The Educated Canine

Victoria Hynes became interested in obedience training and competition after acquiring her first dog, Shadow CDX CGC TT TDI (pictured at right), in 1982. Despite her novice errors, Shadow became the #2 obedience Cairn Terrier in the U.S. in 1989 (Shuman Ranking System) and earned placements for two of his three Open qualifying "legs." Shadow was six years old when he began his compeititive obedience career, clearly demonstrating that you can teach an old dog new tricks. He was a wonderful ambassador for the breed. As a therapy dog, Victoria & Shadow visited numerous facilities where "Dr. Shadow" always charmed the patients with his repertorie of tricks.

Dedicated to continually learning about dog behavior, Victoria attended the Association of Pet Dog Trainer's multi-day seminar in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1996 as well as seminars by some of the top dog trainers in the country, including Dr. Ian Dunbar, Gary Wilkes, Anne Marie Silverton, Shirley Chong, Sandra Davis and Bernie Brown. She has been teaching obedience classes at All Care Veterinary Hospital for more than ten years. Her current "demo dogs" include Ch. Merson's Hammerin' Hank RN CGC TT HIC and Spitfire Atachalfal Aya Katrina CD RE CGC TT ("Katie). Victoria has qualified 100% of the time while competing in Rally. Hank finished his RN title with a score of 96 followed by a perfect 100 the following day. Katie tied for first place at her first two Rally Novice trials with a score of 99 each day. More recently, she finished her Rally Excellent title with three first places and a third place.