Pam
Dog Trainer and Behaviorist

Pam has decades of experience, having worked with breeders, competitors, and pet owners to achieve happy, calm and well-behaved canines since 1990. She discovered a simple method to prevent problem behaviors with puppies and is eager to share this with you. She has a unique ability to teach important obedience skills and manners in a way that has dogs begging for more!

Pam’s primary objective is to keep dogs from going to shelters by working with their owners to not just stop their dog from exhibiting unwanted behaviors but to help keep them from developing those behaviors at all.

Pam researched wolves to learn how they interact within a pack, so she could better understand our canines. She also spent countless hours observing dogs interacting with each other and their humans, learning how they communicate with each other and how well they understand so much about us by their innate ability to read body language. Although our best friends have been domesticated, they still possess the same incredible abilities as their predecessors. This research has given Pam the ability to evaluate the interaction between a dog, it’s owner and other dogs.

Pam’s career in dog training began in 1970, working with breeds from every group: sporting, hound, working, terrier, toy, non-sporting, herding, and mixed breeds. She has taught basic obedience (sit, stay, down, come, etc.), agility, conformation, scent work, herding, boundaries, and a wide variety of tricks. Dog sports are a passion of hers, competing in: conformation, agility, obedience, and rally. Successfully breeding and professionally handling over 25 dogs to their championships, Pam has proven results!

She is the proprietor of Keystone Kennel, a notable boarding and grooming facility in Bethalto, IL, established in 1996, just a year after she graduated from The Missouri School of Dog Grooming. Since 2010, Pam has studied with the world-renowned dog behaviorist and dog trainer, Joan Meyer. Pam enjoys teaching dogs and watching them learn, always incorporating play, tricks and praise in a training session so that the dogs enjoy it as well.

Pam has been married to her husband Mark since 1981 and they have two wonderful sons, four beautiful granddaughters, and 3 very loving and fun dogs, along with a foster dog.

Larry
Brown Mixed Breed

Hi, my name is Larry, and this is my story; a very nice lady rescued me from a kill shelter at 6 weeks of age where I had contracted mange. She took me to her home where I had to be quarantined in her basement until I was four months old. She then took me to several adoption events, but because of my isolation I was so scared of every sight, sound, smell and person, it was overwhelming. I just laid there so stiff that I couldn’t even look up or interact at all. Nobody would adopt me; they couldn’t see how loving and intelligent I really was because of my fears. She worried that I would never be adopted, but then someone referred her to Pam for help. Pam took me and immediately started my rehabilitation. I was so terrified in the beginning, but she did not give up. I went with her nearly everywhere, including several dog events, where she discovered how happy and comfortable I was in my crate and how confident I was with every dog I met. She used these things to get me moving, then kept me moving so that I wouldn’t think about my fears, rewarding me when I was in a calm state-of-mind and ignoring when I wasn’t. Pam was so confident and patient that I began gaining trust and self-confidence; I felt so safe with her and wanted to follow her everywhere. She then had numerous people greet me and give me treats; suddenly I realized how nice people were. We continued to conquer new fears every single day, until one day she felt that I was ready to have my own family. Now I am happily living with a family of four, and I’m such a good boy in the house and I love to play with the kids outside. I went from being afraid of life to loving life, thanks to Pam!

P!nk
Agility Expert

I’m P!nk, Pam’s black and white Border Collie; I love to both work and play, and I’m a very fast learner with lots of energy, I’m cute too! My favorite things are frisbee, agility, tricks, running, running and did I mention running; my favorite obstacles are the weave poles and the tunnel. I started learning agility when I was only 11 weeks old and now I have lots of agility titles and I know tons of tricks. I learned how to run very technical agility courses, making very tight turns and taking cues from my mom with great distance and speed. My mom loves teaching me things and playing with me, for two reasons, one because she loves me, and two because it makes me tired and keeps me out of trouble. I seem to be able to focus much better when I’m not all wound up. When my mom gets treats out I start doing all kinds of tricks, hoping one of them will get me the treat, but she doesn’t give it to me until I do the one she is asking for. She says she is teaching me to think and listen, well its working; I’m getting my treats on the first try now.

Everyone says I’m such a good girl; I don’t pull when my mom takes me for a walk, I’m very quiet, clean and calm in the house, and when it comes time to run at the agility trial, I’m one of the fastest agility dogs in the Midwest!

Jersey
AKC Dual Champion

My name is Jersey, I’m a blue roan English Cocker Spaniel, Pam is my pack leader. Training for conformation began at 5 weeks, earning nice wins at specialty shows and finishing my conformation championship at the young age of 13 months; I guess those judges really thought I was cute! While working on that career, my mom began teaching me agility. In no time, we acquired my MACH (Master Agility Championship). We also gained many obedience and rally titles along the way, including a UD (Utility Dog) title, in addition we received HIT (High In Trial) at an English Cocker Spaniel National Specialty, I’m kind of a big deal! In obedience I had the ability to find an article with my mom’s scent on it, in the midst of several other articles, I overheard people say how difficult a task that was, but I thought it was as easy as pie. In the competition ring we were required to perform many challenging tasks, and I got excited about doing every one of them, it was a blast.

English Cockers were bred to flush birds for their hunters, and small enough to go under bushes. I love to hunt birds; my mom says I have a great nose. I can smell birds from a long ways away, popcorn too! She likes to teach me lots of other tricks too; they are so much fun to learn.

I’m a very good girl and because I am I get to go lots of places with her

Reggie
AKC Champion and Stud Dog

I’m a black and white English Cocker Spaniel named Reggie, my mom named me after one of her favorite football players. We have traveled all the way from the east coast to the west coast together, going to so many specialties and winning so many cool prizes, I even won BIS (Best In Sweepstakes). My mom was so proud of me that she exclusively showed me in the bred-by-exhibitor class to receive my conformation championship, and we earned an invite into the Invitational two years in a row. We gained recognition from lots of English Cocker breeders; they started sending their girls to come see me, I do love the ladies! I was a great stud dog with good instincts on breeding times, I successfully sired 12 litters in many different states, many of my kids completed their championships and one was even in the top 5 in the country! My mom loved me so much that she kept one of my daughters, Jersey. I sure am lucky, I get to cuddle on the couch and in bed, I also get to go lots of places, my mom says it’s because I’m such a good boy.