Brain Camp
Brain Camp Crew
Kathy Murphy (BVetMed, DPhil, CVA, CLAS, MRCVS) is a veterinary surgeon and neuroscientist. She recently joined the Behavior Vets team as the Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Murphy graduated from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons UK in 1999, initially working in mixed clinical practice before studying for two post graduate clinical qualifications. In 2009 she was awarded a highly prestigious Wellcome Research Training Fellowship to study for her PhD, in Behavioral Neuroscience, at The Queens College, University of Oxford, UK. She subsequently worked in the USA as Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Anesthesiology at the Icahn School of Medicine NYC; and is now back in the UK, where she held a clinical-academic position as Director of the Comparative Biology Centre at Newcastle University before becoming Director of Barking Brains Ltd (a neuroscience outreach program for the animal behavior and training community) and joining Behavior Vets LLC.
Dr. Murphy's clinical interest has always been anesthesia, analgesia, since the age of 13 years and she has recently completed a residency at the European College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. In addition to her primary career roles she was Trustee and Veterinary Advisor to the Rottweiler Welfare Association for 14 years, is a co-founder of Ethics First (a collective which lobbies for ethical decision making in clinical practice), is an Oversight Committee Member for the UK Dog Behavior and Training Charter, sits on numerous National and International boards, working groups and ethical review panels, and most of all loves spending time with her own 5 dogs and supportive husband.
Bobbie Bhambree (CDBC, CPDT-KA) is the Director of Behavior Services and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant at Behavior Vets. She is also a faculty member of CATCH Canine Trainers Academy and Agility University. Bobbie started her career in 2003 as a pet behavior counselor with the ASPCA Animal Behavior Center. While there, she implemented behavior modification programs for dogs who had been surrendered by the public or seized by Humane Law Enforcement. In 2007, Bobbie joined the Humane Society of Westchester, spending the next nine years as their shelter trainer. She created and implemented training and enrichment programs for the dogs, counseled adopters, trained volunteers, participated in community outreach programs, and performed evaluations.
In 2016, Bobbie joined the North Shore Animal League America in Port Washington, NY as the Director of Pet Behavior. During her tenure there, she managed a team of canine and feline trainers who focused on developing behavior modification and enrichment programs for the animals in the shelter. She also deployed for the ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Behavior Team to work in the field, supporting the team with dog fighting busts, puppy mill cases, and hoarding cases. In addition to this work, she founded and directed her own company, DogCentric Dog Training, helping people whose pet dogs experienced a wide spectrum of canine behavior issues. Bobbie presented at the Lemonade Conference, hosted by IAABC and Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, in February of 2022.
Over the years, Bobbie has very successfully competed in agility in various venues with several of her dogs including, Marvel who came in third for Performance Speed Jumping and Performance Grand Prix at Mid-Atlantic Regionals in 2019. Bobbie periodically contributes to the agility-focused magazine, Clean Run. She is passionate about working with dog sport teams struggling with behavior issues. Bobbie regularly teaches behavior workshops for the dog sports community.
Bobbie recently took up surfing, a life-long dream of hers. She currently shares her life with four terriers, one Pitbull, and a border collie/whippet mix (Tricky, Ziggy, Marvel, Heady Topper, Eleanor Rigby, and Phuncky) and a very supportive husband in southern New Jersey.
Elliot Connor trained in scent specific/mantrailing with Search & Rescue UK for 4 years. Elliot uses a multi-method approach and takes the best parts of tracking, trailing and detection to enable the dog to find their target in the fastest and most direct way.
He gained his instructors certification with Scent Imprint For Dogs in Holland. Scent Imprint have trained and worked dogs all over the world in detection and tracking from explosives and narcotics to wildlife conservation.
