Nancy Droukas

Nancy Droukas, CPDT-KA is the President of Performance Plus Dog Training Inc.  She has been training and showing dogs since 1992. She has achieved numerous titles and awards in the United States and Canada. Her first competition dog was a 5 pound Yorkshire Terrier named Biscuit with whom she achieved a Utility Dog (UD) title…no easy feat, to be sure, but very educational.  That training experience laid the foundation for her do no harm training philosophy and motivational techniques.  She went on to achieve an Obedience Trial Champion (OTCh) title on her rescued Labrador Retriever, Abby, and has since put an OTCh on two of her Golden Retrievers, Dash and Chance.  Her third Golden Retriever, Twist, earned his Utility Dog title (UD) in November, 2008 and is currently working on his OTCh title.  Her fourth, fifth and sixth Golden Retrievers, Grip, Rocket, and Grab are works in progress and won't be ready for competition for awhile.  Nancy is also a member of the 200 Club.  Membership in this club is attained when a judge awards the team a perfect score (200) for their performance.  Nancy has several 200’s to her credit.  Nancy has also done a bit of retriever field training at an amateur level and has put Junior Hunter (JH) titles and Working Certificate Excellent  (WCX) titles on Dash and Chance and just recently a Working Certiticate (WC) title on Twist and Junior Hunter title on Grip.  Twist and Rocket are in training for their Junior Hunter titles. Grab is a puppy tag-a-long presently.

Nancy’s passion for dog training and pursuit of excellence along with her good humor has given birth to a premier training facility which offers something for everyone no matter what their level of expertise.  From the seasoned trainer to the first time dog owner, all are welcomed at Performance Plus Dog Training - a warm, friendly, FUN place to effectively train your dog and learn to build a strong, balanced relationship.

Paulette Swartzendruber

Paulette has experience in kennel management and veterinarian hospitals. She has instructed classes in breed, field, obedience and agility.  She also has a grooming business. 
 
She has titled numerous dogs:  2 UD Irish Setters ~ 2 OTCH Flat-Coated Retrievers with MH and CH titles and one with a MACH 2, as well as an OTCH Sheltie. The same Sheltie tied for first place in Open at the Eastern Regional and placed at the Classic.  Tyma, her Flat-Coated Retriever qualified for the Master's National and the AKC National Obedience Invitational in the same year.  Tyma holds the following titles:  MACH II, OTCH, CH, MH, WCX.  She has finished numerous Irish Setters to their breed championships, as well as Flat-Coated Retrievers, Shelties and various other breeds.  Paulette has put 6 MACH's on 4 dogs and is more than half way there on her 7th with a Border Collie.

Paulette and her new star, "Rush"... qualified for the USA 2008 Agility World Team and competed with the team in Helsinki, Finland in September 2008.  She qualified again in 2009 and will compete with the USA 2009 Agility World Team in Dornbirn, Austria on September 18-20, 2009.

Susan LeVasseur

Susan has owned Airedales since 1970.  She started showing dogs in conformation and then training them in obedience shortly thereafter.

She and her dogs have achieved 9 CD's, 2 CDX's, and 1 UD.  Two of her Airedales have been owner-handled to their breed championships.  She started showing in agility in 1998 and her current Airedales, Cassidy and Callie have earned their AKC MX and MXJ and numerous other agility titles.   Most recently she has been showing in rally and has put Rally Excellent titles on Cassidy and Callie.

Carolyn Goudreau

Carolyn and her Golden Retriever, Gunther, came to Performance Plus for puppy classes, progressed to Basic Manners and in the process became hooked on competition obedience.  She quickly learned that at Performance Plus, you aren't just training your dog...you are training yourself on how to be an effective leader.  The lasting bond that is created between yourself and the dog is just amazing!  The education is never ending and there is something to be learned every day from every experience.

Since they first started coming to Performance Plus, Gunther has achieved CGC, TDI and CD titles.  They have travelled to Pennsylvania to participate in the All-Star Dog competition, a unique experience which puts the best of the best against each other in a fun, energized environment.  Their next project is continuing in their quest for CDX and UD titles.

Carolyn teaches Basic Manners classes here at Performance Plus.  Her goal is to mold her students approach towards basic training with fun, positive, consistent and rewarding methods.  In addition to incorporating basic manners such as sit, down, wait and stay in classes, it is also important for a person to realize how their dog thinks and why they behave the way they do.  In the end, a person takes so much more away from the class at the end of the day and can incorporate that into their everyday life with their dog.

Carolyn and her husband Gregg reside in Bridgewater with Gunther and their younger Golden Retriever, Griffin.  Besides training Gunther and Griffin, her other passions include horses, boating and just relaxing!

Melissa DePasquale

Melissa has been around animals her entire life and also works as a veterinary technician specialist in emergency and critical care.  She earned her Bachelors degree in Veterinary Technology in 1998 and maintains both State and National certifications as a Technician.  She has worked many hours caring for sick and injured animals which has taught her alot about animal behavior.  She started training her own dog at Performance Plus several years ago and has been hooked ever since.  She continues to be amazed by the relationship between dogs and humans and enjoys helping pet owners communicate and develop strong bonds with their dog.  She very much believes that dogs are members of the family and enjoys helping to ensure pets live long, happy and healthy lives both through her experience as a trainer and her veterinary medical background.

She is actively competing in obedience with Brody, her Doberman, who has earned his CGC, TDI and CD titles.  They also placed 9th at the All Star Obedience Championships.  Melissa says Brody is a great dog and keeps her on her toes.  He has taught her patience and continues to help her grow as a trainer.  She will always be grateful to him for taking this journey with her.  She looks forward to earning additional titles.

Melissa also shares her home in Carver, MA with her husband and her other 2 dogs (a French Bulldog and a Boston Terrier).

Cassia began her career as an apprentice where she assisted in the training of tracking, patrol, and scent detection dogs.  Needless to say, she was hooked and training dogs and people became a lifelong passion!  Since 1998, Cassia has been professionally helping pets and their people with both manners and behavior.  In 2003, she completed her first certification and began specializing in fear based aggression and reactivity which she continues to do on a limited basis today.  Cassia believes in training the owner/handler to better understand their dog in order to facilitate clear communication, understanding, and willing participation.    She believes in treating the whole dog and that the beauty of training is in the journey, small victories, and quality of connection, as opposed to the final result.  In her years as a canine professional, Cassia has been an animal shelter manager, director of behavior and training, business owner, and is Pet First Aid/CPR certified.  She believes direct experience and thorough study of applied animal behavior are just the foundation for a lifelong education and study of dogs.  She continues to learn and grow through continuing education and seminars on both dog training and animal behavior management. 

Cassia's combined passion for dog training and love of the outdoors have led her to train and handle three operational wilderness air scent Search and Rescue dogs, one Urban SAR dog, and one trailing SAR dog.  As a former training officer, she has overseen the training and evaluation of numerous SAR dogs including tracking, trailing, and air scent and been on multiple international search and rescue deployments.  Cassia and her dogs have also dabbled in competition obedience, agility, and conformation.  In the past few years, Cassia has switched focus to training service/assistance dogs and training and handling hunting retrievers (she loves watching dogs do what they were bred to do!).  Her past dogs include three German Shepherd dogs, an Australian cattle dog/Jack Russell mix, a malamute, and a cocker spaniel.  Cassia is currently owned by Oliver (Pitbull/Husky mix and retired SAR dog) and Red (Chesapeake Bay Retriever and puppy in training).