My name is Pam Hammon and I’m the newest member of the Saturday training team.   I am a native Californian.  I lived in Southern California until 1983. I always had some kind of pet while I was growing up, mostly dogs-mainly mixed breeds.  It wasn’t  until I moved to Northern California that I got into Shetland Sheepdogs.  My roommate, Karin Parker, got a Sheltie puppy and I was hooked. My father always did the training of our dogs, so I had no idea that there was formal training for dogs.  Karin took Dawn (the sheltie) to MDDTC and so began the journey into dog training. We bred Dawn and I wanted my own puppy.  He turned out to be Dusty.  I took him to puppy class and was able to watch open training and decided that would be fun to try.   Dusty trained me very well.  We did three shows and got our CD.  After some more training we went three shows and come home with a CDX.   Then came the biggest challenge…the UD.  As a team we were pretty good.  However the handler was not with it (serious nerves) so it took a few more than three shows to nail down the UD. I have been breeding and raising Shelties for 20 years.  I have been involved in obedience and agility for most of that time.  I now have a conformation puppy, so I am branching out again. I have been a member of MDDTC  for 14 years.  I have stewarded at almost all the trials and matches in that time.  Also I was trophy chairman for two trials and year end trophy chairman for eight years.  I have also been floor help for several classes. For the past seven years I have been the head trainer for a local large pet supply chain.  It is general training not geared toward competition, only behavior.  It is very challenging.  The training is done in the aisles-3 feet wide and 17 feet long, with shoppers going through at all times.   There is a small ring that is used to train sits, downs and come.  In comparison the clubhouse is a super place to train. I truly enjoy teaching obedience and watching the changes that occur rather rapidly most of  the time.