MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS!
Anja Troha
I’ve grown up surrounded by all kind of animals (dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, horses, turtles etc) and started clicker training and ran agility with our rescue dog Luna when I was 10. Yet one dream was always there; to have my very own dog. Vicky (a Border Collie) was born in May 2010. She has opened my eyes in so many ways and forever changed my outlook on life. I own a kennel called ”Doggone Jolly’s” established in 2014 with my very first litter of Border Collies. With the idea of my ‘ideal’ border collie, my wish is to continue breeding this wonderful breed in the future as well. Vicky’s 2nd litter was born in June 2018; I kept a puppy called Tuvalu and life with her never gets boring! She’s WILD on four paws and is continuing to teach me a ton about dogs, their behaviours and dog training.
My dogs have introduced me to plenty different disciplines such as agility (A3), dog frisbee, dog dancing, bikejoring, nose work etc. For the past few years I’ve been growing knowledge on mantrailing and gathering experience in herding at home and UK. These two have become our favourite two activities. I’ve been holding puppy classes in a local dog school Alfakan for the past 3 years and been loving to work with people and their dogs to together create a strong bond and harmonious everyday life. Through all these disciplines I’ve gathered a ton of knowledge through online classes and have worked with plenty different teachers and trainers online and in person whose lessons I deeply treasure and they all have been a big part of my journey so far. I surely don’t plan to ever stop growing my knowledge.
I’ve always been incorporating dogs into my daily life and due to their wonderful manners and training they are joy to have around, may it be at home or during travels.
Through blending my passions together I spend a lot of my time traveling, creating videos and photographing dogs, friends, my life and just whatever adventures life may bring. I am constantly trying to improve and expand my knowledge and I enjoy sharing my creations with the world through Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. I’m also a content creator and social media manager at Dogs4motion Canine Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine and canine photographer in my free time.
Nika Januš
My family has had dogs for as long as I can remember. I started diving into dog training and dog sports with our family dog Neli (labrador retriever mix) in 2010. Training with Neli, trick training and running agility with her, made me fall deeper and deeper in love with dog training – which made the wish to have my own dog even more clear. In 2014 I brought home a Border Collie girl named Nixi and my world has flipped – with her I’ve learned the true meaning of a strong bond and understanding between a dog and his owner.
I have learned the most with training Neli and Nixi. Through years they both had completely different characters which resulted in different specific problems and issues we faced in training and daily life. I have also helped my friends while training dogs of different age and breeds and shaping them into lovely family members and everyday companions. I have gathered a lot of my knowledge through different classes as well as working with different instuctors – online and in person. I have been involved in dog training and dog sports since 2010, trying many different disciplines to see what my dogs loved and are good at; We’ve worked and successfully completed BH/BGH obedience exam, tried dog frisbee, bikejoring, canicross, nose work, mantrailing, worked on teaching many fun tricks and competed in agility. Dog training (may it be teaching manners or actual handy behaviours) plays a big role in my life since my main priority is that my dog can always accompany me everywhere (on travels, at work and even in school during classes!). For that reason I started getting more knowledge about dog training – and I can’t wait to learn even more!
I have a degree in Biology and am currently working towards a masters degree in Ecology and biodiversity. My passion, besided dogs and dog training, is wildlife conservation. I want to help in any way I can, but my dream job is doing research on large carnivores in Europe.
Eva Kastelic
Much like the other girls I grew up with a strong love for dogs.
In kindergarten my mum used to invite my friends over to our house in the hopes that I would learn some English but she says that that plan backfired, as all we did was pretend to be dogs (so not much talking was involved, but I learned how to bark pretty well if that counts). This was what a majority of my childhood looked like, later on, as I grew older I transitioned to drawing dogs instead of pretending to be one. But, needless to say, this love for dogs is what defined my early years.
