Noordelijk Enterprises, Inc. ~ Professional Dog Training Services

The purpose of a testimonial is to help you, the reader, in your decision with regards to becoming Kris’ student. As you read these you will learn of her students’ many titles and accomplishments in the sport. You will have to decide if it is worth the extra 15 minutes drive or the effort in working it into your schedule. It is my honor to be part of this process in helping you make this decision. I could list out 101 excellent reasons for you to RUN to her classes. I will try to distill them down to capture her essence. Kris is the COMPLETE agility instructor. Credentials, yes! Titles, yes! Accomplishments, yes! Experience, yes! But there is so much more to being a COMPLETE agility instructor.
It takes passion, commitment, discipline, creativity, imagination, flexibility, dog sense, aptitude, talent, knowledge, care, consideration, skill and style.

Every good instructor has credentials. Most instructors, however, have earned these credentials with one breed of dog. Kris has been successful handling and training a wide variety of breeds among her own dogs, including rescues with significant baggage. Kris has a gift for working with dogs, especially independent minded dogs. She helps each student understand how to read their dogs, minimize stress and anxiety, motivate and manage their four-legged partners. She is always positive and is very “dog-centric”.

Kris’ handling style is based on what’s best for the dog, not what’s easiest for the handler. You will never see anyone handle a course as smooth and as fluid as Kris. When you watch her handle, her dogs never stop short to change direction, they are never made to endure terrible stresses to their shoulders. Kris’ dogs get better and faster as they get older.

Kris’ success and that of her students are the result of a carefully considered training program, not mindless drilling for drilling’s sake. Each exercise is planned and goal oriented. Each dog progresses on their own time-table. This is not “cook-book” agility.

Kris is very creative in helping her students work through difficult exercises. She uses positive approaches with both dogs and students.

I’ve been in agility for a while now. I’ve traveled all over the country competing in all the venues. I’ve taken classes with most of the local instructors. I’ve been to several seminars. Kris is by far the best instructor I have encountered. I have been her student for approximately 3 years and I learn something new in every class. How many people can you say that about?

It’s probably too strong to call Kris Seiter my muse, but she has had a great impact on my life, besides teaching me dog agility. Her skills as a trainer of humans and dogs are obvious: She has a complete understanding of agility, knows the sport as a competitor as well as a teacher and can communicate extremely well with both dog and human. She has inordinate patience, even when her students (ok, me) are exhibiting a lack of ability and even common sense. I’ll never forget one time when I couldn’t master the simplest of handling moves. She could have responded with some level of frustration, but instead, slowed the move down, broke it up into small parts and actually had me mimic her doing it over and over until I understood the concept. While she may have wanted to scream, “are there any neurons firing in your brain or are you in a coma?” she never showed any annoyance. It allowed me the freedom to learn at my slow pace without feeling stupid.

Kris always makes the sessions fun. Somehow, she is in a good mood, ready to work and attentive to what everyone is doing. Don’t think she will ever miss some ugly, awful handling move. Kris has eyes everywhere, and I’m not even paranoid. And don’t think you can ever get away with blaming your dog. Kris makes it clear that nearly all mistakes are from handling errors, even a dog’s lack of motivation.

Kris has an amazing relationship with all 10 of her dogs. She even has an enviable relationship with dogs she barely knows. I have seen dogs shun their owners but want to work with her. While many handlers focus more on themselves than their dogs and expect their dogs to like the sport and do it because that is what the handler wants, Kris understands the importance of establishing a trusting relationship even before any agility training can begin. Why should any dog, except maybe a border collie, be driven to concentrate hard on getting through an agility course? Kris teaches that the dog needs to know his handler will be clear in providing instructions and expectations; give positive reinforcement only and give it often; be reliable and trustworthy and fun. And, when you think about it, isn’t that important for any relationship, dog or human?

When Animal Haven opened in Soho last year, I was there for beginner agility on day one with my 4 year old Miniature Poodle, named Romy. Romy and I had quite a lot of puppy training, but she was still the boss and I earned that we had "relationship problems". Who Knew?

In the beginning, we must have seemed pretty hopeless, Romy went over the jumps only when she felt like it, but Kris was very patient, inspirational and gave me an understanding of how to train with with a combination of practicing and fun. I now have a different dog. She is still Romy, but she does every piece of equipment except the seesaw and she loves it.

One additional benefit that I hadn't anticipated is that she is a much better companion in general. I get compliments about her all the time.

