Deborah Byloff

Deb Byloff has been blessed by dogs choosing to be in her life since she was very young. She spent her growing-up years searching for ways to help her own dogs by identifying and solving their problems and helping them enjoy life by playing games with them and teaching them behaviors. Her interest and passion have only grown since then, and she has been helping others do the same for their dogs for many years. Through the years, Deb has made it a mission to expand her knowledge by attending as many live and virtual training seminars as possible. Among those from whom she has learned are John Rogerson and Jeannine Rash of Papillonia Dog Training Academy, and she also attended consultations by behaviorist Pat Miller at Peaceable Paws. Deb has been professionally training dogs since 2000. From 2006 to the present, she has been instructing at Papillonia Dog Training Academy where she teaches Basic Obedience, Canine Good Citizen, Rally Obedience, Tricks, and Canine Musical Freestyle. Deb has been teaching freestyle since 2003, has formed a freestyle club, and hosts annual competitions since 2003.In 2006 she started a program at the York SPCA where she guided a team of trainers to identity and solve problems that the shelter dogs had to make them more adoptable. The SPCA dog walkers were interested in the program and joined the project. The team's primary goal was to help the shelter dogs be more stable with a secondary goal of teaching them the elements of the AKC CGC. Once the team's training card was placed on a shelter dog's cage, the canine was in demand and usually found a home before the team could CGC them. Deb also hosted monthly live seminars that were open to the public to solve dog problems and keep them in their homes. Both live programs at the SPCA ended in 2020. Deb co-hosted virtual seminars in 2021 and now co-writes bi-monthly articles for the SPCA newsletter. Deb has honed her skills of identifying and solving dog problems, but she feels that the most important thing she has realized is that both dogs and people learn in a variety of ways. She is adept at finding individual teaching methods for people who seek her help. Because she tailors her methods for each client and each dog, Deb's students go home with practical guidelines for training their dogs in their everyday lives. Her training motto is I can't make any dog do anything, but I can make them want to do it.Deb is not a person who craves the spotlight but is honored that she must have made a difference in someone's life that they nominated her. She will return that honor by participating in this program but feels the most important aspect of the program is to put positive training in the spotlight so that people having problems with their dogs or who want to train them a skill will know where to seek help.