Meet the Trainers
Helen St. Pierre
“Helen is a true treasure of a dog trainer”
Helen is the owner and operator of No Monkey Business Dog Training. Based in Concord New Hampshire, she is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA) and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and a Operation Socialization Certified Trainer (OSCT) She is also a licensed and certified Family Dog Mediator. Helen has been training dogs for over 20 years. She is a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a member of the Association of Animal Behavior Professionals and is a certified member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and a member of the Pet Professional Guild. Helen is also a licensed Dogs and Storks educator, a licensed Dogs and Toddlers educator, and a certified AKC evaluator.
Helen’s skills range from basic obedience to behavior modification of serious problems including aggression as well as service dog training. Helen is always doing one on one behavior consultations, and Helen teaches classes locally in the Concord, New Hampshire area and offers workshops and seminars on a variety of subjects all around New England and internationally. Helen is constantly going to continuing education seminars to learn more about the fascinating world of dog behavior, and she has been featured on the radio, in print, and on T.V. for her work! She volunteers countless hours at the local SPCA and works with homeless dogs to help them learn skills to find a home faster. She teaches class on dog behavior and ethology at the local college too! She has worked as a trainer for the humane society rehabilitating aggressive dogs, and helping homeless dogs find the right home. She also was the volunteer 4-H dog club leader, and taught basic obedience at a prestigious training academy in Durango, Colorado. She is educated in canine behavior and has a strong foundation of knowledge on the psychological principles and applications of dog training. Helen has both the academic and hands-on skills that make for a great trainer and behavior consultant.
Helen has eleven dogs of her own, two Collies named Corduroy and Rupert, and Mallory a Papillon! Messner is a rescue papillon and Legend, a Scottish Deerhound. She adopted a rescue cattle dog, named Joker. She also has Chess, a Japanese Chin and Pixel and Persephone – rescued Chinese crested. Aslan is her Belgian shepherd that she works regularly in protection work. Helen also has a horse Noah, four cats, 2 parrots, a tortoise, a hedgehog, and two daughters Grace and Evelyn. She takes great pride in her work and treats every animal she trains as if it were her own, making your training experience motivating and enjoyable! When not training dogs she is running her senior and hospice dog rescue out of her home,
“Katie is so fun to have as a teacher!”
Katie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and has been working with dogs over a decade now. With 5 dogs of her own, and having had many more come through her home and into her heart, she is excellent at adapting a dog’s training plan for who they are, their personality, and what they truly need. She believes strongly in treating your dog with kindness and respect, and in turn we can have a balanced and healthy give and take in their needs and ours.
Katie is an Assessed Trauma Informed Pet Professionals Practitioner which means she understands the complexity of how deep trauma runs in dogs and the intense work it takes to overcome. She earned this certification through Animal Behavior Kent UK. Not every case is alike and it takes a whole dog approach to look at past, present, predictable, and precipitating factors that lead to each dog’s anxieties, aggressions, worries, fears, and things that hold them back. Through collaboration with each family, her goal is to help dogs find peace and resilience through trauma informed practices that encourage dogs to seek safety behaviors that benefit them in moments of stress.
Katie is a Certified Fear Free Pet Trainer with a focus on cooperative care as well. She feels very confident in the process of slowing down in our daily pet care routines to meet our dogs where they are. Cooperative care is unnatural for our dogs and teaching them it’s safe and okay takes time. What is Cooperative Care? Cooperative Care is teaching our dogs how to cope and be present and willing participants of daily routines such as tick checks, nail trims, brushing, handling, and routine exams/vaccinations at the vet and more!
As a mother to two children, Katie understands the complicated dynamics of family life with dogs and she strives to simplify them and create and environment of peace in our daily lives living with dogs and little ones. This is the reason she became a Licensed Family Paws Parent Educator. Katie wants to spread awareness and educate as many families as possible in regard to our canine and human babies.
