Debi Krakar, CPDT
Executive Director/Trainer

Debi Krakar is the Executive Director of Austin Dog Alliance as well as one of the trainers at the facility. She established the Austin Dog Alliance in May 2006 with the vision of making dogs an integral part of the community. 

Debi began her involvement in the Austin canine community by volunteering with the Austin German Shepherd Dog Rescue in 2004. Besides fostering dogs, Debi organized the program’s events and coordinated the vet care for the organization’s 60 or more dogs. In 2006, she received Delta Society Pet Partner registration at a Complex level with her partner Riley. This accomplishment opened the door to fufilling her vision of working with children and dogs. The Bow Wow Reading Dog program started in the Fall of 2007 at Cox Elementary. The K9 Kids program also started at this time. After fostering over 500 dogs, instructing many children at K9 Kids Club and volunteering hundreds of hours in schools, libraries and hospitals, Debi realized the key to expanding her vision was training others.

Debi believes that training should be fun for the students and the dogs. She believes all dogs should be trained to be well behaved in the home and in public and that this training can and should start with young puppies. All training is done is a positive manner: positive with the dogs (clickers or verbal markers, praise, food treats, toy rewards) and with the students. She welcomes the entire family in her training classes because she believes that dogs should be part of the family.

Debi has received her Certified Professional Dog Trainer designation, the Delta Society Pet Partner Team Evaluator license, the Delta Society Pet Partner Instructor license and has registered as an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator. She also has a B.S. in Math and Computer Science from the University of Illinois and MAS Degree in Accounting/Information Systems from the University of Illinois. Debi has a long history of working with non-profit organizations. After the birth of her four children, Debi developed Mothers of Preschool Children, an organization sponsored by several local churches to support mothers. She also spent 10 years immersed in the PTA, holding board positions which included room mom, president, vice president, secretary, and events coordinator. Debi also has over 10 years experience in large-scale project management primarily in nonprofit and governmental entities through various consulting firms.

Carolyn Honish, CPDT
Pet Therapy and Paws for Alert Director/Trainer

Carolyn Honish holds a BA in Anthropology, a BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders/Deafness Studies, and an MA in Communication Sciences and Disorders/Deaf Education from the University of Texas at Austin.  She student taught at Texas School for the Deaf and holds Texas teaching certificates in deaf education and elementary education.  She has been working as a teacher for the deaf since the fall of 1998.

In 2004, Carolyn got a dachshund puppy and began bringing him to her elementary classroom.  Lumpi (pronounced loompee, German for little rascal) was a huge motivator and served as a bridge of communication between hearing and deaf students. It was also apparent that Lumpi felt a sense of purpose in coming to school – it was his job.  Carolyn then decided to start training Lumpi to become a therapy dog so that he could continue his work in the classroom.  The students became assistants in Lumpi’s training.  It was from their work with Lumpi that the idea of Paws for Alert was born.  The students wanted to train their own dogs in manners and to alert them to sounds at home.  Carolyn received her dog training certification in 2005, and they began to work on their goals.

Carolyn and Lumpi received their certification as Pet Partners team with the Delta Society in 2005.  Since that time, Lumpi has been coming to school weekly with Carolyn.  He is the school’s unofficial mascot and works with students on a variety of activities.

Since 2005, Carolyn has been training dogs privately and conducting Paws for Alert sessions, while working full-time as a deaf education teacher in Round Rock ISD. Carolyn is a Certified Proffesional Dog Trainer, a Delta Society Pet Partner evaluator and a Delta Society Pet Partner Instructor.

Carolyn currently owns three dogs, all dachshunds.  Her newest addition came in April 2008 from Central Texas Dachshund Rescue.  Buzz brought along a new perspective to dog training and pet therapy as he is deaf.  At 4 months of age, Buzz immediately began coming to school with Carolyn so that her students could assist in his training.  He now knows over 30 sign language commands and has recently become a Delta Society Pet Partner.  Buzz and Lumpi now alternate their weekly visits to Carolyn’s school. 

