About Us

HOW WE HELP

Papp's Dog Services has a balanced approach to training designed to give each person the tools they need to have their dog be a wonderful companion and a good canine citizen. One of Susan's stated goals is to have you become the best thing in your dog's life! Papp's Dog Services has assisted not only those who desire to compete in obedience and rally, but those who have had behavioral issues, such as fear biting, as well as helping the owner be able to have their dog be a good member of the family. Though we do not have a specific service dog training program, we provide a basic foundation for that training, and assist those who have trained their dog for service dog and therapy dog work.

SUSAN AND STAFF

Susan has been a board member of NADOI, the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors, and is certified through them as an instructor. NADOI is the world's oldest organization for certification of canine instructors. She is a member of IACP, the International Association of Canine Professionals, and is a Certified CGC evaluator for the AKC. She is also a licensed AKC Obedience judge for the non-regular classes. Click the links in the text below for details about these organizations. She has trained several dogs to advanced degrees, including American and Canadian Utility Dog, and the first Labrador Grand Champion / Rally Champion. Susan is also a member of the national Labrador Retriever Club.

Papp's Dog Services has always had a staff of volunteer trainers who have trained at PDS before, and know the importance of giving dog owners the tools they need to both understand and change their pet's behavior. Not every tool works for every dog or breed of dog.

Every Papp's instructor has titled at least one dog in competition. Susan and Lois are certified by NADOI. Susan has Agility titles in Novice, Open, Excellent and Masters levels.

a bit of history

Papp's Dog Services was started by Jack and Sally Papp in Akron, Ohio in the mid 1970s, although they had been training dogs part time since the early 1960's. By Jack's reckoning, they had been "in the business" for 42 years as of Spring of 2005, and have earned an excellent reputation. In December, 2004 they decided to retire, and sold the business to Lewis and Susan Jenkins. Jack is now Trainer Emeritus, and has followed the sun South to Florida's West coast.

Credentials

CREDENTIALS

Susan and many of her instructors are members of NADOI and/or the IACP. Every Papp's instructor has titled at least one dog in competition.

National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors

NADOI was founded in 1965 to promote modern, humane training methods and at the same time elevate standards in the dog obedience instructing profession. Click here to visit their website.

International Association of Canine Professionals

Founded in 1999, the IACP was established to develop and promote the highest standards of professional and business practice among canine professionals Click here to visit their website.

CANINE GOOD CITIZEN

Started by the American Kennel Club in 1989, the CGC Program is designed to reward dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. This certification is awarded after dog and handler have passed a standard good manners test designed by the AKC. Click here to visit their website.

RECOMMENDATIONS

For the full text of each recommendation, see the bottom of the Curriculum page.

Kirstin N. Boddy, DVM, MS, DACVIM(c) and Flower the Pittbull Terrier
Leslie G. Ungar, Speechwriter, Executive Coach, and Speaker.
Teresa West-Holmes, Vet Tech, Kin-dah (Tajamani Kindoro at Luvakis, CGC) Bro (Luvakis Shirley's Legen- Wait For It -dary!)

ABOUT SUSAN

Susan has been training dogs since 1985, and has brought dogs to advanced degrees including American and Canadian Utility Dog. Her first dog Becca was in the top 20 Labs in the U.S. for scores and placements when she got her UD degree. When Caleb was just over two years old he was ranked eighth in the U.S. among Labs using the Delaney Novice Ratings when he got his CD. Caleb left us suddenly at just over ten years old. He had his UDX4, OM5, and 91 points toward his OTCH with all of his first places. Caleb, Micah and Susan's Lab Toby all qualified for the Front and Finish Excellence Obedience Gold award for getting their CD degrees in their first three shows with competition scores of 190 or better out of 200. In the 2011 rankings, Caleb was ranked the number nine Labrador in the nation in the First and Foremost ratings. He was also ranked 23rd of the top 100 dogs for receiving High in Trials.

Micah completed his CDX in early December 2011 with scores all in the 190's. In early February 2012, he completed his Utility Dog title. In less than nine and a half months, Micah earned his CD, CDX and UD qualifying him for the Front and Finish Excellence Platinum award. Micah and Susan compete in agility where Micah earned his Master Standard Preferred agility title—one of the most advanced.

Malachi joined the "pack" in November of 2013, and is now trained in Obedience, Rally, field work, and Conformation with multiple titles in Obedience, Rally, and Conformation. In 2020, Malachi became the first Labrador AKC Grand Champion / Rally Champion. Susan was also co-owner of Jackson, a Border Collie, who had earned his Rally Novice, Beginner Novice and Companion Dog titles. And as of August, 2022, Susan is a licensed AKC Obedience judge for the non-regular classes.

