Instructors

Kris Seiter-Aleksandr - Director of Agility Training

Always informally training animals as a kid, Kris seriously began training dogs 16 years ago, starting with competitive obedience. After 8 years of successfully showing in competitive obedience, Kris's interest turned to the sport of Dog Agility.

For the last 10 years, Kris has trained and competed in the Dog Agility. Kris has earned over 150 Agility titles with nine different dogs to the Championship level from the three largest Agility Associations in the United States. Kris and her Border Collie Lochlan have appeared in the Final Events at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 USDAA World Cynosport Games in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Kris trains about 150 students weekly in the NY and NYC area and helps her students develop great relationships with their dogs. One of Kris's main goals is to inspire her students to love working with their dogs and to develop the confidence in their own training to not only build stronger bonds, but enable them to reach their individual goals within the sport.

Kris clicker trains all foundation behaviors by free shaping and helps her students use these positive reinforcement based methods. Clicker training builds confidence and confident dogs perform without hesitation. In any agility partnership between dog and handler, Kris stresses trust in each other which evolves into dynamic, fast agility teams.

Kris has appeared in several dog-related Magazines with her dogs and has written various articles on training based themes. Kris's dogs have also been featured on television and movie promotion work.

Kris has been serving as the Agility Training Director for Port Chester Obedience Club for the last 6 years. Her program offers all levels of agility training from Beginner foundation to the Master's level.

Contact Kris via email at kris@noordelijk.com

R. Christopher (Chris) Aleksandr

A natural athlete and semi-professional hockey player, Chris has been training, competing and handling in agility since 2008. Although relatively new to agility, Chris is not new to teaching, having trained children in the sport of hockey for over seven years. Chris' love of teaching shows in the pride he has for his student's accomplishments and more important, their enjoyment in and recreation with their dogs.

Chris took to the performance sport of dog agility with an expertise in movement. He is a professional agility handler, currently handling five different dogs in competition for clients, and handled Lochlan, a world-ranked Border Collie, at the 2010 USDAA World Games, placing 9th in Team Standard, 26" division.

With his easy-going nature, Chris teaches his students with patience and understanding. Chris structures his classes with clear, straightforward instruction that enables each student to learn at his/her own pace. Chris is able to adapt his training to tailor to individual student needs.

Chris and his wife Kris own and operate Noordelijk Enterprises, Inc., which offers dog training services. In that venue Chris provides agility training from beginner through advanced levels, works with dogs with behavior problems, and instructs students who need basic training. In addition, Chris and Kris take on aggression cases from rescue organizations and animal shelters in the NY Metro area.

Chris is actively involved in herding with his Hungarian Mudi, Ugri; American Eskimo, Sparky; and the four family Border Collies (Lochlan, War, Flame, and Bratska). Students can reach Chris at chris@noordelijk.com.

Mary Champagne

Mary Champagne has been involved in the sport of dog agility since 1993. Mary started training agility with her rescue dogs for something to do and has since made it her lifelong career. She has trained multiple breeds from a top ten Pomeranian, Shiver MAD, 2nd place medal at USDAA National Team Snooker, top 15 in 12" Tournament standings for the same year; Border Collies; mixes of unknown pedigree; and Australian Cattle Dogs.

Her young Cattle dog, ADCH Bug, made the Grand Prix and Steeplechase Semi Finals at the USDAA Nationals in October 2010 in a class that's generally dominated by Border Collies. Her newest addition to the pack is an English Shepherd puppy.

Mary has developed a very strong foundation for agility protocol to prepare dogs for agility whether they just want to play in the backyard or compete with the big dogs.

Stephen McKay, CPDT-KSA

Stephen began teaching agility at PCOTC in 2005 after training and competing in the sport for seven years. He has earned over five dozen agility titles in AKC, USDAA and NADAC with a Golden Retriever, two Shetland Sheepdogs and a West Highland White Terrier. Utilizing a positive reinforcement training philosophy, incorporating games, play and operant conditioning, he strives to make the learning experience fun for both handlers and dogs as they develop the skills and teamwork necessary to be successful in the sport.

Stephen is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and devotes as much free time as possible to advancing his teaching, training and coaching skills. He is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and regularly attends seminars to expand his knowledge of behavior, learning theory and training methods. He was instrumental in the development of PCOTC's Family Manners Program and is currently an active member of the PCOTC Board of Directors in the position of House Director.

As a volunteer trainer at the New Rochelle Humane Society, Stephen and his wife Jamie apply their skills to the training of new shelter volunteers and the behavioral modification of shelter dogs. Stephen and Jamie are currently owned and loved by their two Shelties, a Westie and a Golden Retriever. Stephen can be reached at goweave@optonline.net

Kim Seiter

Kim has been involved in many aspects of competitive dog sports for the last 20 years and brings a unique behavioral approach to her training methods. Originally working German Shepherds in competitive obedience, she trained under renowned obedience trainer and competitor Elwood Wilson. After several years in the obedience world, Kim moved on to the conformation ring, showing toy breeds.

Kim has actively been training and competing in the sport of Agility for the last 12 years with multiple breeds. To date, Kim has obtained over 150 Agility titles with eight of her dogs and competes on a national level in USDA and AKC. Kim's goal with her own dogs is to train each dog to their individual potential. With some it has been just to be good companions and others have been able to be top performance dogs; either way, they are all happy and balanced in life.

Kim's training approach is based on building a strong relationship and communicating using the principles of operant conditioning. She trains all foundation behaviors with a clicker and play-based methods, maximizing the bond between dog and handler. Kim truly enjoys the process of teaching both humans and animals.

In addition to Agility, Kim specializes in working with difficult rescue dogs, evaluating and designing a training program that suits the needs of each individual dog. Kim has worked with many rescue groups assisting in evaluating and placement of animals in need.

Please email Kim directly if you are enrolled in her class and have inquiries.