Our Story

Having a life-long love and obsession with wanting to understand dogs, Teri started her career as a veterinary technician in the early 90's and teaching professionally in  2003.  Feeling the need to 'get back in the trenches', Teri took a management position at a local shelter in 2010 where she met Amanda and they became fast friends.  Teri started the Maine Dog Training Company in 2017 and, with Amanda's help, they brought  powerful speakers from around the world, taught classes and helped  people with their dogs from Wiscasset  to Saco.   Former MDTC students and talented trainers in their own right, Starla and Rebecca came on board in 2019 and in 2020 Starla became a co owner of MDTC so that we may offer more services in our great state.  The MDTC  mission is to give dogs and owners the quality of life they deserve , and be a beacon of education for trainers,  owners and competitors  by bringing some of the best and most talented speakers to the state of Maine.  

Teri's "staff" dogs - Brees, Zuzu, and Porter - have work experience as class assistants, demo dogs, and play therapy experts. Their activities include agility, obedience, protection sports, tracking and nose work.
Brees the corgi is a professional print model with a ton of personality and incredible obedience.   His photograph has been featured for various dog products  including Subaru dog gear . Contact us for his availability!

  Teri Robinson 
Teri Robinson is the co owner of MDTC and  has over 25 years of animal care experience, studied psychology and animal behavior at USM and has been helping dog owners solve problems for over a decade. As the former manager/director of training for a large dog daycare/training facility in Portland, she created the dog training curriculum, taught classes, organized seminars and agility trials and oversaw the care of 50 dogs a day. Teri served as the kennel manager at the Animal Refuge League, overseeing the care for over 700 dogs a year and creating the Shelter Dog Training Program.

While Teri's formal obedience experience stems from IPO (Shutzhund) and AKC Obedience in the performance ring, her adaptation and application of those skills to the real world is what makes her training particularly effective. Along with obedience training, she also participates extensively in herding, conformation, agility and nose work.

Teri is a lifetime student and completed  40 hours of an operant conditioning training course with Mike Suttle of Logan Haus Kennel, The Principles of Dog Training with Michael Ellis, and The Shelter Dog Program with Sue Sternberg and Pia Silvani. She regularly attends behavior seminars featuring Kathy Sdao, Sarah Kalnajs, Dr. Nicholas Dodman and Suzanne Clothier &  4 day  NePoPo seminar presented by Pat Stuart.
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 Teri is a member of the  American Belgian Malinois Club    American Working Malinois Association  & International Assoc of Canine Professionals  

Starla Howard, Co Owner of Maine Dog Training Company

Starla Howard
Starla Howard is the co owner of MDTC & has been working and training  dogs since 2012. 

Starla trains, competes and titles her dogs in GRC Dogsports with her pitbulls; Maveric, Tyson  & Cassidy . When she isn’t teaching others,  Starla can be found working her dogs or taking them on various hikes and adventures throughout the state. She is a strong advocate of Pitbulls and other bully breeds, and works diligently to ensure them the best conditions to succeed. 

She has completed courses nationwide including Tar Heel Canine in North Carolina,  completed 40 hours of an operant conditioning course with Mike Suttle of Logan Haus Kennel, and a 4 day NePoPo seminar by Pat Stuart.  Starla is a professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and attends the yearly conference.

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Amanda's "staff" dogs - Nuke, Gem and Zara - have work experience as Demo dogs, neutral dogs to help with reactivity and class assistants . Their activities include Retriever training, agility,  obedience and nose work.

​Amanda Stearns 
​​Amanda Stearns has spent a lifetime with dogs.  As a child, she spent countless hours with her father training English Setters for bird hunting and Labrador Retrievers for duck and goose hunting.  After recently retiring from a career in municipal planning, she has joined the Maine Dog Training Company team to pursue her lifelong joy of dog training. 

Amanda spent 8 years training her own dogs for competitive retriever field trials. Finding herself less interested in competing and more interested in training, she continues to teach performance concepts to her dogs, integrating them into recreational activities. Amanda can be found on any given day walking the many trails in the Cumberland area with one or more of her dogs.

Amanda continues to expand her education and has trained with some of  great trainers in the retriever world including Pat Nolan, Pat Burns, Bill Eckett & Ed Forry.  Amanda has completed 40 hours of an operant conditioning  course with Mike Suttle of Logan Haus Kennel and attended a 4 day NePoPo seminar with Pat Suart. 

She adds to the already robust menu of training options offered by Maine Dog Training Company, including private sessions, and recreational retrieving.  

Amanda is a professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals 

Trainer & Number Cruncher Rebecca Holland

Rebecca Holland 
Rebecca developed a passion for training in 2015 when her newly adopted dog required more skill than she had at the time. With Teri’s    coaching, she discovered the necessity, power and fun of training her dog. She learned patience, clear communication, the importance of structure, using the right tools at the right time and the value of play in relationship building and reinforcing obedience. In 2018, she foster failed and adopted her second dog (actually he adopted us!) and has been incorporating all her learning into having a “pack.”



Since then Rebecca has spend countless hours working with her dogs, as well as countless foster dogs,  and learning as much as possible from fellow trainers/dog owners, in classes, workshops, books and club practices. Rebecca has completed a 40 hours operant conditioning course with Mike Suttle of Logan Haus Kennel &  attended a 4 day NePoPo seminar presented by Pat Stuart that showed her the power of 'Heart & Soul' dog training.  Her goal is to bring clarity and confidence to both the handler and the dog through positive first training methods. 

In 2018, she was introduced to GRC Dogsports and has been training both her dogs in socially responsible obedience, weight pull, spring pole and wall climb. She had previously taken courses in agility and nose work but never competed in either sport. Through dog sports, Rebecca has learned that play can be a crucial element to training – for both the dog and the handler.

   

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