Vicky Lovejoy
Vicky has been a student of animal behavior all of her life. She grew up competing horses first in
gymkhana events and later in three-day eventing, stadium jumping, and dressage. She always had
companion dogs who were both household pets and working dogs at the barn.
Vicky started in agility in 2006 with her rescue dog, Belle. She learned quickly by applying her decades of experience in the equestrian world to studying and running agility courses. Her understanding of course lines and flow helped her advance to competition after a few months of training and Belle rapidly
earned titles up to Masters and Elite levels in multiple venues including AKC, USDAA,. CPE, ASCA, and
NADAC.
Once bitten by the agility bug, Vicky’s passion for education led her to pursue certification as a
professional dog trainer. In that time, she continued in agility with other dogs demonstrating her skills
as a trainer and competitor with multiple dogs of varying breeds. In 2019, Vicky and her Australian
Shepherd, Kendra, finished in the top ten of the ASCA Nationals competing against qualifying dogs from
around the world.
Her NoseWork expertise began as she was in the first NoseWork class offered at the SPCA in Long Beach when the founders, Ron Gaunt, Amy Herot, and Jill Marie O’Brien first came up with the idea to offer a version of detection training to pet owners. As the activity developed into a sport, Vicky competed in the fledgling competitions. With the eventual formation of NACSW (National Association of Canine ScentWork), Vicky became a certified NoseWork instructor (CNWI) and ORT judge. She is also certified as an AKC Scentwork judge, UKC NoseWork Certifying Official, USCSS Certifying Official, and currently training as a Certifying Official for NACSW. She has multiple championships on all of her dogs in both agility and NoseWork and, in 2017, competed in the NACSW National Invitational with her Australian Shepherd, Kendra. Kendra has earned two titles in the new Summit competitions offered through NACSW for dogs who have completed their Elite Championship. Beryl and Kendra have earned titles in and are competing at the Detective level in AKC.
As her interest in dog training and fitness has developed, Vicky has earned certification as a FitPaws
Master Trainer (FP-MT) and is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA). She has national board
certification in small animal massage and is licensed as a small animal massage practitioner (SAMP). She
is also a CGC evaluator for AKC.
