INSTRUCTORS

Ms. Pluis Davern

Our Obedience training classes have been taught for over thirty years by Ms. Pluis Davern. Pluis is experienced in training all breeds of dogs. She was the co-founder of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. Ms. Davern is also a popular AKC dog show conformation Judge, she trains pointing dogs, spaniels, and retrievers for hunting and field trials. She was awarded the prestigious AKC Breeder of the Year Award in 2011, and in 2023 awarded the AKC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pam Strametz

Pam is an accomplished breeder and trainer. She teaches our Puppy Development Class. She has put titles on dogs in Obedience, Agility, Conformation, and Herding. She has earned 3 Obedience Trial Champions (OTCH) titles, and 5 Utility Dog Excellent (UDX) titles, on a variety of breeds.

Dale Root

The Conformation Handling Class is taught by Mr. Dale Root. Dale is an accomplished trainer and handler with more than 20 years of experience in the sport. He has trained, shown, and titled several breeds in conformation, obedience, and agility. Dale can also assist with understanding and filling out entry forms, he has created the ExpressEntries.com website for free PDF-based show entries and the iTrainSpot.com class management system for dog training clubs.

Kate Davern 

Kate is a 2nd generation full-time professional dog trainer. Kate started competing in AKC obedience at the age of 12 with her 7-month-old Golden Retriever, Scamper, and went high in trial their first time in the ring. Kate has trained and titled clients dogs since 1984 in Obedience, Rally and Retriever and Spaniel hunt tests as well as giving private lessons to owners who want to compete with their own dogs. Kate has taught puppy and obedience classes for Monterey Bay Dog Training Club, Santa Clara Dog Training Club as well as her own classes at her facility. Kate substitutes for Del Monte's obedience classes when available. Kate is committed that both the dog and handler enjoy the learning process, and each other, as she believes goals in training deepen our relationship with our dogs.

​