      |
|
  |
|
|
Read Devene's Blog
about Camping With Dogs Devene has been published in Walk about Magazine. See her articles here: Walk
the Dog
|
meet the instructors | meet the staff | news | links | testimonials | our graduate brags | community Devene Godau, CPDT-KA Devene Godau, CPDT-KA has had an obsession with dogs since she was old enough to say, "Can we get another dog?" In high school her mom sent her to work at a boarding kennel, hoping that cleaning up after 40 barking dogs would cause an overload and stop the obsession. Unfortunately, the ploy did not work. She obtained a BA in Journalism form Michigan State University in 1995, and spent several years working in marketing and graphic design. However, when she adopted a problem dog of her own, she began to research ways to modify behavior and found several mentors at Trainers Academy. She first started apprenticing as a volunteer trainer before quitting her marketing job to work full time in the dog world. She apprenticed with several instructors, including Trainers Academy president, Lisa (Laney) Patrona, for four years, working as her Assistant Instructor for two of those years. Devene has earned the title of Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers. In addition, she has earned certification of Instructor and Behavioral Counselor through the Trainers Academy Behavioral Sciences Program. Devene was one of the first trainers in Michigan to join the International Positive Dog Trainers Association and was nominated for a "Social Training Excellence" through the IPDTA in 2008. She continues her studies by attending professional seminars, which have included seeing speakers such as Jean Donaldson, Kathy Sdao and Brenda Aloff. In 2010 she attended ClickerExpo in Lexington, Kentucky where she attended sessions with Karen Pryor, Ken Ramirez, Emma Parsons, Helix Fairweather, Kay Laurence and Michele Pouliot. Devene has also completed Canine Musical Freestyle I, a course taught by Michele Pouliot through the Karen Pryor Academy. She teaches Puppy and Intermediate Classes and created the curriculum for Trainers Academy’s Greyhound’s Only Class, and the CGG Proofing Class. In addition, her written work has been published in The Association of Pet Dog Trainers Top Tips from Top Trainers: 1001 Practical Tips and Techniques for Successful Dog Care and Training, Walk About Magazine and on national websites such as greyhoundsupport.org, WOOFology.com and ConnectingNeighbors.com. Devene has been active with Greyhound and Galgo rescue for several years. When it became evident that she couldn't fit anymore large dogs in the car when she traveled (because all the dogs come along!) she decided it was time to start working with smaller breed rescues too. She has also fostered for Midwest Boston Terrier Rescue. She lives in Royal Oak with her husband, Mark, and their three kids. They are owned by Sparky, CGC, a Spanish Greyhound and Kharma, CGC, TDI and Sunny, CGC, TDI, retired racing Greyhounds. They also have 3 cats (one of which has been clicker trained). And she’s still asking, "Can we get another dog?" Read what Devene's students say: "Devene was excellent listening to what difficulties I was having and providing suggestions that would work for Nyah. Devene was a wonderful instructor and the volunteers were very helpful. I greatly appreciated everyone's advice, time, and concern for Nyah. I hope that we are able to make gains with our training so that she grows into a well-mannered dog inorder to participate in pet therapy and agility trials. I would recommend the puppy class to anyone and wish Nyah and I would have been able to take the intermediate class with Devene as well, however, with a hour and a half drive and daycare ending at 6:30 we had to take a Saturday class." - Puppy Class graduates Jennifer Kunst with Nyah "I thought the program was wonderful and my dog is now a social butterfly rather than the wallflower she was. Thanks sooooooooooo much" - Intermediate Class graduates Mary Lucy with Corky "I found the class very helpful in teaching me and Chewie training techniques. Devene did an excellent job and in addition, was very personable making the class even more enjoyable." - Intermediate Class graduates Laura Grandon with Chewie "Trainer’s Academy is very well organized and structured so that one skill builds upon another. The trainers were great listeners and were very helpful with each problem. Our dog presented some unique issues and we were very concerned. They helped us work through things and taught us ways to work through the issues. They showed compassion for each dog and wanted the training to be successful." Puppy & Intermediate Class graduates Nancy Gorga with Lucy
"Devene was especially helpful with our housebreaking
challenge. She called me a couple of times and just her
concern and reinforcement helped so much. It was her
encouragement of getting Sophie checked again for the
UTI that really helped. She told us to make sure we rule out
any physical reasons that Sophie was doing what she was
doing. Poor Sophie had suffered an additional 3 weeks with
this. In spite of the vet telling us she was fine earlier, we
had her checked again. Lo and behold the results showed a UTI
with a very neg. PH that resulted in burning for her and her
necessity to relieve that burning every time she felt it. The
meds are working! Devene, we ALL thank you SO much---we've all
stopped 'suffering'.
