Meet the Trainers
JBKC Class Instructors
Lynn Earhart, Senior Instructor
I joined the Janesville-Beloit Kennel Club in 1977, and have long been involved in training and competing with dogs. I’ve been teaching AKC Rally since the sport began in 2005.
I currently own and compete with Belgian Tervurens and have previously owned and competed with Boxers and Dobermans. I work with teams at all levels of Rally, from Novice through Master, and bring extensive experience preparing dogs and handlers for the ring.
My teaching style focuses on building correct skills from the start, with clear instruction and strong fundamentals. I enjoy teaching because I like seeing students apply what they’ve learned and succeed when they show and trial.
Whether the goal is advancing in Rally or developing a reliable working partnership, my focus is on helping teams train correctly, understand the sport, and perform with confidence.
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Questions for Lynn? Email justlikerintintin@gmail.com
Cathy Cline, Senior Instructor
Hi! I’m Cathy Cline I have had collies since my first in 1969, but only started showing with my current dog 4 years ago. Sera has titles in Fastcat, coursing, Rally, agility, herding, FitDog , Canine Good Citizen and Obedience. I trained and showed horses professionally for over 20 years when I decided to completely switch over to dog training full time. I am an evaluator for AKC in Temperament testing, Canine Good Citizen, Tricks, Farm Dog, and Fit Dog. I currently teach classes in Family Dog, Puppy/Young Dog, Fit Dog, Tricks, Canine Good Citizen, CGCA and CGCU, and Reactive Dog. I believe in making classes fun for both the dog and the handler and look forward to meeting you and your dog and making you a team.
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Questions for Cathy? Email mightymaremeadows@gmail.com
Emily Nie, Senior Instructor
I enjoy teaching owners how to teach their dogs. I try to be low key so that new dog owners don't get too nervous training their dogs. I want the experience of training to be fun for both the dog and the owner. I don't require rigorous hours-a-day practice, just enough so both are learning and the owner begins to bond with the dog. For people who have experience with dogs, I like to also keep it low key so they have fun and not be competitive in class, but learn the rules and basics so they can go on to compete if they want to. Currently I am teaching Obedience, Puppy Socialization for 2-4 month olds, S.T.A.R. Puppy classes, and I sub for the Rally instructor when needed. I have also taught CGC and Conformation in the past. I am a certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. I have worked on becoming a Tracking Dog judge in the past as well. Over the past 43 years my dogs have earned 3 Champions of Record; 5 additional dogs earned championship points; 1 International Champion; 1 National Champion; Championship points in UKC shows; 7 CDs (Companion Dogs); 6 Tracking Dogs (TD); 1 Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX); 8 Rally Novice (RN); 3 Rally Intermediate (RI); 2 Rally Advanced; 2 Rally Excellent (RE) 2 Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE); 1 RAE 2; 1 RAE 3; 1 RAE 4; We have also done UKC Rally with two Rally Novice titles; We have competed in CPE Agility, earning Games titles, NADAC Agility, earning games titles and AKC Agility. Other Titles have come from Scentwork: 1 Novice Containers (SCN) and legs toward Novice Interior; Fast CAT: BCAT, DCAT, FCAT, FCAT 2; Barn Hunt: 2 Instinct (RATI), 1 Novice (RATN), 1 Open (RATO) and 2 legs toward Senior (RATS). Current dogs are working in Conformation, Rally, Barn Hunt, Obedience, Scentwork and Tracking.
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Questions for Emily? Email justlikerintintin@gmail.com
Connie Grassl, Senior Instructor
Hi, my name is Connie Grassl and this is my wonderful demo dog Jynx DCAT GCGA CGCU HIT TKI. I’ve owned and trained Border Collies since 2004. Currently training and competing with Jynx in Agility, Rally Obedience and Fastcat.
I’m a certified AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator and ProDog Trainer. I really enjoy helping people train their dogs, turning their struggles into their strengths. My style is games based for real life results and my training philosophy is training for the situation not in the situation. Training sessions should be a fun time not a long time.
My current roster is teaching CGC, Tricks, and Family Dog. I plan on adding FitDog and Agility Foundations int he future. I look forward to helping you on your dog training journey.
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Questions for Connie? Email justlikerintintin@gmail.com
Dawn Czerwan, Senior Instructor
I’ve had dogs my entire life, and working with them has always been a core part of who I am. From a young age, I’ve trained my dogs to be well-behaved, reliable companions, building strong foundations in manners, engagement, and everyday life skills.
I currently train my two dogs, Malachi and Zeus, in a variety of dog sports including Rally, Obedience, Agility, Tracking, Scentwork, and Barn Hunt. While I’m newer to the competitive dog sport world, I bring a lifetime of hands-on experience with dogs and a deep understanding of what it takes to create confident, responsive partners.
My training style is balanced through engagement and play, focusing on clear communication, motivation, and relationship-based learning. I believe training should be enjoyable for both dog and handler while still producing reliable, real-world results.
Whether working toward sport goals or building a solid family companion, my goal is always the same: to help dogs become happy, well-mannered canines and to support their people throughout the training process.
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Questions for Dawn? Email dawnczerwan@gmail.com