Gail Czarnecki has been a long-time HRI volunteer and advisor. She has numerous degrees and is an expert in many aspects of canine behavior, nutrition, and training. She has been on the HRI Board and is a frequent contributor when difficult dogs must get a course of training/rehabilitation. Gail is also certified to judge dogs for the AKC Trick Dog Awards.
Gail has been training dogs and teaching obedience classes for nearly 30 years. She is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and the Pet Professional Guild. She has a Ph.D. in Companion Animal Nutrition. She also has been a member of the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) subcommittee that sets nutritional standards for dogs and cats in the US.
She currently owns three Havanese. In her spare time, she helps with Havanese Rescue, accompanies her dogs on therapy dog visits, participates in obedience and rally competitions, and teaches her dogs fun tricks.
She thinks one of the most important lessons is that: using force can often worsen a situation. Positive, science-based methods are very powerful.
She has contributed the ideas below for fun activities and games to play with dogs.