I inherited my love of animals—especially horses and dogs—from my late father, and got my first puppy (a rat terrier) as a prize for being flower girl in my aunt and uncle’s wedding. I was pretty shy at the time but I was willing to do anything to have one of those puppies! Over the years our family has had quite a variety of dog breeds including Weimaraners, Pugs, Poodles, Rottweilers, Cockers, Great Danes and a Basenji. The one constant was that there were always dogs around!

Growing up I immersed myself in anything that had to do with horses or dogs. My teachers often expressed frustration that I needed to expand my reading repertoire to subjects other than these. I would watch animal trainers doing crazy feats with their critters, or read about them and I would imitate them, teaching my pony to step up on a pedestal and bow, or attempting to coerce the family cat to walk a tightrope! My brother remembers walking in the door one day after school to find us hosting a birthday party for my pony–with her colt and my best friend’s horse attending the party!

The first dog I was really capable of taking care of properly was a little Pug named Wanda who came along in my junior high years. My brother Allan had Wanda’s “husband” Wugsby and we were active in the Doggone 4-H Club led by a couple of professional handlers, Ted & Arlene Luke. Those 4-H years provided me with a wealth of wonderful information and hands-on experience and set me on the path to becoming not just a dog owner but a fairly capable trainer as well. Couple that with my God-given gift of “animal magnetism” and quirky creative sense of humor, and that pretty much explains how The Sittingbullies Gang grew into what it is today!

At the age of 14, I was pretty much given a “death sentence” when I was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive cancer called Fibrosarcoma. It started in the muscle of my left inner thigh and quickly spread, metastasizing to my lung–at which point the doctors deemed it “inoperable”. My parents were advised to think about allowing me to take some sort of special vacation to enjoy the little bit of life they expected I had left. So they scraped together what they could and sent me on a trip across the country to spend the summer with my best friend. At one point, the tumor returned in my leg muscle and the doctors were anticipating that they might have to amputate my entire leg. While I did lose part of one lung, I am very grateful to say that God had the final say and He decided to keep me around for a while longer. Decades later I have still have TWO legs that have been put to good use chasing four young sons around–including ten years of homeschooling, traveling around the country entertaining crowds with my bulldogs, and training & competing in all manner of doggy sports. And now in recent years I’m working on keeping up with the NEXT generation as I’ve stepped into the role of GRANDmother!

My Sittingbullies Gang has taken me on many wonderful adventures including appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, the Quarter-finals of America’s Got Talent (Season 6), Good Morning America, The Harry Show, dabbling in movie and commercial work, and even winning several national contests. In addition to training my dogs to do some crazy tricks, I have titled multiple dogs in Advanced Obedience, Rally, Agility, Coursing, Carting, Barn Hunt, Parkour, Breed Championships and more!

I love raising an occasional litter to carry on our incredible legacy and many of the pups who don’t stay on with me end up in some other amazing performance and/or show homes. I have bred several generations of BCA Platinum or Diamond Health Award recipients, several Hall of Fame Performance inductees and have shown several different dogs to BCA National High In Trial honors. Whether it’s in front of a crowd or camera, in the ring, or just cozying up on the couch, the gang and I have found lots of fun ways to enjoy each other’s company!

• 6 BCA Performance Hall of Fame Inductees (Gracie, Chubbs, Gabe, Luna, Moxie & Ducky)
• 14 BCA Platinum/Diamond Health Award Recipients
• 6 BCA National High In Trial Winners (Gracie-2000,Pip-2007,Gabe-2012,Ducky-2016,Solo-2019 & Livie-2023)
• 4 BCA Bulldogger Cover Dogs (Gracie, Chubbs, Moxie & Gabe)
• America’s Funniest Home Videos (Rosie-1990) 
• Second Place Winner on America’s Funniest People (Rosie-1992)
• National Video Winner Purina Beggin’ Strips
• Stupid Pet Trick Contest (Rosie-2001)
• Winner of Worldwide Fido Awards (Gabe-2008) Animal Trainer, “The Dogfather” (Gabe-2010)
• Winner of GMA “Top Dog” Competition (Gabe-2011)
• Avanti Press Photographer (2013)
• Trainer/Handler of AKC “ACE” Award Honoree (Gabe-2013)
• Appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman (Gabe-2012)
• Winner of Adam’s Smart Pets Contest (Ducky-2014)
• Winner of Harry Connick Jr.’s “Animal Idol” Competition (Gabe-2016)
• Winner of Daily Paws/Greenies “Pet Etiquette Fails” Contest (Besa-2020)
• Top Ten Finalist in World’s Most Amazing Dog Contest (Solo-2019)
• Stupid Pet Tricks Show (Solo-2024)

(Titles I personally have put on dogs):
OBeDiENCe: 1 Utility Dog Excellent Title (Gracie); 4 Utility Dog Titles (Gracie, Chubbs, Gabe & Ducky), 5 Companion Dog Excellent Titles (Rosie, Gracie, Chubbs, Gabe & Ducky), 9 Companion Dog Titles (Rosie, Bear, Chubbs, Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo & Besa), 4 Beginner Novice Titles (Ducky,Smooches, Livie & Solo)
RaLLY: 1 Rally Champion Title (Ducky), 3 Rally Master Titles (Ducky-RM4, Solo & Besa), 3 Rally Advanced Excellent Titles (Gabe, Ducky-RAE3 & Solo), 7 Rally Excellent Titles (Chubbs, Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo & Besa), 7 Rally Advanced Titles (Chubbs, Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo & Besa) & 11 Rally Novice Titles (Chubbs, Gabe, Angel, Gabby, Pirate, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo, Besa & Pickles)
AGiLiTY: 1 Open Standard Preferred Agility Title (Gabe), 2 Novice Standard Agility Preferred Titles (Gabe & Ducky), 1 Novice Agility Jumpers Preferred Title (Gabe), 1 NADAC Novice Agility Certificate (Gabe) & 1 NADAC Novice Tunnelers Title (Gabe)
COuRSiNG: 3 Coursing Ability Titles (Gabe, Ducky & Pirate) & 2 BCAT Fast CAT Coursing Titles (Solo & Besa)
CaRTiNG: 2 Novice Draft Dog Titles (Gabe & Ducky), 2 Brace Novice Draft Dog Titles (Gabe & Ducky) & 1 CKC Draft Dog Title (Gabe)
BaRN HuNT: 4 Barn Hunt Open Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Livie & Besa), 7 Barn Hunt Novice Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo, Besa & Pickles), 2 Barn Hunt Instinct Titles (Gabe & Ducky)
THeRaPY: 2 Therapy Dog Titles (Gabe & Ducky) & 2 TDI Therapy Certifications (Gabe & Ducky)
HeRDiNG iNSTiNCT: 2 Herding Instinct Certificates (Gabe & Ducky)
TRiCK DoG: 6 Trick Dog Elite Performer Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo & Besa), 6 Trick Dog Performer Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo & Besa), 7 Trick Dog Advanced Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo, Besa & Pickles), 7 Trick Dog Intermediate Titles (Gabe, Ducky, Smooches, Livie, Solo, Besa & Pickles) & 9 Trick Dog Novice Titles ((Gabe, Ducky, Angel, Smooches, Livie, Tank, Solo, Besa & Pickles)

I am the proud mother of four wonderful, caring, thoughtful & talented sons: Jared, Jacob, Marcus & Micah. We had a blast Homeschooling together for ten years and still love hanging out when we get the chance! The family has continued to grow and I have accumulated three beautiful “daughters” and eight perfectly amazing grandkiddos!