Mary Ellen has a B.S in Accounting from the University of Scranton and was a CPA for 3 years in one of the big firms and then spent another 9 years in private companies as accounting manager and controller. In 2003, she was laid off and spent the summer teaching dog agility to help make ends meet while she looked for another job. She enjoyed it so much that she didn’t think she could go back to the corporate world and she's been teaching agility full time ever since.
Mary Ellen's popularity as a seminar presenter and instructor has grown due to her ability to break things down for students and explain and clarify concepts. She has an excellent eye and is able to pinpoint simple training exercises for handlers to work on at home to improve coursework.
Mary Ellen has been involved in dog training for 15 years. She's earned an ADCH with 3 border collies, 14 year old Zoe, 9 year old Fizz (who earned her ADCH before her 3rd birthday) and 5 year old E-Z. Fizz and Mary Ellen represented the USA at the 2006 IFCS World Championships in the Netherlands where they earned 6 placements including 3 Gold Medals. They represented the USA again at the 2008 IFCS World Championships in Belgium. She's currently competing with Fizz and E-Z as well as her 2 year old Fizz daughter, Maizy.
Mary Ellen has taught seminars and camps throughout the U.S and Canada.