From Our Students

Jim and Erin
Erin entered my life almost seven years ago as my retirement present. Sandy, my other half, had been Erin's trainer up until three years ago. We tried Obedience and found that she was not fond of being attached and so switched to Flyball. Our other Kerry was getting too old for Flyball so we made the switch to Agility.
We trained Erin with numerous groups but found that we stalled out after getting our VMADC; mostly due to our not laying the proper groundwork in our formative years.
We attended our first Pawsitive Steps Agility Camp in 2005 and again in 2006; along with our work in the Outreach Program, and practice with Capital Comets we achieved our highest moment on the 2nd of September at the "Roadsters Trial" in Courtenay with a 62 point Gamble run under judge Kirsten Locke.
Sandy and I would like to thank Kim and all the rest of the staff at Pawsitive Steps for all their advice and work over the last year. We only started to "get" the Gambles after working with you.
Jim Fathers and Erin, Colleen and Cormac.

Pam & Tess & Kate
Tess and I have participated in two Outreach programs and an Agility camp with Kim Collins and Pawsitve Steps.
After the first whirlwind year of competing in agility, Tess was exhibiting shut down behavior in the ring and becoming reactive to other dogs at agility practice. I was very disturbed by her behavior but Kim put it all into perspective and gave me the tools I needed to manage my dog in a positive way. By insisting on a safe environment for all dogs that included putting them away for frequent rests while learning a skill, and only having a minimum amount of dogs out at a time, Tess and I were able to participate in the extraordinary experience that has been Outreach.
The people I met at Outreach have become dear friends as well as support for all my work with Tess and my new puppy, Kate. I had to travel 2 hours at least once a month just to practice but it was, without a doubt, worth the extra time and effort ……and I would do it again!
Kim’s methods are precise and they work – for any type of dog – period!
Kim is an amazingly gifted teacher. During and after every Outreach weekend my head would literally buzz with information and exciting ideas on how to train and handle my dog. Kim really knows how to read dogs – maybe that is what fascinates me the most!
After Outreach, agility camp was so much fun! All of Kim’s instructors at camp were approachable, friendly and interesting. The support staff were clearly devoted to Kim and really nice people. Rob kept things light and fun. The food was great and Robert’s Roost campground was a beautiful setting. I met lots of new friends and got to talk dog for 3 days - heaven!
It is now less then 2 weeks before I go to agility camp again….can’t wait! Pam Earl

Joanie & Teddy.
"The Gamblers class was his toughest challenge and if we hadn't attended three or four seminars with Kim, I am sure he would still not have mastered this class."  Joanie-Leigh Elliott

Sue & Tess & Piper
A group of us started working with Kim two years ago and we have made a point of having her come back on a semi-regular basis so that we can continue to build on the skills we learned during our previous training sessions. We are all thrilled with our progress. We now have a method to our training and the motivation to continue to try different handling techniques - even when we don't 'get it' the first time. Kim has a great knack of breaking down the various handling techniques into manageable parts so that we can succeed with any of our dogs. Of course one of the biggest benefits of working with Kim is that she makes a point of attending as many seminars and camps as she can and is therefore exposed to many different instructors and their handling styles. By having Kim come and share with us the new information that she has learned, we are able to stay on the leading edge of agility without the expense and time commitment of traveling all over North America to attend these seminars and camps ourselves!
Personally, my handling has improved enormously over the last two years. My interest initially was to find ways of being able to manage the speed of my young Border Collie, rather than be intimidated by his speed. Although we still have a long way to go, I am now enjoying the 'buzz' of running this dog and he is now only a few legs short of his ATChC. The surprise benefit to being a better handler for my younger dog was how it also improved my team work with my older veteran dog who is now more consistent than she has ever been and is still able to tear around a course well under standard time. Thanks so much Kim! Sue Charlton.