Lena Ralston has been training dogs and competing in multiple sports and performance venues for about 38 years – 26 of which were in her home country – the Republic of Belarus, and 12 in the USA. To her training dogs is a form of art. 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 (incudes100 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 the past 12 years Lena have owned and co-owned, trained and actively competed with her five German Shepherds that hold over 60 performance titles and awards combined in obedience, rally, agility, herding and scent work. Several of her dogs have achieved multiple High in Trial’s in AKC and UKC trials, UKC Total Dog awards, Performance Award of Merit from GSD Club of America, and perfect scores. Lena’s dogs have held top obedience and rally rankings in the past 8 years in AKC and UKC. Here are her dogs’ credentials from oldest to the youngest:

Regalwise Victorious Faith – Multiple perfect scores in obedience and rally, 17x High in Trial (obedience & rally) 2xTotal Dog Awards UCD UCDX URO1 URO2 URO3 UROC CD CDX UD RE PT

Surefire Victorious Joy Estel – 4x High in Trial (rally) 2xTotal Dog Awards UCH UCD UCDX URO1 URO2 URO3 UROC Performance Award of Merit CD CDX UD RA NJP NAP OAP PT

Victorious Sasha of Joy – 2xBIMBS RBIMBS UGRCH URO1 URO2 High in Trial (rally) 2xTotal Dog Awards NJP OJP NAP OAP AXP CGC CGCA

Victorious Keep Faith Alive – Multiple perfect scores in obedience and rally, 22x High in Trial in obedience and rally combined, 2xTotal Dog Awards, Performance Award of Merit, ranked #1 (tie) GSD in Utility A in the country (2016), UCH UCD UCDX URO1 URO2 URO3 CD CDX UD UDX Obedience Master 1 & 2 (64 OTCH points before she had to retire from obedience due to CCL injuries at 4 years old) NJP OJP AJP NAP OAP AXP PT CCSS-L1

Victorious Angel of Hope – High in Trial in Novice class (scent work) CCSS-L1 DDCN Debuted in Novice B in summer of 2020 with First place and score of 199

Lena has been professionally training dog in competition obedience all level in WLTC for the past 4 years and Scent Work in HABOC for the past 2 years. She tailors her training program according to each dog’s drive and temperament to ensure that every one of them riches his/her highest potential. Lena uses variety of effective training techniques that are rooted in the animal science and based on each dog’s temperament and each owner’s ability. Cultivating deeper understanding of canine behavior and teamwork, training without conflict and clarity of communication between a handler and his/her dog are the pillars she builds her training on.