Melissa Chandler, Faculty (Nosework)

Main info

Melissa Chandler (she/her) lives in Ohio and is owned by her Weimaraner and Vizsla. Melissa has been addicted to dog sports since starting in 4H and AKC Jr. Showmanship. She has competed in conformation, agility, obedience, hunt tests, nose work, and rally. She has also successfully trained and handled non-owned dogs to many titles and championships.

Melissa’s Weimaraner, Edge, was so excited about nose work she sought to learn everything she could to give him the best foundation and build his confidence and drive. Melissa and Edge trained with FDSA since the very first nose work class and never looked back! Edge stressed down and was very fragile, but through Amy Cook’s Bogeyman class and drive building games, Edge gained confidence in ways never imagined, allowing him to be a very successful NW competitor. They earned their NW1, NW2 and NW3 with many placements including overall trial placements. They also earned their NW3 title in their very first trial! And another NW3 in their second trial. Both with placements and multiple "Ps"!! Melissa attended many nose work seminars and volunteered at many trials, allowing her to expand her knowledge and gain different aspects of the sport. She now teaches classes locally and presents seminars, including Nose Work Games!

Melissa has been competitive in agility for many years. She owned 2 of the 3 ADCH Weimaraners and the only USDAA Metallic Champion Weim. She has also bred/trained/handled the #1 Weim in agility (AKC/Weimaraner Club of America) for many consecutive years and placed 10^th at AKC Agility Nationals. She has earned a CDX on two different dogs and trained Edge through Utility, but he indicated that nose work was his passion. Bam!, her young vizsla, is just starting his agility career, is training for nose work, obedience competition and has been very successful in the field.

Melissa was doing parkour before “parkour” even existed. She and her Weims have always loved playing on playgrounds and enjoyed playing in and on things, especially in wooded areas. Her love of agility and love of outdoors is a great combination for parkour.

Melissa’s strengths are problem solving by looking outside the box and working with soft dogs. She enjoys helping others and brainstorming to help other teams succeed. She has taught private lessons in agility and nose work, focusing on solving specific training problems. Owning and working with soft dogs has given her the ability to coach others to help build confidence and setting up training sessions specifically with soft dogs in mind.

Pronouns: Melissa goes by she/her.

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This is the first online class I have taken. Although I took it at the bronze level, I was amazed at how much I got out of it and couldn't wait to try the exercises and share them with my training partners. As an inexperienced handler with little competition experience, I was nervous. There was no need to worry. Denise accepts her students, canine and human, right where they are. She is very clear that you don’t have to keep up, make comparisons or master it all in the 6 week session. Her feedback is prompt, frequent and right to the point. As she discusses areas that need work, she is encouraging and reinforcing. I always felt like wagging my tail and working harder after every interchange. Getting to know and watch the other students is fun and instructive. I am looking forward to taking classes regularly through the Fenzi Academy. And I highly recommend that you go for the gold!

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I have struggled to find a trainer in my area that would consistently work with my reactive dog. We often got dumped in the summer, classes cancelled, or was told that we weren't part of the trainers focus. I thought that I would never be able to improve my training beyond reading and watching DVDs. I thought that I would never get personal feedback. I felt discouraged and excluded from the dog training community. I thought that I would always have mediocre training and a mediocre relationship with my dog. A friend recommended FDSA and I enrolled in "It's All Tricks" with Deborah Jones at Gold level. In 6 weeks my dog has become more confident than I've ever seen her. She is more motivated and eager to learn. Furthermore, my confidence as a trainer has improved. I finally feel like I have a resource that I can rely on. At FDSA it doesn't matter that my dog is reactive, we can finally work on exercises that would have been completely inaccessible before. Deb has been absolutely wonderful to work with. She provides kind, encouraging and constructive feedback with meaningful critique. This experience has been the epitome of what I have always dreamt that training my dog would be. I cannot be thankful enough to have discovered FDSA. It has given my dog and I a second chance at having a successful, meaningful relationship. I cannot wait to enroll in more classes. I wasn't so certain that online classes would be REALLY useful - I am blown away by how much one can learn and implement through the online system - certainly makes it possible to participate in novel learning experiences that would not otherwise be available!

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I am continually amazed at how much I learn with each class. Watching both the teacher's video's and the student's videos gives me lots of opportunity to think through the elements and break it down for myself and my dog.

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