Meet the Team
The staff of The Dog Classroom is trained by Anne-Marie Mayes to ensure consistency in using the most up-to-date, scientifically sound training methods. All of our instructors are either Certified Professional Dog Trainers or working toward becoming certified!
Anne-Marie Mayes CPDT-KA RVT BSc
Owner / Head Trainer / Reactive Dog Classes / Behaviour Consultant
Anne-Marie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and a practicing Registered Veterinary Technician with a calling for helping dogs and their owners. She has over 20 years of experience handling and working with dogs and cats in a variety of different situations. Anne-Marie also holds a Bachelor of Science degree.
Anne-Marie provides Behaviour Consultations for issues such as reactivity/aggression, anxiety, fearfulness, and more. Anne-Marie strongly believes in the value of continuing education and provides opportunities for her staff to continue to learn as well. She recently completed a program to become a Fear Free Certified Professional. She also regularly attends online webinars, as well as in-person seminars such as Clicker Expo to learn from top trainers and behaviourists from around the world. This allows her to have a better perspective with clients and dogs in the vet clinic as well as relating it to dogs attending group classes.
Anne-Marie's husband and two children all help out with The Dog Classroom as well as her five dogs (and Henry the cat who likes to visit)
Amelia P. CPDT-KSA
Group Class Instructor / Private Lessons / Behaviour Consultant
Amelia is a full-time Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA) who apprenticed under Anne-Marie and has been training with The Dog Classroom for 10 years. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree.
She focuses on teaching dog owners how to use positive reinforcement to train their dogs in all areas including puppy life skills, pet dog obedience and manners, agility training, scent work, and more.
Amelia has three rescue dogs and enjoys working with them each in different areas. Holly (12 year old German Shepherd mix) is a retired Therapy Dog as well as a helper for reactive dogs; Stark (10 year old Husky mix) is a retired Agility competitor with titles from NADAC and ASCA, as well as Trick Dog Titles; the newest addition, Nugget (3 year old Chihuahua mix) is an eager and smart little one who loves nothing more than a game of tug and is learning agility as well.
Mike J.
Group Class Instructor
Mike has been teaching group classes for over 10 years and continues to expand his knowledge and gain experience as he works toward his CPDT-KA Certification through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. He enjoys clicker training with his American Bulldog mix Delilah and his 1 year old Bullmastiff, Augustus
Kelsey M.
Group Class Instructor / Walk n Train / Private Lessons / Stay & Train
Kelsey completed her apprenticeship under Anne-Marie and Amelia in 2021 and has since been busy with a wide range of classes and programs. Kelsey teaches group classes including Beginning with Basics, The Next Step and Branching out. She also teaches and designed curriculums for Scent Games, Retrieve classes, the Big Brain Toolbox, and various webinars. In addition to group classes, Kelsey also offers private lessons as well as Stay & Train and Walk & Train programs.
Kelsey has a German Shorthaired Pointer named Styx who trains in a variety of areas including Scentwork, Obedience, Retrieve and Gundog skills, and competes in Agility.
Kelsey holds an Honours Bachelor Degree of Applied Behavior Analysis and finds that she can apply many of the concepts from her field to both the human and dog ends of the leash.
Kelsey loves meeting all dogs and has a particular interest in high-drive sporting and working breeds. She believes that gundogs (and any breed) can be reliably trained without aversive methods and continues to work towards her dog training certification to assist more owners in achieving their training goals.
Shavonn D.
Group Class Instructor
Shavonn completed her apprenticeship under Anne-Marie and Amelia and has been teaching classes since 2019. Shavonn is very interested in learning as much as possible when it comes to dog training. She is searching for as many opportunities to expand her knowledge and gain experience, with the goal to work towards CPDT-KA Certification through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Shavonn originally came to The Dog Classroom in 2016 for reactive classes for her rescue mutt, Spud Webb, and was hooked on learning to help build their bond and relationship. She and Spud have taken a particular interest in agility training and are hoping to compete in agility trials in the future.
Steph D. IAABC-ADT
Group Class Instructor / Private Lessons
Steph is Thunder Bay's first IAABC (International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants) Accredited Dog Trainer.
She was first introduced to positive reinforcement training when she attended Reactive Dog Class with her oldest dog, Lotti, back in 2017. She has been regularly attending classes with all 3 of her rescue dogs ever since.
Her dogs Jack and Hankie help demo in Walkin’ & Recall and Parkour classes, and occasionally help support reactive dogs learn to work around and greet neutral dogs.Steph also teaches group classes including Walking & Recall, Parkour, and Reactive Dog Classes, as well as offering private lessons and consultations. She regularly searches for opportunities to continue her education, with a special interest in helping owners to better understand their anxious, fearful and reactive dogs. She was initially drawn to training through her involvement in rescue work and fostering, and from seeing how positive reinforcement can help strays and rescues build confidence, trust, and the skills needed to be successfully adopted to forever families. Outside of instructing, Steph is also an avid rescue volunteer and advocate, and has taken part in therapy animal work with her dog, Jack.
Krista P.
Beginning with Basics Instructor (English/Finnish)
Krista has had dogs her entire life. She originally came to The Dog Classroom to take Reactive Dog Class with her oldest mixed breed mutt Joki (river in Finnish). Now she is excited to continue her training in Agility with her puppy Kesä (summer in Finnish). Positive reinforcement training has not only helped her own dogs, but also the strays and rescues she has fostered.
When Krista is not training dogs, she works as a High School Mathematics Teacher. With a Bachelor of Education degree, Krista is passionate about helping others through sharing knowledge. She is equally passionate about successfully incorporating dogs into busy human lives, so as a trainer, she has a special interest in helping owners build the relationships and skills they need to successfully bring their dogs wherever they go!
Serena V.
Beginning with Basics Instructor (on Maternity leave)
Alysia C.
Group Class Instructor
bio coming soon