Donna Savoie

Donna Savoie started offering obedience training professionally in 2005 and in 2010, she opened the first Pack of Paws Dog Training Center, in Southbridge, Massachusetts. She opened a second training center, this time in Charlton, Massachusetts, in 2020. She says, "I love teaching people and seeing the enhanced engagement they achieve with their dogs. Behaviors are important but without that engagement, fun, and sense of humor, then what's the point?"

Donna started competitive dog sports in 2014, doing Barn Hunt with her German Shepherd, Vader. In 2017, she began doing Dock Diving with another German Shepherd, Rikkochez. They achieved many dock titles, High in Trials, and first places, earned a Master Dock title, and received invitations to Regionals. In 2018, she started doing agility but Rikkochez had to retire due to health problems. In 2019, she began the sport of French Ring with her Malinois, Lazer. She says, "We got to a point in our training where I needed to work on her obedience at higher levels of distraction. I enrolled in agility classes predominantly to learn something new and to work Lazer at high levels of distraction. It wasn't long before I noticed that when we went to Ring practice, she did it and seemed to like it, but when we went to agility practice, she was stomping and screaming and was the happiest dog. So, it was tough but I made the switch from French Ring to agility."

Donna learned that Lazer's obedience wasn't as good around agility equipment and during agility training. She started training specific obedience skills for agility and then started teaching it as a class to other agility competitors. People who have taken the in-person class love it, so now she offers it online to reach those who are interested in higher levels of engagement and teamwork during sports training and performances. She says, "I have high-drive, powerful, crazy dogs and I don't accept unruly behavior; it presents badly and it's frustrating. Obedience training should be fun, with positive reinforcement including food, games, toys, and play. Obedience training can and should be as fun as the agility activity itself."

"I enjoy my crazy dogs and I love learning with them. They teach me a ton and I get the privilege of teaching that to others."