Judy Ramsey
Judy Ramsey has owned, trained, and titled a variety of breeds. In 1980 she trained and began showing her very first dog, a Sheltie. Since that time she and her family have shared their home with two other Shelties, a Doberman pinscher, two Belgian Tervuren, a Keeshond, two Papillion, a Miniature Wire Dachshund, and five Border Collies. In addition to training and showing her dogs, she actively participated in therapy dog work for more than 20 years, involved her three children in training and showing, and accumulated a multitude of loyal students. Her success is largely due to her ability to create and modify concepts and techniques for any dog regardless of breed and temperament. In addition, students benefit from her teaching skills which enable them to implement mechanics and concepts necessary for them to be successful with their own dogs. Over the past four decades, Judy has earned an Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH), many Master Agility Championships, a breed Championship and a multitude of other titles in Obedience, Agility, and Rally.
Lora began training and showing dogs at a very young age. As a child, she would frequently attended therapy dogs, dog obedience classes and dog shows with her mother, Judy Ramsey. At 15 years old, Lora got her first dog, a Papillon named Piper. Piper recently passed away but we will remember him not only by his love but also by his various obedience, rally and agility titles. Lora and Piper also did Therapy Dog work in San Antonio at a nursing home while Lora attended college at UTSA. While in San Antonio for college, she also taught beginning and foundation classes at K9 Country Club for four years.
Marco, Lora's second dog, was from Border Collie Rescue, and earned a multitude of obedience, rally and agility titles throughout the years, including a MACH (agility championship). Flare is Lora's oldest Border Collie who currently competing in agility and scent work. Lora and Flare compete in AKC and UKI agility, and in 2019 they competed in the UKI US Open in Jacksonville, FL. Spicy is about a year younger than Flare and is from Border Collie Rescue. Spicy is working on obedience and Rally skills and is looking to compete in 2020. Porter is a 2 year old border collie working on agility skills and hoping to show soon! The newest addition to the household is Surprise, a black and white 4 month old border collie!
In training, Lora really focuses on the relationships with her dogs. She believes all training in every aspect should strengthen the relationship between dog and human in a positive manner. When dogs enjoy learning, they perform skills better.
Lora Raycroft
Miranda Livesay
15 years ago Miranda was introduced to the world of dog training by her first dog, a papillon named Lady. Looking for an outlet for Lady’s energy, she reached out to a local dog training club and joined an agility class. She was immediately hooked! Initially she thought agility was about running as fast as you could, but quickly learned that, without solid dog training techniques, you could not be successful. So the studying began! Miranda read anything she could get her hands on, took classes and seminars, and began putting what she learned to use for her own dogs and the dogs of friends and family.
This desire to learn led her to a Bachelors Degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University where she continued her learning in the classroom and out of the classroom with the help of training mentors. She continued competing in agility, rally, and conformation with her two shelties, Ryder & Skylar along with providing manners and agility classes at a local daycare facility.
After graduation, Miranda moved back to the Houston area where she continues to help families and their dogs live in harmony by helping them learn manners and obedience skills using only the most up to date, scientifically based techniques. Miranda now lives in Spring with her husband Andrew and their sheltie puppy Relic.
Paige Conrad
Ever Since I was a little girl, I had a deep connection and love for animals and knew that I wanted to work with them. If I wasn’t inside watching Animal Planet I was outside riding horses, raising tadpoles, or building mazes for my gerbils. When I was six, I proposed to my mom that we start a pet sitting and dog walking business; which eventually manifested into a successful family business. During which my passion and understanding for animals and how they operate and communicate grew immensely. When
I was ten, I adopted a highly energetic and intelligent golden retriever by the name of Max who’s passion for chewing up bike pedals and frolicking through my mothers flower bed got me into training. I spent hours teaching him obedience and different tricks and then reached out to a nearby boarding facility to try out agility with him and from there I was all in. I spent hours doing research, reading books and working with different pet sitting clients and their pets to learn how to efficiently teach our pets. Through my high school years I worked at the boarding facility and learned even more about different breeds of dogs and their traits and how to read dog body language. Once I graduated college I continued to help my mom run and grow her pet sitting business and as word spread about my love for training more and more clients reached out about training and so I decided to follow my heart and teach this professionally which has put me where I am today.