Tuxie joined our pack August of 2021. His registered name is Asher, which is Hebrew for happy, and he certainly is one of the happiest dogs we have ever known. He currently is pointed towards his AKC Championship with a major as well has having his UKC Championship. In 2023, Tuxie placed seventh in Rally Intermediate out of 100 teams at the Rally National Championship in Wilmington, Ohio. He has earned multiple UKC and AKC rally titles. He is currently working on his Rally Master, Rally Championship and Utility Dog title in AKC as well as his UKC Companion Dog Excellent title.

Titles and awards earned by

Papps' trainers and students

Companion Dog, Companion Dog eXcellent, Utility Dog, Utility Dog
eXcellent, Obedience Master, Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH).
Rally Novice, Rally Advanced, Rally Advanced Excellent.
Agility Dog, Master Standard Preferred agility title.
American Kennel Club (AKC) Champion and Grand Champion.
United Kennel Club (UKC) Champion and Grand Champion.

Instructors

Instructors at Papp’s Dog Services have over 100 years combined experience to help you and your dog grow from the puppy foundation good manners class all the way through competition in Conformation, Agility, Obedience and Rally. Papp's Dog Services has always had a staff of volunteer trainers who have trained at PDS before, and know the importance of giving dog owners the tools they need in order to both understand and change their pet's behavior. Not every tool works for every dog or breed of dog. Every Papp's instructor has titled at least one dog in competition. Susan and Lois are certified by NADOI. Susan has Agility titles in Novice, Open, Excellent and Masters levels.

LOIS BROWN: Lois is a groomer by profession and a semi-professional handler. She has handled Dobermans, Shar Pei, Border Collies, Labradors and Spinone Italianos just to name a few breeds. Lois brings years of experience to the conformation class. Lois also competes actively in Obedience and Rally with her Shar Peis, Shetland Sheepdog and Border Collies including advance titles in both venues. She is also certified through NADOI (National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors).

ELIZABETH MORSTATTER: A retired social worker, Elizabeth is fantastic with students as well as reading the dogs. Her years of experience have included training an Airedale and Poodle, but her breed of choice is Spinone Italiano. She had one of the first female Champion/Master Hunter Spinone’s in the history of the breed. Elizabeth not only helps with the Rally and Novice classes , she competes in breed, Rally and Obedience to bring a balanced view in her training. Elizabeth is also an evaluator for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test.

BOB HARBERT: Bob started out wanting to have a well behaved dog but had so much fun training him, he decided to go on. He and Tucker have become one of the top ranked Labrador Retriever teams in rally and obedience. His fun of training trickles down to the people he works with both in Beginner’s classes and competition classes. Bob is also an evaluator for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test.

CHRIS HODGE:

Chris and Dave Hodge are long time breeder of award winning Labradors. Chris also dabbles in rally and obedience, but her heart is helping people with their new puppies. You can find Chris helping with the Puppy Kindergarten class and Dave helping fill in with the conformation class.

LINDA DAVIS: Linda has a keen eye for dogs and their behavior. She helps with Beginner classes and also brings years of experience along with having trained Norwegian Elkhound, German Shepherd Dog and Belgian Sheepdog. She also has competed in Rally and Obedience earning advance titles in each.

DEBBIE WEBER: Debbie started with Papp's classes to help get her goofy Labrador under some control, and she got hooked on training and competing. After training in classes for a number of years, she has come on staff as an assistant and brings a wonderful talent for working with people and helping people with their dogs.

KATHY SEIDER: Kathy has also been training for many years. Though she started out in Obedience she now is a breeder of Labrador Retrievers and brings very important insight to people training their dogs.

NANCY GRANT: A retired professor who has a wonderful ability to communicate with students, Nancy has trained a Border Collie, but her breed for competition is the Basenji, a non-traditional breed which has taught her how to think outside the box.

DIANA MINOR: Diana has trained multiple Dobermans and loves working with people. She actively competes in rally and obedience with her Dobies. She enjoys working with the Rally students and watching them progress.

TERESA WEST-HOLMES has been involved with dog sports since she was a child in 4-H. She is a vet tech and breeder of award winning Rhodesian Ridgebacks. She competes in conformation, obedience, rally and agility.

SPECIAL NOTES:

Bob, Elizabeth, Teresa, and Susan are CGC evaluators.
Su, Teresa, and Elizabeth have shown their dogs in the famous AKC (American Kennel Club) Westminster Dog Show in New York City.