Katie has attended dozens of continuing education seminars amd certification courses, including but not limited to:
- The Fear Free Animal Trainer Certification Course
- Trauma Informed Pet Professionals Course with ABK
- Kids, Race and Positive Training: An Alphabet Album Webinar
- Searching for the Science Behind Separation Anxiety
- Happily Ever After! or, Not So Much? Prognostic Factors in Behavior Cases
- Emotional Freedom Techniques: Clinical Tapping for You and Your Dog
- Wild Child: All About Arousal and Impulse Control
- Slow Thinking is Lifesaving for Dogs™: Why It’s Important & How to Teach It
- Different Breeds, Different Needs: Training the Different Breeds
- Genetics of Behavior – Cat & Dog Genomics: Changing the Paradigm
- Eww Don’t Eat That! How to Manage Your Dog’s Scavenging Behavior in a Kind, Effective
- Family Paws Parent Education Foundation course
Katie Gilpatrick
Olivia Miller
“Olivia’s experience with pit bulls was so helpful to have!”
Olivia grew up in a animal loving family, there was always dogs and cats running around. At age 5 Olivia’s grandmother went behind her parents back and got her a Shih Tzu, this was Olivia’s first dog. She named him Lucky (because she was lucky to keep him). Lucky’s name came through for him too, he survived a 5 year old’s love and care, an owls consistent attacks during the night, and living with a older German Shepard mix, and two black labs. Olivia had Lucky for a long time, almost 15 years, but in his elderly age he developed some health condition which caused him to be put down.
A year later Olivia could stop thinking about the pidder padder of a puppy. She started dreaming of having her own dog again. Like fate with in a week Olivia met a woman who had accident puppies and needed them to go as soon as they were 8 weeks old. She had 7 girls and 1 boy, and that boy became Olivia’s Cyrus. Cyrus was a new beginning for Olivia, and although her family had never trained any of their animals before, Olivia wanted Cyrus trained. At 8 weeks old Olivia got Cyrus into class, and he was doing so well. He was so smart and so determined to please when working together. On the last day of the 6 week class (Graduation Day) the trainer brought her demo dog in. This demo dog attacked Cyrus over a milk bone, after that Cyrus developed fear aggression and Olivia was very hesitant to bring Cyrus to another trainer.
A couple months went by and Olivia was trying to find the best trainer for Cyrus as his reactions were getting worse and worse. This is when an animal specialist for Florida reached out to her with the company name No Monkey Business Dog Training With Helen. Helen worked with Cyrus and Olivia and helped create a relationship that is unbreakable. Helen stabilized Olivia and Cryus, and now almost three years later Cyrus is almost an angel and Olivia has adopted a Staffordshire Terrier mix named Ginger (so she start all over again!). Today Olivia is an assistant for Helen at No Monkey business Dog Training so one day she can become a Certified dog Trainer and help people and animals create the relationship that they deserve and also help them keep their sanity, just as Helen did for Olivia. It’s hard to imagine how Olivia’s life would have been if she never would of met Helen, and it’s Olivia’s hope to also be that helpful, resourceful, and committed trainer for those who are in need of one.
Josanna Nelson
Josie’s love for dogs began with her first dog, Jones. The scruffy Jack Russell was eager to learn which in return pushed Josie to acquire new skills. The duo spent over 16 fun years together.
Josie was introduced to No Monkey Business Dog Training when she started classes with her Golden Retriever, Thule. Throughout the years she became captivated by NMBDT ability to provide precise instruction while maintaining a sense of humor. She is elated to be a part of NMBDT and is looking forward to seeing you in classes!
Tess Roever
Tess is a certified professional dog trainer (knowledge assessed). She began her training journey as an assistant at No Monkey Business Dog Training in 2018. She also worked as a behavior specialist with shelter dogs, creating and carrying out training plans to help them get adopted. She received her certification in 2020 and is always keeping up to date on the latest methods and science with continuing education. She has learned so much from Helen and the team at No Monkey Business Dog Training, and is so excited to be a part of such an amazing business! Tess has also learned a great deal from the two dogs of her own, a village dog from Kosovo named Alea, and a min pin chihuahua mix named Ginger. Her goal is to share all that she has learned to help create strong relationships between people and dogs.
