Kelsey with Bella, Chloe, and Oscar.
Ever since Kelsey was young she has had a way with animals and a natural talent for training them. She has been working with/riding horses for 19 years, and has grown up training dogs and cats. What started out as something fun for a child to do in her free time has turned into a career passion. Kelsey has now been combining her love of theatre and animals together and has her own theatre troupe that right now consists of two dogs and two cats. Kelsey is also willing to train other people’s animals for shows, and recently trained a friend’s Chihuahua to play Bruiser in Legally Blonde. Kelsey also recently trained Toto for a production of The Wiz with Lees-McRae Summer Theatre.
Kelsey operates under her own slogan:
Positive dog training with Kelsey; changing the world one paw print at a time.
She firmly believes that any animal is trainable; it is just finding what motivates each individual animal to perform tasks in a positive way.
Kelsey with a Vermont's Crown.
Kelsey with Chloe and Martini.
MEET THE ANIMALS
CHLOE BELL ROSE, C.G.C.
Chloe was the inspiration for Kelsey to train dogs for shows. Kelsey has owned Chloe since she was 8 weeks old, and has taught her everything she knows. Chloe is an accomplished dog, she is an AKC Canine Good Citizen, a member of AKC’s Canine Partners, a therapy dog with Therapy Dog’s International, winner of the High Country Pet Fest as Best in Show 2016, winner of Lees-McRae College’s Doggie Home Coming Queen, and was awarded a Bow-Wow of Fine Arts from the faculty and staff of Lees-McRae College’s performing arts department upon Kelsey’s graduation. She is best known for her trick of balancing a treat on her nose while sitting up, and appeared in Lees-McRae Summer Theatre's production of Legally Blonde as Rufus.
PIXIE MELTON
Pixie is owned by Sarah Emaline Melton and boarded with Kelsey for the summer of 2017 to be trained to play Bruiser in Lees-McRae Summer Theatre’s production of Legally Blonde. This was Pixie’s theatre debut and she responded well to her training, and performed well in rehearsals.
MARTINI LEMAY ROSE
Martini Lemay Rose C.G.C. recently completed all of her basic obedience training and obtained her AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate. She is now also a member of AKC Canine Partners and has the C.G.C. title attached to her name. She recently racedin The 7th Annual Running of the Chihuahua’s at Cocina 214 for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The proceeds of the race went to help Poodle and Pooch Rescue of Florida. Martini finished first in her heat and did well under the pressure of a huge and cheering crowd. As of now, she is learning cues for the role of Bruiser in Legally Blonde the Musical.
LUNA
Luna was recently adopted by Kelsey after her previous owner could no longer care for her due to a strenuous battle with cancer. Luna has proven to be highly trainable and is learning cues for Bruiser in Legally Blonde the Musical in addition to perfecting her basic obedience skills. She is best described as spunky, talkative, and highly motivated.
OSCAR PUSS (LEFT) & SUDDENLY SEYMOUR (RIGHT)
Oscar and Seymour are two cats that Kelsey rescued as kittens. Oscar is three years old and Seymour is seven years old. Oscar so far is the most skilled and knows how to walk on a leash and ride in the basket of a bike.
GOGH
Gogh is one eared terrier mix lovingly named after Vincent Van Gogh. She was rescued from euthanasia and adopted by Claire and David Kimmel. Gogh was trained by Kelsey for a production of The Wiz in which she made her stage debut as Toto, giving a solid performance every night.
VIDEOS
Chloe's performance as 'Rufus' in Legally Blonde. Lees-McRae Summer Theatre 2017.
Kelsey riding Chip, who is owned by Nina Fisher. Kelsey is a long time equestrian.
Gogh in The Wiz, Dir. Dr. Janet Speer.