01/2005Debi Davis, service-dog trainer and ClickerExpo presenter (Minneapolis, November 2005), writes training articles for national and international magazines and is an Internet mentor for service-dog teams in training. In 1998, she co-founded OC-Assist-Dogs, a Yahoo Group Internet discussion list for those clicker training service dogs, now the largest service-dog discussion list on the web. In 1999, her papillon, Peek, became the first toy breed and first clicker trained dog to earn the Delta Society's National Service Dog of the Year award. In 2003, Peek was among the Pedigree Paws to Recognize Canine World Hero nominees. Peek and Debi were also profiled on a segment of the international television program Dogs with Jobs. A member of the APDT, IAADP, IABC, and the Delta Society, Debi lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband and five clicker trained dogs. Recently, we spoke to her about clicker training assistance dogs and her experiences attending ClickerExpo San Diego.