About Gary Platt
Gary has been teaching obedience classes since 1983. Representatives from all AKC recognized groups (i.e., Herding, Sporting, Toy, Working, etc.) and a variety of mixed breeds have participated in their classes.
They are proud to have frequently made the difference for dogs and owners who were ready for that "last trip to the pound" by alleviating frustration and opening channels of communication and understanding. Gary feels strongly that obedience training is part of responsible dog ownership and that the training techniques involved in formal training transfer easily to daily household and public manners.
His dogs are not "kennel dogs," but live in the home as contributing family members. They have working vocabularies of hundreds of words and phrases. Some of their parlor tricks include throwing away trash (cans, paper, etc.), turning on lights, delivering notes and beverage cans, picking up and putting away their toys and grooming articles, finding lost keys, and retrieving slippers and the evening paper.
Gary has had contributions published in dog-related publications. He has extended his fascination with canine beauty and humor into photography and has had several cover photos to his credit. Gary has a Master's Degree in Psychology, and he specializes professionally as a behavior analyst and consultant. His dogs have made TV commercials.
Gary trained his first dog, a Golden Retriever "Sunni" to her Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) and her Canadian Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) titles. Along the way they have won many class placements and a Dog World Award for their Canadian CDX title. During her career, she was nationally ranked among all-breeds and other Golden Retrievers. The highly spirited independence of this sweet, silly and extremely willful dog helped to inspire Gary to develop a system of training that could be adapted for all dogs. Sunni taught Gary more than he taught her.
Gary's Golden, "Bink," earned his CD, CDX, and UD titles within 8 months before he was 2 years old, earning 3 Dog World Awards. At just 17 months of age, Bink placed 2nd in the Division II of the 1989 Gaines Central Regional Dog Obedience Championship. At age 2, he placed 2nd in Super Dog at the 1990 Gaines Central Regional and attained his Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH). (Bink set a record for the youngest dog ever to place in the Super Dog Division.) In 1994 he won first place at the Central Regional in Super Dog.
Gary co-owned and co-trained golden retriever, "Arthur," is also an Obedience Trial Champion. They have won hundreds of class placements and over 180 High in Trials in the USA and Canada. He earned his AKC Utility Dog (UD) title in April 1985 with a Dog World Award and went on to complete his OTCH within 9 shows in May 1985. Arthur has won 2 perfect 200 scores. Although he was only shown 6 months during 1985, Arthur was ranked #4 among all-breed OTCH's for the year. Arthur was ranked as the #1 Obedience Trial Champion in the U.S.A. for 1986, 1987, and 1988, thus winning the prestigious Ken-L-Ration Award each year. Arthur had been the only dog to have won over 1,000 OTCH points per year for 3 years. He set a new record for the number of points won in one year (1242), set a new record for the number of High in Trials won in one year (45), and became the AKC #1 Obedience Trial Champion of all breeds of all time. Arthur earned his Canadian UD title (with yet another Dog World Award) and Canadian OTCH in May 1989.
Gary is currently Training and showing Homer, another golden. Homer was ranked in the AKC top 10 of all breeds for 1998 and 1999. Homer won the Central Regional in Super Dog.
Gary keeps his skills and creativity up-to-date. He continues to give professional problem-solving training clinics from Alaska to Florida. Innovative Training advanced students have won Dog World Awards on their Companion Dog, CDX and Utility Dog titles. Students also win High in Trials and even Obedience Trial Championships. His goal is to see students attain control of their dogs while winning their dogs' obedience, respect, and love.
He believes almost without exception "Every dog can be a pleasure to have around."
Gary has been teaching obedience classes since 1983. Representatives from all AKC recognized groups (i.e., Herding, Sporting, Toy, Working, etc.) and a variety of mixed breeds have participated in their classes.
They are proud to have frequently made the difference for dogs and owners who were ready for that "last trip to the pound" by alleviating frustration and opening channels of communication and understanding. Gary feels strongly that obedience training is part of responsible dog ownership and that the training techniques involved in formal training transfer easily to daily household and public manners.
His dogs are not "kennel dogs," but live in the home as contributing family members. They have working vocabularies of hundreds of words and phrases. Some of their parlor tricks include throwing away trash (cans, paper, etc.), turning on lights, delivering notes and beverage cans, picking up and putting away their toys and grooming articles, finding lost keys, and retrieving slippers and the evening paper.
Gary has had contributions published in dog-related publications. He has extended his fascination with canine beauty and humor into photography and has had several cover photos to his credit. Gary has a Master's Degree in Psychology, and he specializes professionally as a behavior analyst and consultant. His dogs have made TV commercials.
Gary trained his first dog, a Golden Retriever "Sunni" to her Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) and her Canadian Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) titles. Along the way they have won many class placements and a Dog World Award for their Canadian CDX title. During her career, she was nationally ranked among all-breeds and other Golden Retrievers. The highly spirited independence of this sweet, silly and extremely willful dog helped to inspire Gary to develop a system of training that could be adapted for all dogs. Sunni taught Gary more than he taught her.
Gary's Golden, "Bink," earned his CD, CDX, and UD titles within 8 months before he was 2 years old, earning 3 Dog World Awards. At just 17 months of age, Bink placed 2nd in the Division II of the 1989 Gaines Central Regional Dog Obedience Championship. At age 2, he placed 2nd in Super Dog at the 1990 Gaines Central Regional and attained his Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH). (Bink set a record for the youngest dog ever to place in the Super Dog Division.) In 1994 he won first place at the Central Regional in Super Dog.
Gary co-owned and co-trained golden retriever, "Arthur," is also an Obedience Trial Champion. They have won hundreds of class placements and over 180 High in Trials in the USA and Canada. He earned his AKC Utility Dog (UD) title in April 1985 with a Dog World Award and went on to complete his OTCH within 9 shows in May 1985. Arthur has won 2 perfect 200 scores. Although he was only shown 6 months during 1985, Arthur was ranked #4 among all-breed OTCH's for the year. Arthur was ranked as the #1 Obedience Trial Champion in the U.S.A. for 1986, 1987, and 1988, thus winning the prestigious Ken-L-Ration Award each year. Arthur had been the only dog to have won over 1,000 OTCH points per year for 3 years. He set a new record for the number of points won in one year (1242), set a new record for the number of High in Trials won in one year (45), and became the AKC #1 Obedience Trial Champion of all breeds of all time. Arthur earned his Canadian UD title (with yet another Dog World Award) and Canadian OTCH in May 1989.
Gary is currently Training and showing Homer, another golden. Homer was ranked in the AKC top 10 of all breeds for 1998 and 1999. Homer won the Central Regional in Super Dog.
Gary keeps his skills and creativity up-to-date. He continues to give professional problem-solving training clinics from Alaska to Florida. Innovative Training advanced students have won Dog World Awards on their Companion Dog, CDX and Utility Dog titles. Students also win High in Trials and even Obedience Trial Championships. His goal is to see students attain control of their dogs while winning their dogs' obedience, respect, and love.
He believes almost without exception "Every dog can be a pleasure to have around."
