Bio
Petra (she/her) graduated from Rutgers School of Health-Related Professions 25 years ago with a degree in physical therapy and has experience working with an extremely varied caseload including pediatric through geriatric clients with a vast range of diagnoses. Her areas of expertise included in-patient rehabilitation, orthopedics and neurology. Petra attended the Canine Rehabilitation Institute in 2007 and is a certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist. Petra raced bicycles at the professional level and participated in international events. She is now an avid runner, practices yoga and meditates daily. Petra trains and trials her Labrador Retrievers in obedience, agility and field. Her black Labrador Retriever, Tyler, has the distinction of being the 2008 and 2009 National Obedience Champion and First Runner Up in 2010. In 2012, Petra and Tyler became the first American team to win the Obedience World Cup (they placed second in 2010). Petra’s dogs have earned field titles (MH, QAA). She competed in Masters with Zaidan, who is now retired. She is currently competing in obedience with Zeal. Zeal is the winner of multiple Regional Qualifiers, won the 2018 Obedience Classic and has earned 10 Perfect 200 scores. Following in his father’s pawsteps, Zeal is the 2020 National Obedience Champion. Zayna won the Novice Division at the 2019 Obedience Classic, placed second (to Zeal) at her first Regional and recently finished her OTCH. Zesty is the newest family member. He is quite the clown! He loves dressing up and learning new tricks. He is becoming quite social media star. He is also training for competition obedience. Petra has written several articles on canine conditioning, canine injury prevention, competing with your dog and more. She has been published in a number of magazines including Clean Run, Front and Finish, and Whole Dog Journal.
Pronouns: Petra goes by she/her.
Current and Upcoming Courses
OB415: Utility Foundation Fun!
Utility has always been my favorite class!! Lots of people call the class “futility” but I think it’s tons of fun. I start teaching the foundation skills when my d...
June 1, 2023
OB485: Step it Up: Advanced Heeling for Competition
In this class we will be challenging the dog AND handler to step up their game! We will use fun games to build and maintain drive, engagement and precision. When heeling is we...
June 1, 2023
FE405: Thriving Under Pressure
There is no escaping it. Our dogs will be under pressure in the ring. So let’s prepare them for it! Many people are not aware that the majority of errors in ...
August 1, 2023
OB440: Utility Fun - Putting the Pieces Together
Utility IS fun!! In this class, I deconstruct all the exercises into manageable pieces. Each piece is taught and maintained like a trick. This makes the ex...
October 1, 2023
OB605: Conditioning and Body Awareness for Effortless Heeling
Heeling is required at all levels of obedience. Due to its complexity, we typically spend more time training heeling than the majority of other obedience exercises. ...
October 1, 2023
CC180: Powerful Performance: Fitness to Optimize All Sports
Many people don’t understand the importance of conditioning until their dog has suffered an injury. They feel that participating in dog sports IS conditioning. ...
December 1, 2023
OB215: Competition Heeling Part One - Fundamentals
Great heeling is a pleasure to watch. Dog and handler moving together as one. The dog is happy, animated, joyful and confident. Heeling is a dance that should express jo...
December 1, 2023
Contact information
Have a question about an upcoming course taught by Petra? Not sure if your dog is suitable for a specific class? We welcome you to contact instructors by email to make sure the course is suitable for you and your dog.
