Lena Ralston has been training dogs and competing in multiple K9 sports and performance venues for about 40 years. Her first experience in canine sport competition was when she was 13 years old and started training her first German Shepherd for the Summer Combined Competitions that incuded100 meters sprint with obstacles, military style agility and protection. In a couple of years of training and intense preparation Lena with her German Shepherd became the youngest members of the First Belarusian Summer Combined Competitions team and began competing on the National level. It was that voluble experience of a true teamwork with her dog and other team members that taught Lena many valuable lessons and fueled her life-long love for canine sport.

For nearly 2 decades Lena has bred, owned, trained and actively competed with her German Shepherds that have earned a wide variety of titles and awards in Obedience, Rally, Agility, Herding and Scent work. With her youngest GSD Lena earned OTCH and OM3 titles along with multitude of titles in scent sport. Lena’s two oldest dogs earned UKC Rally Championship along with UD in Obedience and multiple titles in Scent sport and Agility. Currently Lena is training and competing with her Border Collie in livestock herding.

For the past 7 years Lena has been sharing her knowledge and expertise in group class setting and private lessons. She tailors her training program according to each dog’s drive and temperament to ensure that every dog reaches his/her highest potential. Moreover, she pays attention to a handler’s skills and fosters personal growth in each individual handler. Lena uses training techniques that are rooted in the animal science and based on her vast experience in training dogs for variety of canine sports. Cultivating deeper understanding of canine behavior and teamwork, training to maximize engagement through games, fostering clarity of communication between a handler and his/her dog are the pillars of Lena’s training program. She is dedicated to constant professional growth and bringing the best practices to her students. Lena takes an average 4 to 8 workshops, clinics, seminars, and online courses a year, learning from some of the best in the world canine sports trainers and competitors.