There has never been a time when Ingrid’s household did not include more than one dog. In 1980, she began competing with her Newfoundlands in Water Dog and Carting Trials. As her children grew up, her focus shifted to therapy dog visits in schools with her Bernese Mountain Dog. In 2000, Ingrid obtained permission to have an Animal-Assisted Therapy dog within the school district where she worked as a Learning Consultant. Realizing the need to refine her dog-handling skills for the school environment, she pursued training in various disciplines. This led her to become a serious competitor in obedience, rally, freestyle, tracking, nosework, and agility.

Currently, Ingrid competes with her Golden Retriever, Skipper, in obedience, rally, and tracking. She also enjoys hiking, quilting, and gardening.

TRAINING DIRECTOR, STEPS INSTRUCTOR

Donna started at NEDTC as an intern in 2005 and has served on the Board of Directors since 2006. As the Lead Puppy Instructor she was featured on WCVB’s Chronicle. See it here: https://tinyurl.com/y5f7mu55

She owns Donna’s Do Right Dogs, LLC in Weymouth, where she teaches group classes and private behavioral consultations. She volunteers for several animal shelters and rescue organizations.  Donna is also a trainer for the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program which provides Therapy Dogs for schools and the community.   

In her spare time, she competes in Nosework with her Tibetan Spaniel Mix, Sammy.

NEDTC PRESIDENT, STEPS, SPECIAL CLASSES

Jessica spends her days training undergraduates to be scientists in her position as a Biology Professor at Curry College. She has been training Great Pyrenees at NEDTC since 2005, when she started her obedience adventure with her grumpy first dog Tesla, who compelled her to apply her science knowledge to training, and many books, seminars and a certification later, she’ll help you work through problems with logic and persistence!

STEPS TRAINER, LEAD PUPPY INSTRUCTOR

Marissa is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and currently a student at Karen Pryor Academy. Marissa has been with NEDTC since 2022 teaching Puppy Kindergarten and Step 1. Marissa is the Lead Trainer at Donna's Do Right Dogs in Weymouth. She has many years of experience working at various Dog Daycares and Training facilities in and around Boston.  She recently interned as a Training Assistant at a Facility in Colorado where she learned the principles of Positive Reinforcement and Fear Free methods.    

Marissa shares her life with her 2 Pitbull mixes Casey and River.

Katie first started working with dogs in 2022 as a dog walker on Rover. She fell in love with the work, joined Adventure Pups Cooperative leading dog hikes, and began to pursue her interest in dog training.

From 2022 through 2024, Katie worked as an assistant trainer with The Pet Republic leading puppy and levels classes.  In the spring of 2024, she received her Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior from the University of Washington (UW-AAB). She's currently working towards her CPDT-KA. She is thrilled to join NEDTC in 2025 as the next step in her training journey.  

In her free time Katie likes to read, hike, cook, and take walks in the woods with her rescue pup, Indigo! 

Karinny has been working as an Intern with NEDTC since the Fall of 2024. She has been working with dogs since May 2023. Karinny is currently Certified as a Professional Dog Bather at PetSmart and working toward getting professional training certifications. She currently assists in Puppy Kindergarten and Steps Classes. She loves being able to watch & apply all different types of methods to different situations to be able to help herself and others! In her free time, she loves going on hikes and learning about dogs.

Anne has been a Steps instructor with NEDTC since 2017.  She is a graduate of Karen Pryor Academy and Victoria Stilwell Academy.  She is certified in Pet First Aid and CPR.   She has enjoyed taking courses in Controlled Unleashed and the Aggressive Dog Conference.   Anne shares her life with her 3 dogs.

Nancy has been a New England Dog Training Club board member for 20 years. She has taught Rally and assisted in the competition ring. She participates in AKC performance events with her collies and has been actively involved in pet therapy work for the past 20 years.

Former owner of Everydog, LLC, Diane became interested in dog training after adopting her wonderful Chow mix, Ebony, in 1996. Ebony had several behavior issues that required Diane to put careful thought into how to teach her to be both comfortable and safe in her household. Ebony went on to earn her AKC Canine Good Citizen title, as well as a rally obedience competition title. By then, Diane was hooked on the subject of dog training and behavior.

Since then, Diane has delved deeper into the world of animals, and particularly dogs, becoming a veterinary technician in 2002 and an animal control officer in 2007. She is an occasional instructor and was a former training director at NEDTC . These experiences have given Diane a unique perspective on the role that animals play in our lives.

She has attended numerous seminars and courses on dog training and behavior, including the Dogs of Course Instructor Training Course. In 2014, she became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA). She also continues to further her knowledge of dog sports (and having fun!) by competing with her dog Bonita, RE, CD-C, NW3-Elite in obedience, rally and scentwork.