Deanna Marks
Deanna is Texas-born and raised and has had animals her whole life. She has been training in agility with her rescue Border/Aussie, Kona, since August 2021 and has taken a deep dive into learning positive-reinforcement behavioral training to help her own dog work through reactivity.
Deanna has studied the work of Sarah Stremming, Hannah Brannigan and taken classes from Susan Garrett to increase her understanding of dog behavior more thoroughly. She is dedicated to learning more every day and helping other dog lovers/owners to understand their furry family better too.
Deanna graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration and sought out an MBA from Indiana University Kelly School of Business. She also has a background competitive sports as an NCAA D1 swimmer She is hoping to complete her CPTD-KA though teaching with us here at Krafty K9 & FUNdamental dog.
Deanna also has a husband and two orange tabby cats – Sherbert & Boots – who fill her home with love and help keep Kona in line!
Peggy DeMers
Peggy DeMers has been showing in agility, obedience, rally, conformation and herding for over 20 years. She has trained her dogs through multiple High in Trial wins from the novice classes, agility champions (MaCH and Bronze ADCH), and group 1-4 placements and Grand Champions in conformation. She was shown Shetland sheepdogs, American Eskimo, Keeshonds, Cane Corsos, Belgium Shepherds, Pembroke corgis, Collies, Dobermans, Pomeranians, Papillons, English Springer Spaniels, Australian cattle dogs, Belgium Tervuren, Old English Sheepdogs, Vizslas, Bernese Mountain dogs and Newfoundlands.
Peggy’s career as a professional musician/educator with international performances throughout USA and Europe have shaped her ability to be a successful dog trainer and competitor in dog sports. Her unique ability to analyze and problem solve have given her dogs great success and a love to compete in all sports.
Rebecca Bass
Rebecca was suddenly introduced into the world of dog sports and dog training after bringing home her first border collie in 2021. Learning positive training for agility was the foundation she used for building her knowledge on positive dog training and building happy, playful relationships with her dogs.
In 2023, Rebecca graduated from Texas A&M College of Engineering with a bachelor’s of Technology Management and a minor in Business with a focus on adult education. Applying her knowledge of dogs and teaching, she is looking to grow as a dog trainer. Rebecca competed in agility with her first dog, Echo, and is training her two current dogs to compete as well.
Darcie Myers
Darcie’s love of dog training began in 1975 when she got her first dog as a household pet, her mom insisted that the dog be well behaved, so Darcie took on that challenge and loved working with their family pet! Since then she has been owned by 1 German Shepherd, 1 Belgian Shepherd, 4 Dobermans, 3 Australian Shepherds, and a Border Collie.
Darcie made her debut in agility in 2005 and has gone on to title multiple dogs in agility, rally, dock diving, scentwork, CGC, and trick dog. She has earned a RACH (Rally Championship) with her 4 year old Aussie named Chaya.
Darcie has been instrumental in starting the 4H Dog Project in Montgomery County. This has included helping to rewrite the 4H rulebook to include rules that helped increase safety while encouraging new and young trainers to continue to learn dog training. A primary responsibility was also coordinating the county and state shows, a primary focus of the shows were to maintain safety rules of up to 100 dogs being handled by children. Darcie served as the county project leader for 12 years and this included teaching weekly agility, rally, and obedience lessons to participants. She also hosted several statewide clinics and trained other project leaders along with 4H agents.
She is a certified CGC, trick dog, and AKC temperament test evaluator/judge. She has taught private lessons at her home for rally, agility, and CGC. Darcie also hosted ASCA rally classes at Love and Laughter in Cleveland, TX. Darcie has served as a CGC evaluator at Fundamental Dogs, the 4H State Dog Show, and the Conroe Dog Show.
Darcie has served as a former veterinary assistant and currently owns her own canine massage business.