A Rottweiler with a lot of attitude brought my husband and me to Bob in search of help. We both learned so much; it changed our life with our dog. Even though Panzer is no longer with us, I've stayed on with Bob. I thoroughly enjoy helping owners learn to communicate with their dogs. It makes me very happy to have the opportunity to share everything I have learned with the dogs and people who come to class. I work at a local law firm and I also enjoy riding horses and motorcycles (when the weather chooses to cooperate here in Rochester) in my free time.
Born and raised in tropical eastern Australia, but matured here in Rochester NY, I initially came to the US to work at the University of Rochester and research the effect of blood flow on the development of atherosclerosis. Apart from my research, I have always lived and worked with animals starting with my parents’ German Shepherd kennel in Australia to now preparing my own German Shepherd, Voodoo, for competition level tracking and obedience. In between, I was involved with breeding show pigeons, chased by a pack of dingoes on one occasion, bitten on another, ran with the bulls in Spain and recently began training my cat, Lola, using free-shaping techniques.
I have been training my dog with Bob Minchella since early 2010 and at the time was “that guy with the unfocused and reactive puppy that barked at everyone and mugged all the smaller puppies.” Now the results of patience and persistence are obvious. I experienced first hand the development of a clear communication and an enduring relationship with my dog, which though often overlooked, are ideally the goal of any obedience training.
In April 2011, I was asked to become an assistant and quickly discovered a deep fascination with animal learning and behavior. I am proud to join Bob and assist in his tireless effort to keep dogs out of the sometimes one-way doors of animal shelters and my hope is that I can help people experience for themselves the benefits of training as I have with my own dog, and have some fun along the way.
Jean is an Executive Secretary at Nazareth College for Technology and Campus Operations.
She has been volunteering at Lollypop since January 1995 starting out as a dog walker. Worked with Bob Minchella with Animals Participating in Training (APT) from March 1998 through February 2000, assisting Bob in obedience classes and teaching in his absence for many years along with attending tracking classes. Attended obedience classes for 6 months prior to working with Bob. She supports the Pet Peeves Helpline, foster cats and various other jobs at the shelter. She has 4 cats one is involved in Pet Assisted Therapy and 3 dogs, Dexter, a black lab 10 years old adopted from Lollypop has 9 years of obedience and is a certified “Canine Good Citizen” (CGC), Bentley, mixed breed 1 year old and Lulu a cairn terrier 6 years old both of which attend obedience classes. She has attended Turken Training.
I first met Bob at one of his lectures as part of a mandatory training for volunteer dog walkers at a local shelter. As I listened to Bob that day, I just knew that once I found "the dog for me" I would end up in one of his classes; I wouldn't need to look any further for the right trainer. His blend of compassion and humor combined with an uncanny ability to size up the relationship between the human and canine truly stand out for me class after class.
Just as I was ready for a dog, I found a cute face on the downtown website and couldn't resist. As luck would have it, Abigail was marked "mandatory obedience." No class, no dog. I can still remember our first class. I know everyone worries their dog is going to be the worst in the room; but, on that night, my girl took that prize. Every time Bob tried to talk, Abigail would start barking, stopping only when Bob stopped talking. He simply reached out and held onto her leash. She was very quiet when sitting with "Uncle Bob", which, admittedly, lasted for most of class. Bob has seen us through murky social skills, basic obedience, advanced obedience, orthopedic problems and quite a bit of reactivity. I appreciate his willingness to work through a challenging behavior and stick with a dog. With Bob's guidance, Abigail is well on her way to being domesticated. Abigail has since completed her Canine Good Citizen.
I look forward to "school days." Just when I think I know why I come, I learn something new that day. The benefits are seeing the relationship build, witnessing the moment when "understanding" happens, for human or canine, and those moments of flat out fun. Dogs love the agility, the rally-o and tracking classes. Abby and I took classes for about three years, before I began assisting. I recently began my first fostering experience. Again, Bob's knowledge has been most valuable. The dogs and I are currently owned by one tuxedo cat, Socks.
