Did you know that dogs are right or left-pawed – or when they destroy furniture it can be a sign of separation anxiety? These are only a few of the behaviors Bonny Wainz considers when training a dog.
As the owner of Alternative Canine Training, Bonny brings to her clients over 35 years of experience. She feels her best attribute is that she loves seeing dogs and their owners living happy, joyful, and peaceful lives together. This only comes about when the dog is well trained. If a dog bites, urinates on the carpeting, chews, barks, or is confined to the house because it can’t be controlled, the dog, as well as the owner, suffer.
Bonny is an expert in the art of training dogs whether competing in the obedience ring or out in an open field at an American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club Hunt Test. Her background and credentials truly speak for themselves that’s why she has been sought out by celebrities like radio personalities, Dick Purtan and Chad Mitchell, TV news personalities Val Clark, Paula Tutman, and Monica Gayle, and NHL hockey players Steve Yzerman, Kirk Maltby and Aaron Ward. A master trainer and behaviorist, Bonny has been featured in stories in print as well as on TV and radio, and for several years shared her knowledge in a column for the Eccentric Newspapers.
Anyone can control a dog when they are on a leash or alongside them. Many trainers can only maintain control when a dog is 15 to 25 feet away, but Wainz shines at 50 yards and more. On a daily basis, she works her dogs 300 to 400 feet away using no more than hand signals and a whistle.
Bonny’s love and involvement with animals go back to her childhood, starting with the family’s pet rabbits. As a child, her family raised rabbits to sell. When she was 7 years old she took part in the care and feeding of all 62 rabbits. Bonny showed her ability to train animals at a very young age with her favorite rabbit named Thumper. She taught Thumper to stay using only hand signals, come to his name, and hop alongside her on a leash. Even back then neighbors commented on her natural ability to understand animals. The true test of her abilities came when her father brought home a 6-month old black lab mix named Ryan. She very quickly trained the dog. Ryan was her constant companion and was often seen doing a perfect sit-stay next to the bike while she ran up to the houses delivering newspapers.
When Bonny was only 19 years old she got her first Irish Wolfhound and traveled all over the United States and Canada showing Odin at dog shows. They competed in conformation, obedience, and lure coursing and before long she was training a second Wolfhound. Even as a novice she won several Best of Breeds along with 2nd place in obedience. She also had several wins on the lure coursing field. This is a sport where sighthounds compete by racing around a field trying to catch an imaginary bunny (white plastic bag). Her next dog was a Labrador Retriever and since she believes that dogs should have fun doing what they were bred to do, she became involved in-field training.
Because of her ability to make a dog work to its highest potential, people started asking her to show and train their dogs. She competed with these dogs across the United States and Canada winning many first place ribbons. Bonny became further involved in the dog world by becoming an American Kennel Club judge.
In October of 2000, she started Alternative Canine Training with Vladae Roytapel. Since then, Bonny has helped thousands of people train their dogs. Whether it is behavioral or just plain disobedience, Bonny can help. For the last 16 years, she has provided private training in homes, Doggie boot-camps, and group classes. If you are dealing with major dog behavioral issues, the best place to work on problems is in the home or boot-camps, especially aggression. She also offers group classes at Pet Supplies Plus, free puppy seminars for veterinarian clinics, and a program to keep kids safe from dog bites.
In 2009 Vladae moved to California to start SoCal Dog Training and Bonny became the sole owner of Alternative Canine Training. You may ask yourself why is it called Alternative Canine Training? Because it is an alternative to traditional methods and uses a natural way of training. In the media, Bonny is known as “Michigan’s Puppy Expert”, because of her ability to make even the worst-behaved puppy develop into a perfect dog by using body language and “Doglish” just like a mother dog. If you start a puppy on the right paw, you will have a wonderful dog to share life with.