Elliot has taught operational style detection for the last 3 years and has had great success trialing his own dogs - a working German Shorthaired Pointer and Weimaraner. It was as he was coming to the end of his Internship with a UK based scentwork organization, that he realized his passion lay in providing a personalized training experience, helping owners to deepen their partnership with their dog through scentwork, and so his scentwork training company ‘EK9’ was founded. He trains at events and 121s predominantly across the UK, where he lives with his wife and their 5 dogs.
Elliot is also a Scent Ops trials ambassador, trainer and judge in the UK. Scent Ops are operational style detection trials with the focus being on teamwork between the handler and dog.
Everything Elliot teaches is suitable for just about any dog including reactive ones, he will tailor working sessions specifically for you and your dog, providing the "why" as well as the "what" and "when". With a focus on synchronizing the body language of the team, you will find that your bond with your dog will become stronger supporting both improved enjoyment and performance.
Tracy Sklenar has been training dogs and competing in dog agility for almost 25 years, and is likely the only handler in the world who has won medals in international Finals as a coach for 2 different countries AND as a handler with her own dog in both team and individual events. She is on the faculty of Agility University (www.agility-u.com) and Agility MasterClass (www.agilitymasterclass.com), and also travels extensively to teach seminars and compete. Her “Feet Forward” approach to handling, and emphasis on connection and reinforcement have helped handlers excel at every level and with every type of dog!
Tracy’s dogs have had very successful careers Regionally, Nationally and Internationally in agility and now she has added Flyball and disc to her dogs’ list of accomplishments! Tracy and her dogs have achieved many titles & championships, made many Finalist appearances as well as multiple podium appearances in the U.S., in Canada and in Europe. She has competed as a member of 5 European Open teams and the IFCS World Agility Championships Team. Tracy has competed successfully in agility with a variety of dogs of all shapes, sizes and temperaments. Export closed out his career with a National Championship in the Games Championship at the UKI US Open! During the Covid lockdowns, Voodoo and Crusher were the National Speedstakes Champions in their respective divisions at the virtual UKI Canada Open, with Voodoo repeating his Speedstakes victory at the virtual UKI US Open. Baby dogs Hot Sauce, Contraband and Elektra have kicked off their careers in agility and flyball, amassing titles, wins, and great times as well. The future is very exciting!
Currently, Tracy shares her life with 7 dogs: a BC/CS mix (9 year old Voodoo), two Papillons (10 year old Crusher and 8 year old Macho Nacho), a BC/terrier mix (3 year old Hot Sauce), and 3 pointy puppies (Whippet mixes): Border Whippet, Contraband, and Bwhap, Elektra, and Whippet, Ramen! She began agility with 2 mixed breeds and 2 Dalmatians, and also enjoyed fabulous high level careers with Export (Border Jack) and Rebound (Rat Terrier). This range of experience with a variety of breeds and individuals has helped her become an instructor who can help all types of dogs and handlers!
Tracy also has extensive coaching experience, ranging from local competitors to international teams. She bases her Feet Forward approach on the streamlined international styles of handling found in parts of Europe and emphasizes teamwork, connection, independence, consistency, mental focus, play and fun for both the handler and the dog to build a clear system of communication for each team. She came out of team coaching retirement to coach Team USA at the IFCS World Agility Championships in Valencia, Spain in 2017 and stayed on to coach the 2018 USA team in Italy. In 2012 and 2011, she was the Coach/Manager of Team USA at the World Agility Open in Belgium and the United Kingdom, and in both years was proud to see the US team bring home more medals than any other country - both times! She served as the Manager/Coach for Team Canada at the IFCS World Agility Championships in 2008, 2010 and in 2012. These teams were also very successful, ranking high in the Individual medal count and bringing home medals in the Team event.
Outside of international competitions, Tracy’s local, national and international students from live classes, seminars, and online classes/seminars have achieved great success with a variety of breeds, including World Teams, championship titles, national finals appearances, top five finishes in their breed, Invitational appearances, and more! Tracy uses positive reinforcement, motivational games and shaping to build brilliant behaviors while teaching the handlers to be consistent and positive in their handling and dog training.
Brain Camp Crew
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