Thanks to the entire staff."
- Linda and Mark Mathews with Sophie
"Over the years I have owned several dogs and have been to different puppy classes. Trainers Academy has been the best puppy class I have ever been to....by far. The things that you expose the puppies to, like the barrel obstacles, really teach them self confidence in unfamiliar situations. I couldn't have been more impressed. Devene was wonderful and my puppy really liked her!" - Renee Kirkpatrick with Oliver
"Thank you. Your thorough planning, teaching, and
communicating the class lessons by email was extremely
helpful. We can't believe how well Casey's behavior is now.
We didn't think six weeks could have changed her for the
better, so quickly! Thank you! We can tell that all of you
just love dogs and your jobs. This was a great experience and
we'll be taking the Advanced Class soon!"
- Grant Miller with Casey "Devene seems to genuinely enjoy the dogs and has a fun sense of humor. She is patient with the people." - Karen Kulman with Ripley "We chose to attend Farmington Hills (Trainers Academy location) because Devene was teaching and we had her for puppy class with our (now 2-year-old) Westie, Quinn. She is excellent. We drove 120 miles round trip to attend the program, which is wonderful." - Mary Gaffney with Conor "I jumped at the chance to get
into the Greyhounds-only class. It's
wonderful to see a groups of these dogs working and interacting.
Lucy spooks
easily and Devene spotted this immediately and showed me how to
work with
her."
"I don’t think words can
ever express how grateful I am that Trainer’s Academy, and
especially Devene, came into my life.
My story is lengthy, but very worth reading.
Last December I became a member of
GEM (Greythounds of Eastern Michigan) and made my home
available as a foster home.
Little did I know how much my life was about to change.
I was asked to take a greyhound for a week because his
foster family was taking a vacation.
I then found out, that because of his behavior, his
foster family had no intentions of taking him back after
vacation. Not a
big deal? Maybe
not for your typical foster, but Hardie wasn’t typical, nor
was the life he’d had thus far.
Hardie wasn’t quite 2 when he first came to GEM.
He was placed within 3 months of his arrival and 2
weeks later a brindle female was placed in that same home.
He stayed in that home about 4 ½ years with the last
18 months being miserable for him.
He and the brindle female, for reasons we’ll probably
never know, were banished to a garage with no real human
intervention. Those
18 months changed Hardie, and not in a good way.
He came back to GEM January 26, 2006 and stayed in a
few different foster homes and then was finally placed in my
home as a foster January 5, 2008.
That next day I took him to a Meet & Greet just to
see how he acted around other greyhounds.
I needed to see for myself if he was really as bad as I
had been told he was. Well,
words can’t describe the fear in his eyes and the defensive
behavior he had if another greyhound just made eye contact
with him. All I
can say is “thank God for muzzles” or there would have
been bloodshed. I
immediately wanted to get this boy help.
I began calling everywhere ... and I do mean
EVERYWHERE. I had
trainers tell me that Hardie couldn’t be helped without even
evaluating him. Well
that wasn’t good enough for me.
I’ve worked with other dogs that had issues and I
knew in my heart that I could help Hardie with the right
trainer. Trainer’s
Academy was the first training facility that was recommended
to me. When Lisa
returned my call and I told her Hardie’s story, she
recommended that he attend Devene’s “Greyhounds - ONLY”
class. There was
one beginning in 2 weeks and there was 1 opening left, so I
took it. That
first class Hardie had to be pulled through the door.
Just the sight of other greyhounds made him shake
uncontrollably. We
went through 2 of Devene’s 6 week courses with Hardie.
Devene and her “Greyhounds – ONLY” class has
changed his life. He
has learned to make right choices.
Now when he’s uncomfortable in a situation, he leaves
it instead of lashing out.
Last night I started my volunteer work with Trainer’s
Academy. Two
other GEM’s were going to be in the class so we decided to
car pool. Everyone
was to meet at my house.
When Helen arrived with her greyhound Dollar, we
decided to see how Hardie would react to Dollar through the
fence. He was
excited to see Dollar, even did a half hearted play bow,
jumped in the air, barked, tail wagging, as if to say “come
play with me”. That
is a total “about face” from where he was 4 ½ months ago.
May 10, I decided I didn’t want
Hardie to ever leave my home and I signed the papers to adopt
him. Because of
Trainer’s Academy and Devene, Hardie has gone from being a
scared, defensive greyhound, into a loving, happy, and
sociable greyhound. Thank
you Devene for saving this sweet boy!!"
Sarah Williams
Hardie (Thanks Devene for believing in me - slurp, slurp!!) Greyhound-Only Grads
|