Jae McComiskey
Jae McComiskey is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) who harbors an avid passion for all things dog-related. His journey into the world of dog training began in 2017 when he became a client at No Monkey Business Dog Training. At the outset, Jae sought to understand and manage reactivity and aggression in dogs.
His initial motivations stemmed from a personal quest to help his own dogs, but with the guidance and expertise of Helen and her dedicated staff at No Monkey Business Dog Training, Jae’s journey evolved significantly. Over time, he trained all three of his dogs at the facility, learning not just about behavior modification but also about the deeper aspects of canine psychology, training techniques, and the importance of building a strong, trusting relationship with dogs.
Through hands-on experience and continuous learning, Jae’s knowledge and skills in dog training grew, transforming his initial challenges into a drive to educate others. This experience not only equipped him with the tools to help his own dogs but also ignited a passion to assist others facing similar issues with their dogs.
Jae’s commitment to understanding and improving canine behavior led him to pursue professional certification, which he uses alongside personal experience to help other dog owners to foster harmonious relationships between dogs and their owners.
Becky Woodworth
CPDT-KA
Becky has been intrigued by canine communication for many years, having grown up with several dogs, plus cats, frogs and turtles. She sought out an education to further her interest and learn about opportunities to share her enthusiasm. She loves to see owners excited to participate in the amazing process of learning. Tom, a pug, was the first dog of her own passed away recently after 16 years. Just before his passing, Molly, a young Setter/Cattle dog mix, unexpectedly entered her life. She is now a Certified Professional Trainer, Knowledge Assessed, and certified by CATCH Canine Trainers Academy. She loves being part of the NMBDT team and working alongside amazing trainers.
Travis Borruso
Naomi Smith
Seren Maxwell
Taylor McArdle
Taylor has loved animals from a very early age. She didn’t have siblings growing up, but she did have dogs. Lots and lots of dogs! Friends and family would tease that she was “raised among wolves” because her family had so many! She can’t tell you how many of her childhood pictures feature her in some sort of dog crate snuggling her various four legged friends (she went in there by choice of course!). Taylor first met Helen shortly after getting her first dog, Tank—a goofy, lovable Golden Retriever. She instantly fell in love with NMB and the positive reinforcement training methods utilized there. Though Taylor’s background is in education (she currently teaches Kindergarten here in Concord), she’s always had an interest in working with dogs and is looking forward to further her career in training in her spare time. She couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the NMBDT team!
Lynn Denbow
Lynn fell in love with her first dog, a Chinese Shar-Pei, presented to her as a first wedding anniversary gift from her US Navy husband. He thought it would keep her company while he was away. Little did he know where the path of getting that first dog would lead. Needless to say, there were times when he would return home to find another 4-legged friend living in their home!
Over the years, Lynn has had quite a few dogs including Chinese Shar-Pei, a German Shepherd, a Labrador Retriever, mixes and various bully breeds. She has dabbled in all different kinds of dog training, classes, seminars, workshops, and a bit of pet therapy along the way.
When Lynn started puppy kindergarten classes at No Monkey Business Dog Training with her pittie puppy, Walter, she knew she had found a special place. A place where positive training methods are taught by supportive instructors and where Walter could be his usual funny, goofy self while still learning and having fun. Subsequently, she took more classes with Walter, had a lot of fun, met some really great people, and the rest of the pieces just fell into place.
Lynn is grateful to be part of the NMBDT family and excited to spend more time working with people and helping them foster great relationships with their dogs.
Contact your head trainer (for current clients only):
Helen:
603-856-7509
Call only
Katie:
802-727-0282
Call only
Olivia:
603-630-3694
Call or text
Travis:
603-508-8945
Call or text
Josie:
603-660-0773
Call or text
