Agility Instructors

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Stephen McKay, CPDT-KSA

Stephen has been involved in agility since 1998. A recurring national qualifier, he has earned six AKC Master Agility Championships (MACH) as well as over eight dozen additional agility titles in three agility venues. Past and current teammates include a Golden Retriever, two Shetland Sheepdogs and a West Highland White Terrier. His upcoming teammate, a Border Collie, will complete his pursuit of competition in almost every jump height. Positive reinforcement training philosophies, games, play, and operant conditioning are used by Stephen to benevolently build the solid foundation skills and advanced competition skills necessary for teams to be successful.

Stephen is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA). In addition to agility, canine behavior is a primary interest to him. Education is a constant priority with regular seminar attendance, books and instructional DVDs utilized to expand his knowledge of behavior, learning theory, training and coaching skills. Stephen was instrumental in the development and implementation of PCOTC's Family Manners Program, is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and runs McKay9 Dog Training LLC with his wife Jamie, who is also a Certified Professional Trainer (CDPT-KSA) and fellow PCOTC instructor.

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, a Golden Retriever and a Border Collie. Stephen can be reached at goweave@optonline.net.

Lisa Topol

Lisa has been competing in agility for over ten years, and in that time, she has excelled with dogs of multiple breeds and sizes at the highest levels of competition. She is especially proud that she has found her greatest success with rescue dogs (her mixed breed dogs Schmutzy and Plop).

Competing primarily in USDAA and UKI, as well as AKC, among her most recent accomplishments:

  • 2017 Cynsoports World Games: (Schmutzy) 20”perf speed jumping finalist (4th) , perf grand prix finalist (4th). (Plop) 14”steeplechase finalist, gamblers bronze medal, jumpers bronze medal, fifth place overall team (among 180 teams)

  • 2017 UKI Northeast Cup: (Schmutzy) 22” biathlon silver medal, games bronze medal, speedstakes silver medal, top overall dog. (Plop) 16” biathlon gold medal,

  • 2017 Northeast Regional: (Schmutzy) 20” perf speed jumping silver medal

  • 2017 Mid Atlantic Regional: (Schmutzy ) 20”perf speed jumping gold medal, biathlon gold medal, perf grand prix silver medal, team gold medal, top overall dog. (Plop) 14” steeplechase silver medal, grand prix bronze medal.

  • 2017 Mid Atlantic Showcase: (Schmutzy) 20” triathlon gold medal

  • 2016 New England Regionals: (Schmutzy) 22” grand prix silver medal , (Plop) 14” biathlon silver medal

  • 2013: Cynosports World Games (Schmutzy) 22” gamblers gold medal

  • 2013: Canadian Regionals (Schmutzy) 22” biathlon gold medal

  • 2013 CCOA champ/IFCS tryouts: (Schmutzy) 26” steeplechase silver medal, gamblers bronze medal

In terms of her own training, Lisa’s biggest influence is Kris Seiter, with whom she continues to train. She has also trained extensively with Mary Ellen Barry, Rachel Sanders, Jen Pinder, Val Henry, Rosanne DeMascio, Svetlana Tumanova, as well as the Finnish One Mind team. She has also worked with Linda Mecklenburg and Jennifer Crank. 

As such, while Lisa is fluent in the most popular systems used today, she is not beholden to one training system and strongly believes in supporting whatever methods work best for a particular team. In the end, Lisa believes it comes down to building a great, trusting, and happy foundation that can grow and strengthen throughout a dog’s career. 

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Heather Witt

Heather Witt began her agility adventures with her 110 lb Leonberger in 2007. When Heather first got her tiny tri Sheltie, she quickly became hooked on the sport of agility and has traveled across the country and to Finland in her quest to learn how to improve at the sport she adores. She became a OneMind Dog certified agility Instructor, and has also been learning about the mental management aspects of competition and training. She and her small Sheltie, Rowan, were invited onto the IFCS Development team in 2017 and have made it to IFCS’ Team USA 2020.

Heather enjoys teaching all levels of agility, and competing in her free time. She competes with her two wee Shelties in UKI, USDAA, and AKC.

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Some of Heather’s accomplishments:
Canada Cup 2020 by Video National Finals Winner, Masters Series
Winner, Speedstakes Winner, Games Challenge Winner, Biathlon Winner.
IFCS TEAM USA 2020
2019 USDAA Masters Challenge Agility Cup 3rd overall and 2nd Games Challenge
2019 UKI US Open Last Chance Winner
2019 UKI US Open Speedstakes and Masters Series Finalist
2019 USDAA NE Regionals DAM Team 1st place
2019 USDAA NE Regionals Biathlon 1st place
2019 USDAA MId Atlantic Regional Steeplechase 1st place
2019 UKI NE Cup Speedstakes Challenge 2nd place
2019 Cynosports 6th place Team Snooker and 7th Place Team Standard
USDAA Contact Agility Overall Biathlon Winner 2018 and 2019
2018 UKI NE Cup Games Challenge 2nd place