Becky and Magic Becky was born and raised in Long Beach, California. Dogs and other animals, from horses to lizards, have always been a part of her life. She was always busy rescuing the baby birds from the bales of hay that were thrown from the barn where she kept her horse. She would also rescue litters of barn kittens and any stray puppy that came her way. As a young girl, she showed her horses at local shows and her canine mutts at any pet events she could find! So, training dogs has always been a part of Becky’s life, early on as a hobby and professionally after moving to the Northwest in 1993.
Becky started "professionally training dogs" by helping local families and their family dogs. Interest in Becky grew throughout the community as word of her talents got around. Her methods and the positive training results spoke for themselves. Becky officially launched her training business, Puppy Manners, in 1994.
The business grew exponentially! Soon, her home was cramped and overrun with kennels, tennis balls, and puppies—and a couple of horses too! To accommodate the success, she and her family bought a small 5-acre ranch in Woodinville, Washington in October 1999 where dogs could come and play while they learned in a fun, family environment. The ranch has become the permanent home of Puppy Manners, a licensed commercial kennel and training facility. Soon after, Becky became a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).
Becky originally started out doing consulting work with families with newly adopted seven to eight-week-old puppies. This is a busy time in a puppy’s life and there is a lot to do before formal obedience begins. Becky saw a great need that was not being filled in this area. She helped new owners with their new puppies and guided them successfully through potty training, chewing, digging, barking, and all sorts of puppy-related issues.
As these puppies grew into dogs, Becky expanded her business to handle private training sessions in the home and board-and-train programs for family dogs. Her success has been phenomenal! Her small business has grown into one of the most successful family dog training programs in the Northwest.
Many of Becky’s clients have wonderful family dogs and have continued on to do animal assisted therapy work with their dogs. This is another of Becky’s great passions as she shares her own dogs, Boomer, Moose, and Zoom, all of whom hold Delta Society/Pet Partners therapy animal registrations, and other dogs she’s trained with her community. She watches with pride as families she has helped get involved in their communities through dog training. Becky is also a Delta Society Animal Assisted Therapy Evaluator and Instructor and she works with Paws for Health giving Pet Partners seminars. Boomer, Moose, and Zoom are regular visitors at Woodmoor Elementary School's (Bothell, WA) reading enrichment program during the school year. They are also charter members of the Reading With Rover program, a reading program for children.
Becky and Puppy Manners was deemed the "Best Bet For Your Best Friend" by Seattle Magazine in April 2003.
Becky has been featured in the local newspaper, Woodinville Weekly, for her involvement with dogs and the community. Becky's experiences with dog training and her animal rescue efforts have appeared in the Seattle Times and the Boston Globe. She was chronicled for her efforts to raise money for a blind Golden Retriever puppy named Magoo by the local television station, KIRO 7—the story was picked up by CNN Headline News. The awareness brought about by the television piece resulted in "The Magoo Fund", a non-profit fund that helps pay for medical treatment for puppies with birth defects.
Invisible Fence Northwest has recognized Becky as the “Trainer of the Month.” She is often the featured trainer on their web site.
Becky’s own dog, Magic, appeared in a major motion picture "Practical Magic" starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and Becky was one of the lead dog trainer/handlers on the production set. Becky worked with Anne Gordon, former owner of Anne’s Animal Actors. Anne was the foremost agent for and provider of animal actors in the Northwest. After working with Becky and her dog Magic on the movie set, Anne continued to hire Becky to do contract work with dogs in commercials, still pictures, and movies.
Becky worked with two blood hounds on the episode of "The Fugitive" which aired Friday, November 10th, 2000 on CBS. She also took Magic to Hollywood in October, 2000, for preliminary still-photo shooting sessions for the major motion picture, "Vanilla Sky" released in December 2001 starring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz. Becky’s way with animals has led to handling other animals as well! Anne hired Becky to take two American Bull Frogs to Portland, Oregon for a movie with Debbie Reynolds called "Halloween Town".
Becky Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Boomer, has appeared in a commercial for Washington Mutual Bank and was in the Spring/Summer 2001 REI Camping catalog modeling dog apparel.
Becky does public speaking engagements for all ages at all levels of understanding and she effectively reaches her audience at their level. Whether it is a room full of influential philanthropists at a charity auction, a convention hall of Humane Society workers, or an auditorium of Junior High School children, Becky finds the experience rewarding and exciting.
Becky was a moderator for the best pet content site in the world: GreatPets.com. (The site was taken down late in 2003 and we hope it will be rebuilt.) She is now a moderator for Family Dog, Inc's pet advice forum giving valuable advice to the professional dog trainer's forum and to the problems and solutions forum.
Community service work has been a byline for Becky for many years and her interests have gone beyond the pet world. In 1990, the Long Beach (California) Police Officers Association recognized her community service work and she was the first ever to receive the "Woman of the Year" award honoring her community service efforts.
Becky has an intuition and innate knowledge of dogs and animals in general. That "sixth sense" has been the guiding light by which she has steered her life and her career throughout the animal world. Her love of animals and wonderful sense of humor and understanding of human nature has led her to the place she is today. She loves the process of guiding loving, caring dog owners and their pets together through mutual respect and communication. People are people; no matter if they’re movie stars, professional athletes, or the average American family and Becky loves helping break the human/canine language barrier, enabling success at every level.