Other instructors teach agility, but Kris teaches you how to communicate with your dog and the results are rewarding and truly astonishing. Having the opportunity to train with Kris and to get to know her is a privilege. She's a champion in the best sense of the word. I look forward to working with her for a long time.

Before I began taking classes with Kris, I had already taken classes with three previous agility instructors. My dog and I learned shoddy agility skills taught in a generalized cookie-cutter way. This was a new sport for me and I knew we would never compete. It was fun, but we just didn't have the talent.

Then I joined a class taught by Kris. What a wonderful world of difference! Kris has a drive, a professionalism, an upbeat attitude, an enthusiasm and an optimism that is infectious. Our skills needed to be retrained, and she was there for us. She discerned the many small things that together had made our teamwork a disaster. With each class, we got a little better. I was no longer stuck in a rut, practicing the same old mistakes, but learning new skills each week. I was developing confidence and hope. It was exciting! Kris took us further than I ever imagined we could go. I developed a wonderful bond with my dog, and we went on to compete successfully. I was hooked.

I have always known in my life when I had an exceptional teacher – in music, in dance, and now in dog agility training. It's a thing I instinctively know and feel, and it draws me in, stimulates me, inspires me to excel. Kris is that exceptional teacher. She presents well-prepared classes, utilizes the newest research on how dogs perceive handlers signals, and creatively invents situations extemporaneously to illustrate an idea. Her passion fires her creativity.

Kris and her sister have invented a new and highly successful technique for teaching weave poles. Teaching my new pup the poles this new way was a joy compared to the arduous older methods. And when impetuously I wanted to jump ahead to the next level of training, with kindness but brutal honesty, she clearly spelled out what skills we were missing, that would make the
move up a disaster. She was right on.

Kris has great patience for my sometimes retarded ability to integrate what I know with what I do. (The brain knows what to do, but the body can't quite cooperate.) She is always positive, encouraging, finding the good in an effort we make. Despite my physical limitations, she never makes me feel inadequate, even though at times I can not perform as well as I want to. She has
suggested techniques I must work on in order to be successful within my disability.

Kris's keen eye is ever observant. She sees that awkward move, and demonstrates how to make it fluid. She explains why one thing did not work, what will work, and why it will. Kris makes it make sense, instead of causing frustration. She has taught me the nuances of what to and what not to reward, of how a misplaced reward can teach the wrong lesson, of how a subtle body cue can change so much.

I am consistently amazed that even after several years, I am still learning new things in every class. I love this sport, and I appreciate and value everything I've learned from Kris. She is a very special person to me. I feel honored to be her student. I leave class feeling up – mentally and physically challenged and fulfilled. But most of all, I had fun! And you got to know, I have jaw-dropping admiration for seeing Kris in action with her dogs!
They fly with the eagles!

I didn't know Kris Seiter from anybody when I first saw her on course, and by then I had seen hundreds, big names and all. As I watched I knew Kris had a special understanding of dog agility. Her smooth handling and precise communications were not only enviable, they were beautiful. I just walked up to her and said "I want to take lessons!"

Now that I know Kris a little, its truly refreshing to meet someone so down-to-earth and sincerely in love with dogs, not only for agility but for being themselves. Her teaching style is informal and yet quite structured, and her sense of humor reminds me that above all, agility should be fun. Kris trains the dog, not the breed. She teaches the individual, not just the student. She has helped me understand how to guide my dog around the course more efficiently, more clearly, and with a minimum of wear on her body. As my dog ages I know that I am being responsible in my handling of her. With my adolescent dog, the foundation work Kris teaches is surely the basis of her own dogs' impressive independent and cooperative skills.

I'm sure I'm not an easy student, and yet I always come away from our lessons feeling good about myself, about my dog, and about my trust in Kris. She pushes me to give my dog nothing but my best, and shows me that my limits are usually beyond where I thought they would be. Above all, this is why I recommend her to anyone who has a dog and a dream.

Devora Locke

What does a city-dweller and her pug do every Thursday night for the past 18 months? Agility train with Kris Seiter, of course. It’s true—my now almost 6-year-old pug Farty and I have trained with Kris at her NYC classes at Animal Haven Soho ever since the facility opened its doors in 2006. You may not expect that a world-class trainer like Kris would see a competitive agility dog in my little pug—but you would be dead wrong. Pug, Pomeranian, Poodle or Portuguese water dog—Kris is able to find a way to train any breed and more importantly—any owner. Kris has been my trainer as well—teaching me to know my dog, watch her behaviors and really understand what it will take to handle her well so that together we will get better at this sport.