Unlike the other members of Chasing the Tale though, I am the only one who does not have a dog of her own. But I do own Kelly (the one in the picture above) with my family, and she is responsible for much of the dog training knowledge I bare today. In fact, before she was even born she was responsible for the canine knowledge I was gathering. How is that you ask? Well, my parents were not fans of the idea of having a dog when I was little. I guess it had to do with the fact that we moved around a lot and…maybe I didn’t come across as the most responsible child haha. But, regardless, I set on a mission to prove them wrong and told myself that I will show them, one way or another, that I am serious about wanting a dog and that I am responsible enough to take care of one. Thus, I set out to read all the dog related books I could get my hands on. Every time we went to the local library I picked out a non-fiction canine book. I started off by studying different dog breeds, moved on to dog training ones, but as I was slowly running out of books to read I even ended up reading on canine massage and nutrition. I worked my way through the dog section of the library and, with that, convinced my parents to finally let me buy a dog.
However, theory is one thing… practice is another.
Kelly brought her fair share of challenges to the table. She was by no means what I expected from a Border Collie or what I was familiar with in terms of the dogs that I worked with before her (dogs of close relatives and family members). She is quite an anxious dog who loves to do as she pleases. It came as a shock to me that a Border Collie could exist who had no drive or will to cooperate, but I am grateful for her as I learned so much through facing these problems. She taught me the importance of patience, understanding and of having an open mind when it comes to dog training. Since I first got Kelly I am miles from where I used to be. We have since, trained agility, dog dancing, obedience and even tried our hand in herding. My sheer understanding of dogs, how they communicate and how they learn has developed alongside her and I am excited to now share it with all of you.
Monika Gradišar
Growing up I wasn’t allowed a dog, so I had a few different smaller pets like chinchillas, hamsters and birds. I have always wanted to be a vet and following that wish finished vet tech school and am now in the process of becoming a vet at the Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana.
At 17 years old I finally managed to get my first dog Sky, a black and white Border Collie. She is a brilliantly smart dog for her own good, and a strong independent girl that needs no one. Honestly not a typical BC, with her wildlife chasing habits, running from home and no interest in sheep whatsoever. This made training quite difficult, so I had to look for help, and lots of it. This made me look into recall classes and I became a student in Susan Garrett’s Recallers and later on joining 3 more of her courses (1 puppy and 2 agility ones). I was able to understand her more and we actually came to compete in agility at least until her injury. We never returned to agility, but fell more into trick training and dog dancing which she loves. Now she is a happy family dog that loves to run, food of every kind and frisbees.
In 2018 my wish came true and I got Yumbi, son of Anja’s Vicky and brother of Tuvalu. He is a red merle BC male and is the cuddliest guy on Earth. He showed me the other side of owning a Border Collie. He is my shadow, never far from me and needs lots of attention. He is intense, but thoughtful and at the same time and has a perfect off switch when indoors; but it wasn’t always like that! Our first session of settling was him on the leash scratching and biting the floor! Perfect angel in the crate and a crazy monkey outside of it! After an hour he finally calmed down and fell asleep and that is how we started the road to what he is now. He opened my door into sheepdog training and I fell in love with it. So now our main activity is sheepherding.
Owning dogs I always wanted to buy a ton of dog gear (I know most can relate!) but because of money reasons – being a student, I started making my own. This is how YumbiYond came to life; my own shop with handmade dog gear. Everything from tug toys, snuffle mats, treat bags to encourage dog owners to bond with their dogs. As well as harnesses, leashes and bandanas to conquer the world with style. My vision is making quality, durable and long lasting products!
I am a licensed instructor at the Cynological Association of Slovenia, finished the BH/BGH exam and competed in A2 agility class with Sky. Held puppy classes in Ljubljana for the last 2 years. I was a part of four different Susan Garrett classes over the course of 7 years. Outside of dog training I am currently studying to be a canine rehab practitioner with the CCRP course (College of Tennessee) and doing my internship with Dogs4Motion, Canine Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine.