2123 Marina Blvd.
San Leandro, Ca  94577
(510) 483-2631
braveheartdogs@sbcglobal.net

    Owner, Vicki Ronchette, CPDT, CAP2
    Vicki has lived with dogs her whole life.  

    She began working with them professionally in 1985 when she received a
    certificate in Veterinary Assisting while still in high school.  She began focusing on
    training dogs just a couple of years later.  

    She started as an assistant trainer with her own dogs in Competition Obedience.  
    Later, she offered classes through Heads or Tails Pet Grooming, the salon she
    owned and operated for 8 years.  

    Vicki is the author of Positive Training for Show Dogs - Building a Relationship for
    Success (www.dogwise.com) and has written numerous dog training articles.

    Vicki is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a national organization
    dedicated to training dogs using exclusively dog friendly methods.  

    As dog training is evolving all the time, Vicki continues to take courses and attend
    seminars and workshops from well known trainers and authors to continue to grow
    as a trainer.  She also meets regularly with other trainers to discuss cases,
    exchange ideas and sharpen her skills.

    Vicki is the owner/moderator of "clickershowdogs" a yahoo group dedicated to
    positive and clicker training for show dogs.

    She competes with her standard smooth and standard longhair dachshunds in
    obedience, conformation, earthdog and field trials.  She has also been active in
    agility.

    She is an AKC licensed dachshund and basset hound Field Trial Judge and an
    AKC CGC Evaluator.  

    She was the Founder of the Golden Gate Dachshund Club's Rescue Program.  
    She evaluates, trains, fosters and rehomes rescue dogs and serves on the board
    of this club.  

    In November 2006 she became a CPDT (Certified Pet Dog Trainer).  

    In 2007, Vicki founded East Bay Dog Trainers a group of positive reinforcement
    dog trainers committed to continued education and positive reinforcement
    techniques.

    In 2008, Vicki took the CAP (Clicker Competency Assessment Program) test.  The
    CAP program is one of the few that actually tests the trainers mechanical skills and
    ability and assesses them on that rather than on straight book knowledge.  Vicki
    passed her CAP Level 1 and her CAP Level 2.

    Vicki has lived with and/or competed with many breeds including rottweilers, chow
    chows, Maltese, dachshunds, cattle dogs, poodles, cocker spaniels, havanese,
    clumber spaniels, boxers, pekingese, terriers, afghan hounds, shih tzus, pugs,
    dobermans, German shepherds, golden retrievers, various mixed breeds and has
    worked with virtually all breeds with much success.  She takes pride in being a
    versatile dog trainer, capable of successfully working with all breeds of dogs.

    Vicki has a special interest in using positive reinforcement training (including
    clicker training) to train show dogs.  She will show you how to train your show dog
    or train it for you.  Additionally, she also works with show dogs who have fears or
    anxieties in order to help them learn to enjoy the showing experience.  

    Vicki offers seminars on clicker/positive training for dogs to breed clubs and
    seminars on teaching clicker conformation to professional trainers.


    Professional Affiliations

    APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) - Professional Member
    CCPDT (Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers) - Certified Pet Dog Trainer
    IAABC (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants) - Affiliate Member
    DogTec - Member
    Four Paws of San Leandro - Member
    Golden Gate Dachshund Club - President
    Northern California Dachshund Club - Member
    Dachshund Club of America - Member, 2007 Show Chair
    Golden Gate Dachshund Rescue - Founder/Rescuer
    JavaDawgs - Member
    East Bay Dog Trainers - Founder/Member

    Braveheart Dog Training is licensed and insured.

    References Available Upon Request

    Dawn Bushong CAP 2, Rally/Competition Obedience Trainer and
    Assistant Trainer
    Dawn trained her first obedience dog, the family basset hound at age 12.  

    Dawn teaches all of our Rally classes, our Competition Obedience class, she has
    taught our Tricks for Clicks class and co-teaches Wild Card with Vicki.

    She also assists Vicki in the Castro Valley Adult School classes.

    Dawn is a very talented clicker trainer.  Not only has she trained her dogs using
    the clicker, she also uses the clicker to train her cats.

    Dawn is also an artist and specializes in pet portraits.

    Currently,  Dawn is training Pablo, a black lab mix she adopted from the pound and
    has trained him to the following titles CD, CDX, UD, RN, RA, RE, RAE, CGC.  And,
    Penny, a German shepherd dog mix that already has her RN, RA, RE, CD, CDX
    and CGC titles.  She is also training both of them in agility and tracking.

    Colleen Pepper, Assistant Trainer
    Colleen has been training her own dogs for competition obedience and agility for
    many years.  

    Colleen works as a veterinary assistant and worked for many years as a groomer.

    Colleen trains and competes in agility with her dogs Bart (a McNab) and Sherman
    (a Catahoula Leopard Dog mix).

    Kristin Masar, Assistant Trainer
    Kristin assists Vicki in the San Lorenzo classes.  She is currently training her dog
    Dakota, a Samoyed.  

    Maureen "Mo" Coyle, Assistant Trainer, Playgroup Supervisor
    Mo assists Vicki in the San Lorenzo classes.

    Mo is a graduate of the SF Academy for Dog Trainers.  She runs a business that
    offers dog training and walking for small dogs.  She is also a professional dog
    groomer.

    Mo is currently training Zootie and Gracie, two standard poodles.

    Kathy Kinney, Assistant Trainer
    Kathy is assisting Vicki in her Castro Valley Adult School Saturday classes.  

    Kathy is training Josie, her Border Collie in agility and Rally.  Josie has already
    earned her RN (Rally Novice) title and has two qualifying scores towards her RA
    (Rally Advanced Title).


    Our Methods
    At Braveheart, we believe that the best way to train a dog is to make it worth his
    while.  If you make it fun, challenging and exciting your dog will be more inclined to
    want to work with you.  

    Our training uses exclusively positive reinforcement methods.  With this method,
    your dog enjoys the training and the process is much easier on the owner.  Having
    trained for many years with a variety of trainers and  methods, Vicki has found
    positive reinforcement training to be the most effective and enjoyable.  Even
    children and people with less than perfect timing can succeed with positive
    training.  

    Unlike typical dog training classes, you will not be asked to jerk your dog's neck  or
    use painful collars.  We will teach you to train with the dogs well being in mind.  We
    will teach you to build a strong relationship with your dog so that force isn't
    necessary.

    We have success with obedience training as well as helping owners of dogs with  
    issues like aggression, shyness and destructive behavior.  All of these are solved
    using positive, scientific, non-violent methods.  

    Does positive training mean that there are never consequences or discipline
    involved?  Absolutely not!  Pain and intimidation is not the way to build a healthy
    working relationship between you and your dog.  We teach people to communicate
    with their dogs and train them in a fun, kind and humane way.  We are committed
    to treating both the dogs and their humans with compassion and understanding.



Vicki with "Carrot"
Dawn with "Penny"
Copyright © 2007 Braveheart Dog Training
The information on this page may not be reproduced, republished or mirrored on another webpage or website.
About Us
"My goal as a trainer is
to show people how to
effectively communicate
with their dogs, and
teach them to train in a
positive way that both
the owner and the dog
will enjoy."                       
                             ~Vicki
Braveheart Dog Training
"Dog Training from the Heart"
Kathy with "Josie"