Kris is as dedicated to her dogs as to their handlers, making sure that we all understand the respective roles we play in working together to successfully run a course. I have become a better dog owner because of this and I hope that we will continue to learn and become the team we need to be to one day compete together.

While our Thursday night lesson has become a ritual for both of us, I look forward to more time at Kris’ home this spring and PCOTC for practice runs too. It is a pleasure to work with Kris and I can’t believe how lucky we have been to have her as our trainer and our friend.

Ever since Crufts put on the sport’s first exhibition, agility’s popularity has exploded. Most people enter into the sport for similar reasons, they see an activity that offers a fun way to train their dog and subsequently strengthen their relationships.

Agility is a journey involving assembly of many small puzzle pieces into a cohesive arrangement of inter-species cooperation. Newcomers see agility as training a dog to perform the obstacles correctly. Too often, novice handlers fail to see the challenges agility holds for the human half of the team. Experienced handlers know that what occurs between the obstacles, rehearsed teamwork between handler and dog, hold the ultimate keys to success. Kris is gifted at coaching students through both of these fundamental aspects of agility.

Taking into account the handler’s experience and capability, as well as the dog’s temperament and structure, Kris utilizes her adaptive style to tailor each team’s instruction. She utilizes her knowledge, experience and humor to instill a relaxed and fun class atmosphere and convey to handlers how to teach their dogs the skills and behaviors necessary to be successful. Although I personally had many titles on my dogs prior to studying with Kris, it wasn’t until I became her student that I began to strengthen my analytical skills and embark down a continuing road towards agility potential.

Many agility instructors achieve success with one dog or one breed and their local success and popularity manifest into a teaching position. Kris has trained and successfully competed, on a national level, a diverse group of breeds and temperaments including dogs that experienced challenging upbringings.

Whether you’re seeking an instructor to guide you from your earliest stages of training, you’ve realized that you must re-train certain skills or you’re trying to shave seconds off of what appears to be flawless runs, Kris has the experience, knowledge and passion to help you realize your goals and dreams.

I remember arriving home from one of Kris’ classes and sending her an e-mail thanking her for “Teaching me something new during each and every class.” Its years later, I’m having more fun and success than ever and I can still send that email every week. That’s the best reason to study with Kris!

When I first came to PCOTC to take classes with Kris in 2002, I wasn’t competing in agility and insisted I was doing agility “just for fun”. But after a few classes with Kris, she taught me that you can compete and still have fun and treat your dog with compassion. Kris motivated me to improve with her attention to detail and patience. She has been an inspiration to me with her work with rescue and her own success in the competitive world.

Kris Seiter is a respected and successful competitor in the world of agility; however, it is her ability to teach that makes her extraordinary. Kris’ ability to communicate with such unusual clarity is the reason, I believe, for her success as an instructor, as well as, a handler at the national level.

Kris has spent hours patiently teaching me invaluable handling skills; but more importantly, she’s taught me to be the person my dog wants me to be, needs me to be, the person I want to be when I’m with my dog on and off the agility course.

Kris is an inspiration to all her students especially those who want to develop that special relationship with their dog and become successful handlers.

I have been training with Kris since 2002. When I started training, I discovered my dog, a smooth coated collie named Roger, wasn't quite as thrilled to be doing agility as myself. After months of trying to get Roger to jump a simple 8" bar, my frustration made me think I was wasting my time. However, knowing how much desire I had for the sport, Kris encouraged me to continue by reminding me it was the training process. I will always remember Kris for teaching me that it's the set-backs you have to work through which makes you a better trainer and creates a stronger bond with your dog.

Kris is a patient, dedicated instructor with a strong emphasis on fundamentals. Kris is also extremely perceptive of the needs of her K9 athlete/handler teams and is able to communicate methods of improvement. The results of this training speaks for itself as today my boy Roger has earned his MXJ and is half way to his MX. But I think equally as important is the fact that it's just plain fun to train with Kris. She is easy to get along with and her tremendous amount of knowledge in the sport makes it easy to succeed.

Whatever your goal, Kris can help you achieve it and I would highly recommend her to any aspiring or current dog/handler team of any level.

