Erin grew up in a dog show family and has been around dogs almost all of her life. She started of
f as a junior handler and handled several dogs to their championship titles before she was even a teenager. At 10 years old, she put her first obedience title on her German Shepherd Tammy, earning their CD. In her adult years she continued to trial her German Shepherds in many different performance sports, including schutzhund, obedience, agility, tracking and rally.
Looking for something different to do with her dogs, Erin discovered K9 Nose Work. Erin became a CNWI and through her business, Happy Dog Concepts, teaches a variety of K9 Nose work classes in two locations in the greater St. Louis area and southern Illinois.
In addition to her German Shepherds, Erin also has Border Terriers. Her Border Terrier Gabby earned her ELT-CH in January 2018 and is the first Border Terrier in the history of the breed to do so. Her Border Terrier Joker earned his ELT-CH October 2021 and is the second Border Terrier to do so. German Shepherd Storm has his ELT1. The newest addition to the family, Border Terrier Philby is in training and has some mighty big paws to fill! In addition to K9 Nose Work, Erin and the Borders compete in a variety of sports including conformation, obedience, earthdog, agility and dock diving.
Erin enjoys traveling with her dogs and going to new places. In her coast-to-coast travels with the Border Terriers, she has met some great people and has made many new friends along the way.
