Click a name to jump down to your instructor’s bio:
- Cynthia Langford, ANWI
- E. Foley, CPDT-KA
- Jacqui Reardon, CNWI
- Joyce Loebig, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA
- Kelly Burgdorf, KPA-CTP
- Linlin Cao, CPDT-KA, CCUI
- Lisa Arant, CPDT-KA
- Marnie Montgomery, PMCT4, CPDT-KA
- Melissa Dilla, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
- Sarah Stoycos, KPA-CTP
- Susan Sanderson, PMCT3, KPA-CTP
Administrators:
- Debra Ekman, Founder
- Nicole Wright, Training Coordinator
Sarah Stoycos, KPA-CTP
Sarah’s goal is helping dogs become happy, healthy life-long companions to their people. A former college professor who loves to teach, Sarah enjoys meeting new people and showing them ways to communicate better with their dogs.
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Lisa Arant, CPDT-KA
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Susan Sanderson, PMCT3, KPA-CTPSusan’s practice centers around force-free, rewards-based dog training and behavior work. She offers group classes and private lessons throughout the Washington, DC area.
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Marnie Montgomery, PMCT4, CPDT-KAMarnie’s training approach draws on 20+ years’ experience in diverse areas of adult education honed through study and experience in Tellington TTouch and rewards-based methods of dog training and stress reduction.
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E. Foley, CPDT-KA
(Contact E.) |
Jacqui Reardon, ANWI
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Joyce Loebig, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA
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Melissa Dilla, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, CBBC-KA
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Linlin Cao, Ph.D., CPDT-KA, CCUI
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Kelly Burgdorf, KPA-CTP
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Cynthia Langford, ANWI
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Nicole Wright, Training Center CoordinatorNicole provides administrative support, including managing class registrations, scheduling and responding to your email inquiries. |
Debra Ekman, Founder
Debra founded Your Dog’s Friend in 2006. She is an Animal Behavior College Certified Dog Trainer (ABCDT), but has retired from teaching. Debra organizes all of Your Dog’s Friend’s free workshops and the newsletter. |
Owner/trainer of 
E’s headfirst dive into dog behavior began when she adopted Titania, a fearful cocker spaniel. She discovered her passion for fearful dog rehab, most recently working one-on-one with cocker mixes rescued from a backyard breeder. E advises other foster parents of fearful dogs and helps manage Debbie Jacobs’ Facebook support group for fearful dog owners. E assisted in many classes at Your Dog’s Friend prior to obtaining her certification.
Jacqui has been teaching K9NW® classes since May 2017. She started her nose work journey with her chocolate labs Blake and Chip when Blake was a puppy (he is now 6 years old). Hunter, her new puppy, will be taking his Odor Recognition Test (ORT) in August 2020 and has his novice tricks title and his junior jumper title as well. Chip is now retired with his first NW3 title and several element titles and Blake has earned his NW3-Elite title and numerous element titles, in addition to competing in dock dogs, fast cat, and rally. Blake also competes in AKC scent work at the advanced level, Performance Scent Dogs at the novice level and recently attended the PA nose work camp. Jacqui also volunteers at trials and attends seminars to further her knowledge and to watch dogs work to solve increasingly complex scent puzzles and build their confidence!
Joyce strives to develop training solutions that meet both the dog’s and their family’s needs. She loves looking at the world from the dog’s point of view. Joyce is experienced in teaching classes and workshops for basic and advanced manners, puppy socialization, leash walking, reactive dogs, tricks and many other behaviors. She has volunteered in several foster dog and animal welfare organizations in the area.
Melissa and Bodhi, her Collie, work as a therapy dog team and Bodhi is also a certified R.E.A.D. dog. They’re titled and active in a variety of dog sports such as Obedience, Rally, Coursing, FCAT, Barn Hunting, Scent Work, Conformation, Tricks, and Herding. They’ve also earned the CGC, CGCA, CGCU, ATT, and Farm Dog titles as well. Melissa instructs several levels of Tricks and CGC classes and conducts evaluations at a local volunteer dog training club. She’s stewarded at club trials, and piloted the project of Fit Dog. Melissa and Bodhi contributed several admissions to the AKC PupPals program. She’s also volunteered with Hero Dogs for several years.
Linlin specializes in fearful, reactive and aggressive dog training. She enjoys applying her knowledge of canine behavior and the science of learning to improve the dog’s behavior and the owner and dog’s quality of life. Linlin received full scholarship to The Aggression in Dogs Master Course and is currently training to become a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer (CPCFT) because she believes it is important to help the dog’s mind and body. Linlin also enjoys dog sports and competes in Nosework and Rally/Obedience with her dogs Niko and Sunny.
Kelly’s interest in animal behavior was sparked by training her anxious golden retriever, Luna. Together they took nearly every class Your Dog’s Friend has to offer. These days they practice Rally-O for fun and spend time exploring the parks around their home. In addition to her dogs, Kelly has clicker trained her three cats and her horse. Kelly assisted in many classes at Your Dog’s Friend before working towards her certification.
Cynthia currently runs nose work with her dogs Bruce Wayne, Mr. Tim Drake, and The Mighty Peanut. Bruce was the puppy who had too much energy and is a born competitor. Tim was born feral, scared of his own shadow and had no idea how to be a dog,. The Mighty Peanut is chaos in a ten pound package and is the most challenging one to run. Cynthia spent many years working in shelters and learned of the power of nose work to help a dog build confidence. She apprenticed during her NACSW instructor training under Jacy Kelley and Walt Feno of Canine Copilots.