Jeanine Neskey
Instructor
I enjoy nothing more than watching dogs think and learn, nothing is more rewarding than when you know you have successfully communicated an idea between species.
Growing up my parents would never let me have a dog. I had every other pet you could think of, from iguanas to cats and rabbits to tortoises. So, lacking a canine companion, I settled on training my other pets. My rabbit would fetch, my parakeet would roll over, my fish would ring a bell for food, my cat would shake paws, my iguana would ‘dance’ and my tortoise would stay…ok…I never did manage to teach him anything.
In high school I got a job as a kennel worker at my local vet hospital. I was soon moved up to being a technician and I was deeply involved in our adoption program for local strays. I worked closely with every dog there, ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with dogs. I also got my first insight into “real dog training” I was instructed to use choke chains and harsh methods with the dogs at this facility. I hated it.
I never really understood why these training methods even existed, I was able to train all my other pets with just positive reinforcement (I mean how could I have even punished a fish if I wanted to!?) Why couldn’t those methods work on dogs? Well I left that job still with no answer to that question, I moved to VT for school and began grooming part time while attending UVM. Similar ideas seemed to float around Vermont. I still didn’t like this way of training and was not convinced at all that the positive gentle methods I had use for other animals wouldn’t work with dogs. Then I got SoBe! My first dog of my very own in my first apartment of my very own…I couldn’t have been more stupid! I was in way over my head with a dog that was growing much larger than the shelter staff had predicted (60lbs vs. 30lbs!) and was out of control. I managed to get into Jamie’s exclusive UVM class on dog training and behavior and couldn’t have been happier to see that positive reinforcement was indeed used to train dogs and was, low and behold; much more effective than the methods I had learned and hated so much in the past!
I then attached myself to the trainers at The Dog School and shadowed any class, lesson or activity I could (verging on stalking) until I was hired on in the summer of 2008.
I have now graduated from UVM with a Bachelor degree in Animal Science and work as a Vet Tech at a holistic practice as well as with The Dog School. I am living in Stowe with my partner and our three dogs.
SoBe aka ‘crazy horse’ the hound mix, Flick the OCD Sheltie mix who can only think two things…BALL and Agility! And the newest member of the pack, Trixie, the timid Parson Russell Terrier who is slowly but surely discovering her inner terror! I am a member of NOMAD agility club and am competing with SoBe and soon my younger dog Flick and eventually Trixie will join the team.
Growing up my parents would never let me have a dog. I had every other pet you could think of, from iguanas to cats and rabbits to tortoises. So, lacking a canine companion, I settled on training my other pets. My rabbit would fetch, my parakeet would roll over, my fish would ring a bell for food, my cat would shake paws, my iguana would ‘dance’ and my tortoise would stay…ok…I never did manage to teach him anything.
In high school I got a job as a kennel worker at my local vet hospital. I was soon moved up to being a technician and I was deeply involved in our adoption program for local strays. I worked closely with every dog there, ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with dogs. I also got my first insight into “real dog training” I was instructed to use choke chains and harsh methods with the dogs at this facility. I hated it.
I never really understood why these training methods even existed, I was able to train all my other pets with just positive reinforcement (I mean how could I have even punished a fish if I wanted to!?) Why couldn’t those methods work on dogs? Well I left that job still with no answer to that question, I moved to VT for school and began grooming part time while attending UVM. Similar ideas seemed to float around Vermont. I still didn’t like this way of training and was not convinced at all that the positive gentle methods I had use for other animals wouldn’t work with dogs. Then I got SoBe! My first dog of my very own in my first apartment of my very own…I couldn’t have been more stupid! I was in way over my head with a dog that was growing much larger than the shelter staff had predicted (60lbs vs. 30lbs!) and was out of control. I managed to get into Jamie’s exclusive UVM class on dog training and behavior and couldn’t have been happier to see that positive reinforcement was indeed used to train dogs and was, low and behold; much more effective than the methods I had learned and hated so much in the past!
I then attached myself to the trainers at The Dog School and shadowed any class, lesson or activity I could (verging on stalking) until I was hired on in the summer of 2008.
I have now graduated from UVM with a Bachelor degree in Animal Science and work as a Vet Tech at a holistic practice as well as with The Dog School. I am living in Stowe with my partner and our three dogs.
SoBe aka ‘crazy horse’ the hound mix, Flick the OCD Sheltie mix who can only think two things…BALL and Agility! And the newest member of the pack, Trixie, the timid Parson Russell Terrier who is slowly but surely discovering her inner terror! I am a member of NOMAD agility club and am competing with SoBe and soon my younger dog Flick and eventually Trixie will join the team.