Joan Fierson | Senior Cadd Designer

I first met Kris at PCOTC while running my Dad’s dog because my Dad was sidelined medically. It was at that point she realized that I had a love for the sport. I didn’t know this yet but somehow she did. She and her sister told me I needed to get “my own dog’ because eventually my Dad would be returning and then what would I do. Kris let me know of an opportunity for a Border Collie and at first I thought she had lost her mind. Her Border Collies were awesome and so was she but I was nowhere near that. I stunk! I tripped over my own feet, couldn’t remember obstacle names, walked into my Dad’s dog and I really hoped that I wasn’t making his dog worse. All I could think about was how a little black and white speed demon would outsmart me. In the end I got that Border Collie, Tom, and have worked hard and have begun to truly understand my love for agility. Seeing the way Kris’ dogs were companions to each other and she was able to love them all equally aided in my decision to get another Border Collie, Jerry, a half brother to Tom.

There are many outstanding characteristics I can share about Kris that every trainer should possess. She is always patient, brutally honest and will push you further than you think you could ever go. Kris is an extraordinary teacher. She takes time to watch, and yes, she sees EVERYTHING. She always makes training personal and fun even when in a class of many. In the past two years I have been training with Kris, I went from tripping over my Dad’s dog to successfully training my own dogs. It wasn’t easy and I still have a long way to go, but with Kris’ guidance and yes that brutal honesty, I have been able to put her teaching into practice and now Tom has become a focused well behaved competitor. Training wasn’t always perfect and there were many bumps in the road along the way with my feisty Tom, and now learning to take baby steps and different training approaches with his little brother have proven to be a challenge. But, somehow, someway Kris is always there to give advice, some hard to swallow, but always what is best for dog and handler. You can truly measure her success by not only her own dogs but those of her students as well.

Michelle Quinn

I have been taking agility lessons with Kris Seiter for about five years now. I originally came to Kris with my older dog who was having fun in agility but perhaps a bit too much fun ! Kris believes in strong foundation training and was able to help us re-train and zero in on new handling techniques that over time created more drive in my dog and definitely built new skills. When I got a new puppy Kris helped us to build this foundation …thanks to Kris my dog is building solid skills at a young age. (especially weave poles a skill I surely did not know how to train !)

Kris is a gifted handler and she is able to share this talent with her students. She is encouraging but at the same time pushes for perfection. Her ability to train many different breeds is evident in her own success with her dogs. It is obvious to her students that she has a very special love for the sport.

Working with Kris Seiter as an agility instructor has been a fantastic experience. I have been a Veterinary Technician for over 30 years as well as a professional dog walker and pet sitter for the last 12 years and know dogs very well. The insight and expertise that Kris teaches you as you work with her is amazing. She has taught me so much about the human/dog relationship as far as respect and understanding your dogs behaviors, how dogs learn from watching each other and the extreme joy that comes to them when they are working. I can see my dog, Scout, an active German Short Hair Pointer, as she sails over the jumps and fly's thru the tire with complete glee; she actually smiles.

Kris not only teaches you the foundations of agility but teaches you in a way that teaches you the behaviors of dogs. Her detail in being able to focus on each individual and their dog is amazing. Kris is a gift to the agility world and to all of her students who are looking for guidance and training in the wonderful arena of agility. We can't wait for our next lesson and I plan to train with Kris for however long she will have us.

Karen Haskel | Veterinary Technician | Pet Sitter | NY State Licence # 1020

I sat down to write a testimonial for Kris and made the mistake of reading the ones already written about her. They are glowing! What could I possibly add? I agree with them all! She is an amazing person, “dog advocate” first followed closely by “people person”. I have never before seen such a patient instructor. She is also serious, graceful, kind and fun.

I started taking Agility classes with my daughter’s dog to build our relationship and keep her busy. Here I am several years later, still taking classes, still with Kris, but now with my own puppy. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from Kris; she has inspired me to do so much more with my dog than I would have ever imagined. And I do it because it’s fun!

Kris has such a beautiful passion for what she does, both working with her own dogs and helping others build their relationship with their dog through agility. I am not afraid of making a mistake in class because she so readily admits her mistakes and she is one of the top competitors in the country. She inspires you to want to be better for your dog; what more can you ask than that?

Go Kris! I am blessed to have had this time to spend with you.

Susan Barge

We have been breeding and training Portuguese Water Dogs for over 20 years ,and have known and trained with Kris for over 7 years.

Kris breaks down the varying components of the sport of Agility and openly shares her expertise and knowledge with her students. She enables her students to approach a course from an analytical perspective. Her students success rates are remarkable.

Both Andy and I are grateful for the opportunity to continue to train and learn from Kris.

Angela Kalmanash, | MBA | Andrew Kalmanash | CPA | Ruff-Wave Portuguese Water Dogs