We have had a number of Fabulous trainers work with us over the years!  Here are our past employees who are no longer with us due to other commitments but we hope to see back with us in the future!   If you need to contact any of the following trainers, please email beth@teacherspettraining.com.

Natalia Rozas de O'Laughlin

Kerry Rusk

Kerry Rusk is a full-time employee of the University of Wisconsin - Madison.  To get to know more owners and pets, Kerry joined Teacher’s Pet Training Academy, LLC in Summer of 2004.  For anyone that has met Kerry in classes or the clinic, it is clear that she truly enjoys listening to people talk about their bond with their pets and finding ways in which they can strengthen that bond.  Kerry has a very smart, sweet, loving, and large German Shepherd dog named Ilsa and a younger more energetic (yet equally as loving and sweet) GSD named Stryder.  Kerry absolutely loves being around animals of all kinds and her goal is to help owners create positive relationships with their pets.  Kerry was recently promoted at work and no longer has free time to spend helping with training classes.

Nathan Luedke, CPDT

Nathan grew up with a sense of an animal's value and importance, and in response has advocated for their well being throughout his life.  His personal experiences include the adoption of two dogs, Oliver and Cleo, from local humane societies.  They have offered a range of training challenges at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Nathan has responded by educating himself on animal behavior and training issues such as managing and correcting adverse behaviors, developing and reinforcing desired behavior, and strengthening his own training techniques.  From here, Nathan moved on to work with Teacher’s Pet Training Academy to assist others, became a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and also Private Lesson Instructor.  Nate and his wife, Jenny, welcomed their first child (a boy) in to their family in early 2005 and are expecting their second (a girl) in 2007.   Nate recently accepted a position outside of the Madison area and is no longer able to work as a trainer for Teacher's Pet.

Andrea Imholte, CPDT

Andrea Imholte has always had a strong interest in animals and over the years her interest has become particularly strong in animal behavior.  Andrea grew up with a variety of pets including reptiles, birds, rabbits, cats and a dog.  Each taught her about respecting animals as individuals and as companions.  Andrea currently attends the UW-Madison in pursuit of a psychology degree with an emphasis in zoology.  She lives with two cockatiels named Goo and Terro who have been steadfast companions of six years and have taught her a lot about what life is like as a prey species.  Andrea works as a manager at HappyDogz daycare and also works at a humane society in her hometown of Minnesota when she is home visiting.  With all of those commitments you can see why Andrea no longer had enough free time to work as a trainer for Teacher's Pet - we hope her schedule frees up in the future and she will always have a place back with us if it does! 

Carissa Boettcher

Carissa graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in December of 2004 with a double-major in Zoology and Biological Aspects of Conservation.  She also completed the work towards an Environmental Studies Certificate.  She currently works for the UW-Madison in behavioral research on non-human primates.  Since a very young age, Carissa has always been a pet owner.  These have included turtles, rabbits, cats, frogs, dogs, and rats.  She currently lives in an apartment with her pet rat Winky and her two own dogs.  She has 11 dogs with her mom back at her hometown of Waukesha (10 Schipperkes and 1 Papillon).  She and her mother have shown their dogs in obedience and conformation.  Carissa has been a handler in dog shows and is an AKC Junior Showmanship Judge who hopes to do more showmanship and judging in the future.  She has also been an agility instructor for a neighboring kennel club in the past.  Carissa used her past knowledge in competitive obedience and conformation to help develop and train classes with Teacher's Pet!  Carissa is currently taking time off from Teacher's Pet due to other work and education time constraints but we look forward to having her schedule free up and re-join our team!

Jenn Gaudio

Jenn started with Teacher’s Pet Training Academy, LLC in Summer of 2004.  She has an American Eskimo, Rocky, at her parents’ home in Kenosha.  Currently attending University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jenn is double majoring in Zoology and Psychology, with plans to pursue a career in animal behavior.  Starting out at the Kenosha Humane Society with dogs and cats, she has also interned at the Racine Zoo with both the Animal Welfare and Education Departments, where she assisted in training sessions with many exotic animals and gave public talks.  Jenn is now working in a UW cotton-top tamarin lab, where she is involved in both care and research of the endangered animals.  While she loves working with the primates, she is very excited about working with all the Teacher’s Pet dogs (and their people too!).  Jenn was recently given the incredible opportunity to study behavior at Disney for the next 6 months and following that, has been accepted in to the Applied Animal Behavior Graduate Program at the University of Illinois-Urbana.  We wish her the best and hope to see her join our team again after school!

Sandra Vanderveen

Sandra Vanderveen has been a licensed athletic trainer for the past 8 years working in a sports medicine clinic with high school athletes.  Sandra recently moved to Madison from Green Bay, to return to school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  Along with the University of Wisconsin, Sandra also recently attended the Madison Area Technical College's Veterinary Technician program.  Sandra moved here with her two dogs, a six year old chocolate lab named Jordan and six year old black lab, named Abbi.  Unfortunately, Jordan passed away in October of 2002 from cancer.  Sandra and Abbi miss him dearly.  Sandra is active in her training with Abbi and together they just earned their CGC!  Sandra is very interested in learning more about training about how owners act around their dogs and is working towards becoming a Certified Pet Dog Trainer.  Her favorite part of training is the interaction with the owners.  Sandra was recently married and she and her husband are relocating for his work.  We will GREATLY miss Sandra's presence in class!

Erin Olheiser

Erin graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, with a Master's Degree in Psychology and is currently working full-time conducting cognitive evaluations in a neuropsychology laboratory at a local hospital.  Erin has always had a love for animals, dogs in particular.  Her family raised and bred Doberman Pinschers for years, so her childhood was filled with the presence of dogs.  She and her husband, Billy are currently fostering a Doberman named Otis and working with him to make him a more well-behaved dog.  In addition to having Otis at home with them, they are the parents of a Doberman named Sadie, and recently lost their other Dobe named Annie Oakley.  Annie Oakley provided Erin with her first real experience in dog training.  She also gained invaluable experience with all different kinds of pets working as a kennel person in her years as an undergraduate student.  It was through this experience that her love for animals was reinforced and her interest in animal behavior was born.  Erin recently received a promotion at work and some other exciting personal news that is wonderful for her, however, it makes finding time to work as a trainer nearly impossible as her free time is limited.  We are confident she will enjoy these new challenges and find a great time balance - and hope to see her back on our staff someday in the future.