Meet our Trainers
Bea Moore
Training Director
Classes: Show Novice, Show Rally
Biography: Bea has been involved with training dogs since 1984, when she joined Town and Country DTC. She has trained three dogs to a UD title, earned many Rally titles, put Champion Tracker titles on two dogs, and earned Agility titles, field titles, Barn Hunt titles, Freestyle titles and CGC / TDI certificates. Her dogs have worked as Therapy dogs over the years in Senior Day Care Centers, Alzheimer Units and Assisted Living facilities.
She has been an Obedience trainer since 1998 and a Rally trainer since April 2003. Her tracking experience began in 1994 and she occasionally teaches tracking.
She is an AKC Obedience Judge and an AKC Rally Judge.
Bea trains and teaches using only ‘Positive Reinforcement – Force Free’ methods, which include the use of treats, toys, motivation and operant training. Using these methods along with heeling, retrieving, jumping, stays and recalls constitute a well balanced team for competition.
She is currently working/competing with her dog in obedience, rally, RallyFrEe, freestyle, tracking, barn hunt and nose work.
Cathy Leavitt
Classes: Introduction to Rat Sports, Urban Challenge Games, Intermediate Manners, Clicks for Tricks
Cathy Leavitt has completed Karen Pryor’s Dog Trainer Program and regularly attends workshops with experts such as Susan Clothier, Ken Ramirez and Kellie Connell to expand her dog training skill set. She has been an educator for 17 years and taught dog training classes for the past 8 years.
Cathy has raised several puppies. One of her current dogs, Sachi a Dutch Shepherd, was feral as a puppy and had to be netted to be caught. She came to Cathy at 4 months old after being spayed and through reinforcement based training and time, she now is a well-adjusted dog that gets along with both people and dogs and can go anywhere. Cathy is well equipped to help you get your puppy off to a good start.
Cathy also competes in and judges both Barn Hunt and NASDA events. She competes at both the regional and national level with her dogs consistently in the top 50. Additionally, as an event host for both sports, Cathy is in a unique position to help you learn rat sports and get a solid foundation for your dog.
Ani Elmaoglu, KPA-CTP
Classes: Basic Manners, Clicks for Tricks, Better Leash Manners and Recall, Intermediate Manners
Biography: Ani has been a volunteer in the Bay Area at various shelters for the past 20+ volunteers. For the past 8 years, she has been a volunteer with San Jose Animal Advocates, networking the dogs at-risk of euthanasia at the San Jose Animal Care Center. She fosters for Every Pet’s Dream rescue, and has been an active dog socializer at the SJACS. For the past 1.5 years, she has also been working at Petco Unleashed in Willow Glen as a Dog Trainer. She is currently working on her certification for Karen Pryor Academy. Ani loves clicker training and has 5 dogs of her own, 1 foster dog, and 1 foster kitten.
Ani is a certified AKC CGC and S.T.A.R Puppy Evaluator.
Laura Tsuk
Classes: Paws & Play : Agility Basics, Intermediate Manners
Laura Tsuk has been dedicated to the world of dog obedience and agility since 1996. Throughout this time, she has successfully trained and titled numerous dogs in Rally Obedience, Agility, and Canine Good Citizen (CGC) programs.
Laura’s journey in dog training began with teaching puppy obedience classes for the Santa Clara Dog Training Club (DTC) from 2008 to February 2012. These classes focused on essential puppy obedience skills, socialization, and included STAR puppy testing.
Laura was been an integral part of Ace Dog Sports, where she taught a wide range of agility classes. From Introduction to Agility and Beginning Agility, which emphasize foundational skills, to ongoing advanced classes, Laura’s comprehensive approach ensures each dog reaches its full potential. She has also contributed to the field through her video and photography work for instructional content by Sandy Rogers and Clean Run Magazine.
As a certified CGC evaluator, Laura has offered CGC and Trick dog testing at various events, including the Wannabe Run Boston Terrier Fun Day. This annual event, organized by the breeder of her Boston Terriers, raises funds for rescue efforts.
Laura’s extensive experience and dedication make her a valuable asset to the canine training community, helping both dogs and their owners achieve excellence in obedience and agility.
Kathy Childers
Classes: Focussed Heeling, Fit Dog!
Biography: Kathy grew up riding, and showing horses. She became involved in dog training about four years ago when she brought her first Belgian Malinios, Kimber, home. Kimber, loves to learn and play, and pushed her to become a trainer, and expand into the world of companion events.Kimber earned her Rally Novice title, and earned an intermediate Trick Dog Title. Kimber also earnedher Nosework I title while handled by Kathy’s husband. Another Malinois, Ruger, came to Kathy in 2014. Ruger has completed his Odor Recognition Tests for nosework in Birch, Anise, and Clove. The areas of training Kathy enjoys most are engagement, play, and relationship building; she sees the three interconnected to whatever goals one has with their dog, whether it be as a beloved companion, or sport dog partner.
Kathy is also an AKC certified Fit Dog Instructor. In addition, she is also a Certified Canine Fitness Instructor (CCFT) through the FitPaws/University of Tennessee
Lynn Ungar
Topics: RallyFrEe & Musical FreeStyle
Biography: Lynn Ungar started obedience training as a child in 1974 with noted local trainer Judie Howard. She put a UD on her first competition dog and a CDX on her second before going off to college. She came back to dog training in 2002, taking classes with her Bernese Mountain Dog Coretta at San Lorenzo Dog Training Club. In addition to obedience, Lynn also took up rally obedience and canine musical freestyle (choreographed routines to music with dogs) with Coretta. Lynn has competed successfully in the sport of Canine Musical Freestyle (aka Dancing with Dogs) since 2004, earning multiple championship titles.
Lynn also competes at the champion level in the new sport of Rally FrEe, which combines musical freestyle with rally obedience.
Through musical freestyle Lynn was introduced to clicker training, and she has been studying and practicing scientifically-based positive training ever since. Her passion is for training that is precise, creative and fun for both the human and canine members of the team. She has been teaching obedience at SLDTC for close to ten years, and also teaches private lessons for a variety of dog sports.
Lynn shares her life with two Australian Shepherds: Piper who, amongst some 25 titles, has a UD and three musical freestyle championships (two different organizations) as well as being Lynn’s first dog to compete in the new sport of Rally FrEe (which combines Rally Obedience and Musical Freestyle); and Piper’s younger half-brother Tesla, who at the age of two is titled in rally, obedience, Rally FrEe, agility and musical freestyle. Tesla is also the very first dog to complete the foundation series of the new TEAM titles through the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, with his TEAM 3+ title.
Denise Gormish
Denise Gormish has been training and trialing dogs in canine dog sports for 20 years. She has titled dogs in obedience, rally, tracking, agility, NoseWork and Scent Work.
She has also participated in pet therapy. Her favorite dog sports are the scent events of tracking, NoseWork and Scent Work. She enjoys watching dogs learn the scenting games, take charge of scenting and do amazing things with their noses.
Denise has titled in NACSW NoseWork, AKC Scent Work, AKC tracking and ASCSA tracking with her English Cocker Spaniels. She enjoys taking dog training classes, reading and discussing dog training to learn more about dogs, best training practices and to facilitate the best dog and handler relationship.
Alamelu Sankaranarayanan
Classes: Foundations for Competitive Obedience, ReALLY Fun.
Biography: Ever since childhood, Alamelu has been fascinated by dogs and the human-canine relationship. So, when she got her first dog, Murphy, she found herself drawn into the world of canine behavior and relationship-based training. She has been training Murphy for Rally, Obedience, Field (Retriever) Training, Dock Diving, Tricks and Nosework. And Murphy has been training her for longer and more challenging hikes, being more empathetic and learning to live in the moment.
Alamelu has a degree in Computer Engineering, and a passion for problem solving – whether this involves bringing her clicker out and shaping “custom” behaviors, figuring out how her dog thinks and works, or integrating technology into the dog training world (she has written apps and co-produced videos for Rally training).
Alamelu believes that clear communication is very important for a healthy and happy relationship between a dog and handler and uses that as a foundational principle in her training. She has worked with Murphy to help him earn his CGC, CGCA, TKN, TKI, RA. She has also been active as a board member, substitute trainer and class secretary at TCDTC, and has taken several classes at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and has attended several seminars by world class dog trainers like Denise Fenzi, Michele Pouliot, Julie Flanery, Shade Whitesel, Amy Cook, Hannah Brannigan & Janice Gunn. She is currently working towards her Fenzi Sports Foundation Certificate.