Dede Crough

Dede grew up with dogs and adopted her first “own” dog from a shelter in Boston on her 24th birthday. She started professionally working with dogs in 2003 through private lessons and behavior consulting, as well as teaching various classes—which have included flyball, nose work, basic manners, and specialty topics—at several facilities in PA and NJ.

In 2001, Dede’s career in dog sports began at DTCCC when she enrolled her adopted mixed breed Hershey in flyball class. Eight dogs later she has titled dogs in agility, barn hunt, dock diving, flyball, lure coursing, nose work, and tricks, has been a member of a world-champion club in K9 Toss & Fetch League and ranked #42 dog/handler team out of 1,552 teams worldwide, and is a Canine Water Sports judge.

When not training, competing, or just playing at home, Dede enjoys performing public demos with her dogs, from Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show to regional pet expos to the most memorable of them all—a flyball demo during halftime of a NY Jets preseason game at Giants Stadium!

Dede earned several certificates from the Companion Animal Sciences Institute, was a founding member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and was previously an Associate Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through IAABC. She was also a member of the Association of Animal Behavior Professionals, where she served on the Ethics Committee.

A firm believer that there is always more to learn, she has attended numerous seminars and workshops with luminaries in the animal and dog training world including Chris Bach, Bob Bailey & Parvene Farhoody, Frankie Joiris, Patricia McConnell, Leslie McDevitt, Pat Miller, Ken Ramirez, Pamela Reid, Turid Rugaas and Sue Sternberg. She has participated in multiple K9 Nose Work ® camps in PA and regularly attends nose work training events, has taken advantage of canine fitness workshops with multiple dogs, and rounds out her continuing education via online resources.

Dede currently shares her home with border collies Paden, Hoopy and Raffy and Papillon mix Swizzle.