Meet Cassie Kennedy

Meet Cassie! She has always been passionate about dogs for as long as she can remember, and even as a child, had always dreamed of one day becoming a professional dog trainer. At eight years old, she got her first very own dog, a Golden Retriever puppy who she named Fathom. Although Cassie loved to train Fathom tricks at home, they didn’t attend a formal obedience class until he was one year old. By that time, Fathom had developed a bad habit of not listening when he was our in public with the family. But Cassie was determined to work with him and overcome this bump in the road. After completing his first basic obedience class, she decided to sign him up for an agility class to see if it would help grow their bond. When she was eleven years old, she entered her first dog agility competition.

They were far from ready, and Fathom only made it halfway through the course. But Cassie didn’t give up on him, and finally…one year later, they actually placed in an event! Cassie continued to compete with Fathom for a couple of years, but eventually decided if she really wanted to get competitive in agility she would need to get a Border Collie. It was then she found her perfect golden Border Collie girl, Tiki.

Well, she actually wasn’t perfect. She had a lot of issues with fear and anxiety, specifically around other dogs and being touched by people. After being attacked and rolled onto her back by another dog when she was a small puppy, she became extremely reactive / fear aggressive. Cassie made it her personal goal to help Tiki gain confidence, and to train her to be a better dog in general. She also began training for different sports such as Rally Obedience, Canine Freestyle, and Agility when Tiki was old enough to compete.

Although Tiki was a much more focused dog than Fathom, she still had a lot of fear and anxiety issues. She performed fairly well in agility and really seemed to enjoy it. It helped take her mind off all the other people and dogs that were causing her so much fear. Cassie soon discovered trick training and Tiki was a natural. Pretty soon, Tiki had learned over a hundred different complex tricks and behaviors!

It was then she decided that she wanted to add another Border Collie to her pack of dogs – a male. She found an adorable spotted-face puppy who was the last of his litter, and decided to bring him home with her. Although Tiki was not at all thrilled to have a new puppy at home at first, she eventually grew to love this sweet pup just like everyone who met him.

Stoke showed aptitude for a variety of different sports. Cassie dabbled with him in both agility and flying disc before eventually finding his favorite sport ever – dock diving! She also taught Stoke a few tricks of his own, but he never learned as many as Tiki did. But he always would give a hundred percent at whatever he did, truly a jack of all trades. And loved by all people for his outgoing and friendly personality.

Cassie started doing training demonstrations with her two Border Collies when she was fifteen years old and traveling all around the state of Florida to compete in agility, canine freestyle, and flying disc competitions. Her dogs loved performing, so she loved it too. It was at this point that she knew this was something she wanted to make a career out of it.

She attended Animal Behavior College to become a Certified Dog Trainer, and later became a Certified Trick Dog Instructor through Do More With Your Dog. Cassie acquired her third Border Collie, Renegade, in 2019. Cassie is currently training Ren to be her service dog. He competes in flying disc and is training to compete in agility, canine freestyle, and dock diving.

Cassie loves all three of her Border Collies more than life itself, and they are what continually motivate her to become a better dog trainer every single day.