Agility Instructor
Sara Beth has been committed to working with pets and their people for more than 20 years. She has 15 years of experience in animal care, playgroup management, and customer service with pet resorts and also worked as a program animal keeper and trainer with the free flight show at Zoo Atlanta, vet assistant in a small animal practice, and professional dog walker. Along the way she earned BSAs in Avian Biology and Biological Science and a PhD in Poultry Science from The University of Georgia. Most recently she’s moved to the other side of the computer to assist training, daycare, and boarding facilities as they implement management software. She enjoys helping people all over the world improve their business practices.
Her interest in training dogs started in 2006 when she adopted her first dog Bailey from a shelter. He was a lot of dog for a first time pet owner and she found that she had to learn and grow as a trainer to be a successful home for him. She adopted her 2nd dog Icey in 2008 and discovered agility in 2010. Sara Beth, Bailey, and Icey were well-known in the agility community for how much fun they had together and how supportive they were of fellow students and competitors. The highlight of their career was when Icey and Sara Beth competed at the first Masters Agility Championship at Westminster in 2014 where Icey won over the crowds with her sweet nature. Bailey and Icey earned agility (AKC, USDAA, & NADAC), coursing, and trick titles. Bailey and Icey passed away in 2020 and 2021 respectively and had a lasting influence on Sara Beth’s development as a trainer.
Sara Beth has been teaching trick and agility classes since 2015 and has been teaching at Canine Country Academy since 2021. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), Fear Free Certified Training Professional, AKC Canine Good Citizen and Trick Dog Evaluator, and Certified Trick Dog Instructor. She’s been a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers since 2016 and was honored to present at their annual conference in October of 2017. She was also an invited speaker at the Pet Boarding & Daycare Expos in May 2017, November 2017, and November 2019 and their virtual expos in July 2020 and November 2020. She is committed to furthering her education and qualifications through various learning opportunities and exceeds the continuing education requirements set by certifying organizations. Sara Beth’s philosophy is that training, whether it be for manners, tricks, or competition, should be a fun and exciting game for dogs and humans alike. This is also her approach to dog ownership and she loves helping people to enjoy their pets!
Sara Beth lives in Atlanta with her husband Andrew and 3 dogs – Nimbus (border collie mix), Goomba (pitbull/husky), and Elphie (Australian Shepherd). Nimbus earned titles in disc, dock diving, tricks, coursing, and AKC & USDAA agility prior to retirement and is now enjoying a successful career in AKC & NACSW scentwork. Goomba competes in agility with Andrew and has earned titles with Sara Beth in barn hunt, tricks, coursing, and scentwork. Elphie trains with Sara Beth for tricks, agility, scentwork, barnhunt, dock diving, disc, Rally, and conformation. When Sara Beth isn’t working or teaching classes, she enjoys training, walking, and hiking her dogs, spending time with her family, and planning home improvement projects.