"I am passionate about training dogs and teaching people
to better communicate with their canine companions."
~ Kathy Lang
​WELCOME!
​​
​
Thank you for visiting my website. Take a look around, or feel free to:​
​
Click here to skip to my current schedule. ​
​
Click here to skip to the class descriptions page.​​
​
%20(WEB).jpg)
Photo by Jerry & Lois Photography.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Over the past 45 years I have helped thousands of dogs learn to be well-mannered and much-appreciated family members. Hundreds of my clients have gotten "hooked" on training because it's so fun and rewarding. Many have gone on to compete in a wide variety of dog sports.
During the past thirty years I taught a wide variety of classes through Family Dog Training Center in multiple Western Washington locations. Family Dog Training Center is the business that I founded in 1994 and sold in 2021 to Elizabeth and Doug Fifield.
From a competition standpoint, I earned my first Utility Dog title on my "Novice A" German Shepherd Dog in 1980. "Schafer" introduced me to the wonderful world of dog sports, including Scent Hurdle Relay Racing. The year the Seattle SuperSonics Basketball Team won the championships, we were frequent half-time entertainers. It was great fun watching the home games from the floor of the arena!
​
I had a number of German Shepherds following Schafer, most of whom earned Utility Dog titles, along with High Scoring Dog in Trial Awards. A female that I bred set amazing records at the Novice level with average scores of 198.33 and HITs; she went on to earn her UD.
​
When I branched out into the world of Belgian Sheepdogs, I had more amazing dogs and wonderful success. Most of my Belgians were Breed Champions, and earned a number of titles, including the first Rally Excellent ever awarded to a Belgian Sheepdog, UD, UDX, HIT, HC, TD and Gaines Placements. My one Belgian Tervuren earned her Championship and PCDX; at one local Specialty Show she was both High Scoring Dog in Trial and Select Female. She also earned a number of advanced Scent Work titles.
​
A couple of Schipperkes also joined my pack over the years, with one of them winning a 58-dog Novice class at the Portland Rose City Cluster with a 197.5 score. "Journey" became the first Rally Excellent Schipperke in breed history.
​
Today, my competition companion is a Border Collie, and he is taking me on another wonderful adventure. Training him is so much fun and very rewarding. As he approaches two years of age, he's partly adult but mostly teenager; I am waiting for his brain to fully develop before we begin our competition obedience and rally journey. In addition, I have a 13-year-old Schipperke, "Beep" and a 10-year-old Belgian Sheepdog, "Falyn."
​
As rewarding as my personal accomplishments are, I am even more proud of my competition obedience and rally students. Students have earned eleven Obedience Trial Champions, with several of those being "firsts" in their breed and/or "Novice A" dogs for their handlers. Dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) of CDs, CDXs, UDs and UDXs, as well. I love helping everyone accomplish their goals, whatever they might be. I never tell someone with an unusual breed that they "cannot" do something. All my years of teaching and problem solving give me the background to work through a multitude of challenges.
​
My training philosophy is to be as clear as possible with my students and their dogs. My approach is step-by-step, minimizing the chance for errors, but I also love to incorporate choreographed proofing and training challenges to prevent boredom. It's so much fun to watch the dogs problem solve, and it's equally as fun to figure out what really motivates each individual dog to do his, or her, best.​​​​​​​​​​
​
Questions? Send me an email -- KathyLangCoaching@outlook.com
​
Stay in touch by joining my email list (below).