A small team of talented dog owners make up Joyce's instructor group. These folks were chosen to teach with and for Joyce because they show a strong affinity for the "Choose to Heel" leadership training program, and true joy in working with people. People who attend their classes continually rave about what a good time they have, how respectfully they have been treated as they learn to teach their dogs, and how much they have been helped by the knowledge and skills they learn in class.
Patty Hawley has had a dog by her side since birth. She started taking classes from Joyce in 2003 and learned what a great relationship you can have with your dog - even the challenging ones - when you give them the leadership they are looking for. Besides traiing and studying with Joyce, she has attended two training camps with Dawn Jecs who developed the "Choose to Heel" program. At home, Patty has a husband, three children and two dogs, all very well behaved! Patty and her best friend, Max, have been teaching with Joyce for a year. They have tons of fun working together and getting to know other folks who love dogs. Patty and Max have also recently started running in NADAC Agility.
Corey Thorpe has pretty much had dogs all her life. Her now three & a half year old Aussie Bodie started taking classes with Joyce when he was 10 weeks old. It soon became clear that he was a dog with "special needs" due to extreme & reactive fearfulness, especially with strangers. She's been training him ever since, and now does NADAC agility, a great feat for a fearful dog. Even bigger, he tested for his Canine Good Citizens Test summer of 2006 and passed the first time.
The "Choose to Heel" leadership exercises developed by Dawn Jecs have really enhanced Bodie and Corey's relationship over the last 2+ years. Corey has been teaching for over a year now. She absolutely loves helping people develop a strong and trusting relationship through positive leadership while at the same time helping people and their dogs learn functional skills.
Corey recently added Jasper, a year-old rescue Border Collie to her pack of husband, three daughters, a couple of cats and Bodie. Corey agrees with Joyce that owning a "difficult dog" makes for a better teacher than someone might be who has only owned "easy" dogs. After all, most of the easy dogs don't come to class! And she is also really happy to be working with her new dog Jasper who is a fun loving easy going bundle of Border Collie energy who loves everyone and everything.