Meet our Trainers:

Jenn Barg, CPDT, CDBC:  Jenn has worked for 12+ years as a behavioral ecologist studying wild, migratory birds.  During that time her canine family came into being and grew. She discovered that working with them and other dogs gave her a greater sense of satisfaction, so she turned all her behavior training and observation skills onto dogs.  

Jenn came to UVHS to mentor under Dee Ganley and to learn everything she could about canine behavior and how to teach humans about training.  She fell in love with training shelter dogs and the behavior program UVHS has in place for helping them to be prepared for success in their new homes. Jenn and her husband are the proud custodians of 5 adult dogs; 3 Labradors, a Dalmatian who is deaf, and an Aussie mix.  Their individual personalities and quirks have prepared Jenn well for working with the dogs of others.  

Jenn believes in training dogs to be successful in any home. Too many dogs enter the shelter with unsolvable issues because their former custodians never taught them basic "living with humans" skills, never prepared them for life outside of their home, never socialized them.  Jenn wants to help custodians foster more well-rounded dogs, and to help them understand why it¹s so important that they do so.

Fran Bartholomew:  Fran has been competing in agility since 1999.  She has competed at the highest levels with her All American, Bushy.  Bushy has received a USDAA ADCH title and a NADAC NATCH title.  She is now training and has begun competing with 4 year old Irish setter, Archie.  Archie has accomplished a USDAA AD title, aNADAC NAC, NJC, NCC.  Two-year-old Poppy, an “aussie with a tail” has just begun agility training.

Lynn King, CPDT: Lynn's love for dogs has grown to 6 of her own, 3 Bulldogs and 1 Jack Russell cross. She began volunteering at UVHS and her passion for working with dogs and her approach to developing mutually loving relationships between people and their pet dogs is obvious in her positive training methods. Lynn finds teaching and training to be very rewarding and educational, realizing and appreciating that each owner and their dog is a unique team.

Meredith Lunn, CDBC: http://www.johnlunn.com/tricorn/tricorn.htm: runs a humane education program called the Community Dog (celebrating 7 years of community service!). The program offers dog bite safety classes, bite behavior information, demonstrations for humane training methods using the clicker (for target training and agility), traditional and "alternative" pet-assisted therapy in elderly care settings and does educational booths through at community and dog related events. Meredith also volunteers for ARPH, one of the national Australian Shepherd rescues and offers breed specific information about training and behavior. She has owned and trained Australian Shepherds for 20 years and competes in agility with her Aussies, Zoe and Music. An accomplished writer, Meredith won the 2004 Maxwell Award from the Dog Writers Association of America for her column on canine behavior.She lives in Newport NH with her husband John and 3 other Aussies.

Charlene Swainamer: Charlene has been involved with dog training for 20 years. After beginning at UVHS as a volunteer in 2002, Charlene progressed to teaching training classes at the Training Center and became a certified evaluator for Therapy Dog International (TDI) and the AKC program Canine Good Citizen (CGC).  Charlene is heavily involved in therapy dog work herself with her own former UVHS shelter dog, Olivia, who has just been named the 2006 Mid-Vermont and Mid-New Hampshire Red Cross Volunteer Pet of the Year in recognition of Charlene and Olivia¹s incredible contributions to the community.  Olivia and Charlene participate in UVHS¹s Paws to Read Program, visit schools and health care facilities, and provide community outreach and humane education at UVHS events.  

Charlene shares her life with four miniature Schnauzers, a Pug, a Golden Retriever, and five cats.

Meet our Training Assistants:

Kasandra Kenney: Kasandra has been working as a training assistant at UVHS for a little over a year. She is also a certified veterinary technician and works at the Animal Clinic of Enfield.  She is currently enrolled in the Animal Behavior College program to receive her dog training certification.

Kasandra has a wonderful 2yr old hound dog named Oliver Twist (who sometimes assists her in training classes) and 2 cats (Poppy & Atreyu). Oliver recently received his CGC/TDI title and is now a member of the Paws to Read program. Kasandra has taken various classes (everything from puppy foundation to agility) with her partner-in-crime hound.

Kasandra enjoys working with dogs of all ages and sizes and her passion is in watching the human-animal bond grow as a dog/handler team work together. Kasandra's dog training philosophy: positive reinforcement is where it's atS always train with a smile.

Lynda Merriam: Lynda Merriam began volunteering with the Upper Valley Humane Society (UVHS) in September 2003 after her beloved Black Labrador "Luna" passed from heart disease. Aware she was not ready for the responsibility of another dog, but missing the "fur fix" her companion provided her, she became a volunteer at UVHS.

Upon arriving at UVHS, Lynda was pleased to learn that UVHS used positive reinforcement training methods when training both shelter and general public dogs. Lynda's interest in learning to read dog behavior, as well as understanding the bond built between humans and canines during training, lead her to want to acquire her own training skills.

Volunteering with the Shelter/Animal Care Center canine program, Lynda was able to build her training skills and assist homeless dogs in becoming adoptable… all while she was receiving her "fur fix"! Over the following two (2) years, Lynda followed the guidelines set forth in the Volunteer Program curriculum and eventually became an assistant trainer.

Lynda currently shares her home with "Woody", a young, blonde Golden Retriever. Woody has taken many classes at UVHS, and has recently received his certificate as a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Therapy Dog (TDI) from the American Kennel Club (AKC).