Su Tu, CPDT
Volunteer Coordinator/Trainer/Board Member

Su Tu has been involved in dog training since 1996. She started out teaching a basic obedience and manners class for the Austin Humane Society. She was also a BRATT (Behavior Re-homing Assessment Training Team) member there and had the opportunity to work with many different breeds of dogs. After teaching obedience for a few years, Su discovered canine agility. What an adrenaline rush! Soon she was teaching for the Travis Agility Group.

After a few years, she began training with Gerry Brown and eventually became an instructor at his agility school. Since then, she has received her CPDT designation and has worked with Kim Donnell at Waggin’ Tails and Diana Smith at Hearts and Paws.

Su enjoys learning new skills and has recently attended training seminars by: Laura Ormsby, Julie Flanery, Kris Hurley, Bridget McKnight, Clicker Expo, Sarah Kalnajs, Brenda Aloff and Steve White. Su's dogs have earned titles in herding, agility and the Canine Good Citizen award.                       

Elizabeth Smith, CPDT
Trainer

Elizabeth grew up in Philadelphia and moved to Texas to attend graduate school at Rice University. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT), a Canine Good Citizen evaluator for the AKC, has been a Delta Society Pet Partner complex level team since 2008, was a lead trainer at a large chain pet store for five years, and is Vice-President of The Austin Bulldog Club. Before becoming immersed in all things dog related she was a teacher of bipeds. She sees her teaching background as being integral to her success as a trainer and a foundation to her training.  Her approach is positive and reward based and she has found that this leads to students and clients having so much fun that they incorporate her training philosophy and approach in their interactions on a daily basis. She has been deeply influenced through seminars with Karen Pryor, Kathy Sdao, and Kay Laurence while she was living in England.

Elizabeth is an Online Marketing Manager for DogBreedStore.com and writes a daily dog blog featuring training tips, dog news and stories, visit Today's Woof  at http://blog.dogbreedstore.com. 

Marilyn Nichols
Trainer

Marilyn Nichols began training dogs when her family adopted a St. Bernard puppy when she was just a teenager.  Soon to be outweighed by her dog, she created fun and effective training methods back when many of the methods commonly used were harsh and unforgiving.  Her St. Bernard, Herman, grew to be a gentle giant.  He stood out even for a breed known for its size; he was 36" at the shoulder and weighed in at 211 lbs.

Experiencing that special bond that grows between a dog and handler hooked Marilyn for life.  After sharing her enthusiasm for training for many years, she founded her own dog tutoring business.  She is the owner/operator of Happy Puppy Tutoring through which she provides 'in-home' tutoring tailored to the individual needs of her clients. 

Marilyn is the President of the Paws-4-Freestyle Club and has competed in Canine Musical Freestyle in each of Austin's Texas Twister Competitions.  In Freestyle, Marilyn has taken two of her dogs through several levels of titling in singles routines and has titled a duet routine working both of her dogs together.  Marilyn's personal training focus has been on working on  the routine she has designed for her 10 month old puppy, Pookie.

Marilyn works with two local rescue groups, Wee Rescue and Small Chance Rescue, in the rehabilitation of their dogs prior to adoption.

Jill Carter, CPDT
Trainer

Jill Carter became interested in dog training as a shelter volunteer at the Austin Humane Society.  She began teaching dog training classes there in 2001.  Additionally, she was involved in training shelter volunteers to train the dogs awaiting adoption. Jill became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) in 2004.

Jill is the former owner of A Dog’s Eye View, a dog training and dog photography business. She has also trained at Stay N Play Pet Ranch. Her experience includes group classes for dogs and puppies and private lessons, as well as board and train lessons.

As a bilingual second grade teacher, Jill is very comfortable working with children, and welcomes them into her classes. Jill is currently working on a Master of Education degree at Concordia University. She holds a Master of Arts degree in linguistics and bachelor degrees in Spanish and philosophy from Louisiana State University.

Jill has participated in training courses and workshops with a number of notable trainers, such as, Pat Miller, Jean Donaldson, Kathy Sdao, Roger Abrantes, and Nicole Wilde.