HEARTland Positive Dog Training Alliance

proudly presents a

Trick Dog Training Workshop

Featuring Certified Trick Dog Instructors Greg Laslo & Karen Kathka

Come join us for a fun day of Trick Dog Training with your best friend!  Trick Dog Training is a new sport sanctioned by the Do More With Your Dog!® governing body.  Participants will learn how to teach their dog many new tricks and have the opportunity to earn Trick Dog titles.  All handler and dog skill levels welcome!

Trick Training Event Flyer.pdf

About the Instructors

Greg Laslo:  For Greg Laslo, everything you might want to teach your dog is a trick, from sit-stays and loose-leash walking to doing backwards figure 8s and riding a skateboard. It’s all in the attitude—including focusing on fun, celebrating every accomplishment, and sharing successes and frustrations with a supportive community of dog people.

He manages the day-to-day activities of three rescues, including a 3-year-old project Belgian Malinois, who, along with his 7-year-old half-Mal sister, is working towards his expert trick dog title. Greg’s titled dogs through APDT CLASS and AKC Canine Good Citizen, and he’s trained for agility, nose work, therapy, and dock dog. His newest family member, a green 18-month-old German Shepherd Dog, has a lot of catching up to do.

Practically speaking, Greg’s interested in force-free techniques that make training enjoyable, using tricks to keep dogs engaged in stressful situations, encouraging mental activity to enrich dogs’ wellbeing, and playing games to strengthen teamwork between people and their pet partners. Secretly, he wants to train animal actors, organize a dog flash mob, and teach his Mal to get shots politely.

Karen Kathka:  Retired middle school and high school teacher of 29 years, Karen has a B.S. in Education. After retiring she did some fostering and transporting of dogs for a local rescue. She has always loved animals but her last foster failure five years ago was a long haired terrier mix, named Trevor. When she adopted him, he was a three month old shelter dog with very little handling. She started him in puppy classes using positive dog training methods.

Trevor was smart, independent, and a challenge. She started teaching him tricks and by age two he had his Expert Trick Dog title. Tricks helped him to focus and develop a relationship with Karen. She enjoyed teaching tricks because the training is all done using positive reinforcement. There are no aversives or corrections and it is fun. Trevor now has titles in agility, rally, and dog parkour, his APDT C.L.A.S.S  P.h.d. with honors, CGCU, and in 2015 earned his Champion Trick Dog title. That same year Karen also became a Certified Trick Dog Trainer and is presently teaching a classes at the The Dogs' Spot in Kansas City. She is also working toward becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, and a student of the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior in the professional dog training program.