Amanda Shyne

Amanda Shyne loves all animals and pursued a graduate degree studying animal behavior at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Her Ph.D. dissertation examined the effects of environmental enrichment on zoo animal welfare.

Amanda has been doing agility for 18 years and teaching the sport for 10. Due to her training as a researcher, her agility school, Data Driven Agility, takes a scientific approach to agility and dog training. Amanda is constantly looking for the most effective ways to communicate course direction to dogs. One of her catchphrases, "Good to know," reminds her students that all data is important, even if it suggests the need for more training.

Amanda is not afraid to try new techniques and enjoys taking seminars as much as she does teaching them. She loves agility and will continue to learn from her dogs for the rest of her life.

Amanda says her teaching philosophy is that "Dogs and people learn best with clear specific instructions and a high, high, high rate of reward!" She describes her handling style and philosophy as focusing on commitment: "I teach my dogs to have fantastic obstacle commitment - which makes handling much easier! My philosophy is to give my dog course direction as soon as possible, rather than waiting until they need the information. For instance, instead of cueing a front cross before my dog takes off for the jump, I cue the front cross as soon as my dog commits to the jump. This requires more training, but it allows the slower (less agile) member of the agility team more time to cue upcoming challenges."

Amanda's favorite thing to do with her dogs is to take them for walks in the woods.