COMMITTEES

Breeders Advisory Committee

To contact the Breeders Advisory Committee (BAC), please click here.

Chairwoman, Dr. Megan Hilf

Committee members

Cindy Pfister, Susie Nies, Lee Brewer, Theresa Einboden, Lori Raymond
and Ruth Georgia.

The ASA takes breeding seriously as the choices made in breeding inherently effect the health and welfare of the breed’s success as a whole. Genetic diversity is essential and our team of Breed Advisors is well equipped to give our breeders the best advice possible in choosing a mate.

Megan Hilf is a licensed veterinarians. She brings not only her own experience through her practices, but years of ongoing training and education. With her input, the
committee can carefully control and assess any potential health risks within the breeding matches. She maintains a database of the health on all North American Stabys.  Megan owns three Stabys – Burt 12 yrs, Stella 6 yrs, and Melanie 3 mos.

Cindy Pfister, is a dog trainer and behavior expert. Her knowledge into the “inner thoughts” and workings of the Staby make her an ideal candidate for evaluating
temperament. Owning a stable and mentally balanced Staby is a high priority for our members and we stress this aspect in shaping the pairings and in working with our
breeders during the first eight weeks of a puppy’s life.  Cindy owns Leeske, a 5 year old female.

Susie Nies has two female Stabys, Diede and Haven. She has bred two litters and is interested in helping others get started. Susie is a dynamo at organizing information and
has been helping the BAC to be ready for the future!

Lee Brewer has been breeding dogs since 1989, including her experience with Flat-Coated Retrievers and Stabyhouns. With a solid knowledge of canine genetics, whelping,
socialization and rearing, Lee is the ultimate “mid-woof”. Breeders can always count on her breeding advice, as she is willing to spend hours with pedigrees, studying
inbreeding coefficients, genetic disease carriers, and conformation details to suggest the best possible matches. Lee also travels at least annually to The Netherlands to meet with the Dutch breeding committee, the NVSW Board, other foreign Stabyhoun clubs, and Dutch breeders to exchange information about the breed. She is now heading up the Stabyhoun Diversity Project with the goal of lowering the mean kinship in the breed to improve litter size and longevity.

Theresa Einboden has had animals in her life from a young child, she has raised cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, milking goats and cattle.
Theresa joined the ASA Sept 2014, she has experience breeding and raising litters of Staby puppies in 2016, 2018. Theresa and her husband John have 3 Staby females and a male, that live on a working farm in Alberta Canada. The dogs love to spend time outside, there great hunters of rodents and enjoy flushing the grouse out of the pasture brush and even a swim in the lake. The dogs have done some agility, rally obedience, it’s nosework that they really enjoy.
The Calgary Alberta Staby club held it’s first 2019 speciality, this was a opportunity for Theresa to meet many of the BAC committee members and the judge from the Netherlands. It was a first hand opportunity to see the dogs being judge for there evaluation. The BAC look forward working with Theresa to help members get started with the breeding
experience and help with any of the question that come with raising a litter of pups.

Lori Raymond previously serves on the ASA board as Secretary, and has been active on the ASA Education/Training committee and as a volunteer at the ASA Specialties in Latrobe. She imported her dog “Intske” in 2014 and “Anne” in 2019, from the Netherlands.  While in the NL in 2019, she attended the spring Breeder Advisory Board meeting of the NVSW in Zutphen, NL and she has attended Fokkersdag (Breeders day in the NL, where litters are evaluated) in 2015 and plans to attend in 2020 to reunite with Anne’s littermates.  Her areas of interest includes canine genetics, puppy whelping and socialization, and positive training techniques.  She has completed several courses with the Institute for Canine Biology (ICB), attended the 2018 Canadian Kennel Club Conference on Stud Dog Management with Dr. Gayle Watkins and small animal immunology expert Dr. Laurie Larson of the University of Wisconsin; the 2017 Care Conference in Montreal, PQ with Myra Savant-Harris and Gayle Watkins of AviDog International, the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Successful Breeding conference in 2016.

Ruth Georgia has volunteered to help with the
communication between the breeders and the new prospective
owners. We get so many emails and questions from
interested parties about our breed and Ruth is a wizard at
keeping this important area fulfilled.

Finally, our Breeders Advisors are always in close
contact with the Dutch advisors to stay on top of all new
developments in the Stabyhoun worldwide. Since 2006, our
association has been recognized by the Dutch Assocaition
for the Stabij- and Wetterhoun, the NVSW, for our careful
efforts to promote and protect this beautiful breed in all
of North America.

 

Education and Training

To contact the Training Committee, please click here.

Chairwoman, Kathy Banks

Committee Groups:

• Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Cindy Pfister, Chair; Dr. Megan Hilf, Consultant; Kathy Banks
• Puppy Development, Ages 3-12 Months, – Susan Hoyles, Chair
• Sports and Performance Activities, – Kathy Banks, Chair + 8 ASA Expert Coaches

Please refer to the Training Webpage and the Training Group Tabs:  Behavior, Puppy, Sports.

The education and training of our Stabys is a key element in the mental stimulation and health of the breed. This is a sporting breed and as such these dogs will thrive when asked to perform a task, be it basic obedience or a challenging activity such as agility or following a scent wether in competition or the backyard.

Committee Chair and Sports and Performance Group Chair — For contact, please click here.

Kathy joined the ASA in 2014 with her first Stabyhoun, Skylar.  Kathy’s Ph.D. in  education and 30 year business career prepared her well for her retirement hobby: training performance dogs and other trainers.  She and her husband reside in the Phoenix, Arizona Vally with their 14 year old Springer Spaniel, Ruby Ellis, and their 5 and 1 1/2 year old Stabyhouns, Skylar and Dori, respectfully.  She has competed in Agility, Free Style Canine Dance, Nose Work and Tracking.  Skylar, age 5, has participated in Obedience, herding and rally.  He competes in Agility in USDAA, AKC and ASCA.  Both Dori and Skylar are beginning new careers in scentwork.  The Sports and Performance Group is divided into sport and performance groupings: Scentwork, Field, Speed/Accuracy, Precision, Manners, Water, and Herding sports, as well as Canine Mental and Physical Conditioning.  ASA Members volunteering as coaches for each of the sports.

Ain’t Misbehavin Committee Chair and Consultant — For contact, please click here.

Cindy Pfister is a dog trainer and a behavior expert.  Her talents as a behaviorist and knowledge of the “inner thoughts” and workings of the stabyhoun make her talents essential in evaluating and helping with Stabyhouns remain stable and mentally healthy canine partners.  Cindy has been able to turn around some fearful or “alpha” Stabys in to the perfect pet for several owners and is happy to contribute her time and resources to those in need.  Cindy also serves as a coach and judge for Canine Good Citizen, Farm Dog and Barn Hunt.

Megan Hilf is a licensed veterinarian.  She serves as a consultant on an “as needed” basis for the other members of the behavior committee when they determine that more than basic behavioral modification is needed.  She brings not only her own experience through her practice but years of ongoing training and education.  With her input to the Behavior Committee she can offer critical – as needed – advice with difficult behavioral issues.

Puppy Development Committee Chair — For contact, please click here.

Susan Hoyles owns two Stabyhouns, Wilhelmina (Willie) – a 3 year old female, and Goose, a 9 month old male.  Susan has worked and trained under the Karen Pryor Certified Training Academy and follows Karen Pryors Positive Reinforcement Model.  She has used these models from pre-puppy to all of the manners level of puppy development to Rally Obedience and Agility.  She and her husband love the outdoors and they take Willy and Goose on family hikes and both dogs are often seen on their paddleboards!