Jeannine Kerr launched her obedience-training career for the simplest of reasons: “I had an out-of-control dog,” she says – a Dalmatian named Black Pebbles Pride.

Jeannine had had dogs before; in fact, she’d been around all kinds of animals since she was little. Jeannine was allowed to ride horses from Rocky Ridge Ranch who were staying at her grandparents’ country home for rest or rehabilitation. She also mingled freely with the dogs who were assigned to guard the resident chickens from predators.

“I learned a lot about dog behavior” in those days, Jeannine notes. She watched the dogs interact with each other and with chickens, coyotes, and “little critters.” That experience and insight were laying the groundwork for her career, though of course she didn’t know it at the time. 

The first time Jeannine came face to face with a problem dog, though, was when Black Pebbles Pride arrived. Pebbles came along at a time when Jeannine could least afford to have an unruly canine, when she had started a family and had two young children. Pebbles had learned “kid tricks” – sit up, lie down, roll over, bow, and jump through a hula hoop – and would perform all these tricks for a treat. But in the process, she would jump on the children and knock them down.

To solve this family problem, Jeannine signed up for an obedience class, and by the end of the twelve-week course, Pebbles was the top dog in the class. Pebbles went on to earn her CD, CDX, and UD titles in short order – becoming Black Pebbles Pride UD – and for ten years was a terrific family companion as well.