About Precious K9s

CARRIE GALVAN CBCC, CTDI

I am a Certified Behavior Consultant Canine and was a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (2011-2023) certified by the Council for Professional Dog Trainers.  I am also a Certified Trick Dog Instructor with the Do More With Your Dog program and an AKC Evaluator for all levels of the Canine Good Citizen, Tricks, and the Temperament test.  I have belonged to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, off and on, for 10 years and have been a consultant for many animal businesses and organizations for 25 years.  I have also worked with schools and the Girl Scouts to help educate children on canine etiquette, with attorneys on dog-related cases, and I was the Behavior Expert on the Animal Issues Task Force, for 3 years, that rewrote the Dangerous/Vicious Dog Legislation here in Springfield, Mo.

Over the years, I have worked with many Veterinarians in our area and Veterinary Behaviorists around the U.S. to help clients and their dogs cope with life together.  As the only Certified Behavior Consultant Canine within 3 hours of Springfield, I have a different set of skills than the dog trainers in our area hold. I have done training from county protection dogs, to puppy basics and aggression, to showing in Agility and Rally Obedience, to training Service Dogs.

As you may know, having a dog with extreme anxiety and/or any of the aggressions can be time consuming and hard on the bank account.  My training and behavior modification plans have taken 20 years to formulate. With added support from Veterinarians and sometimes medications, I can really help your dog progress better than the training a basic training trainer will try to implement. For behavioral issues, one of the first things I might suggest is a complete workup by the client’s Veterinarian to cover as many bases as we can as far as medical issues. I also have a list of natural remedies we pick through and try before I recommend clients speak with their Veterinarian about medication, in most cases.

My passion has always been working with dogs with behavioral issues and this is what has led me to design Precious K9s like no other training facility in our area.  We have programs for basic training, kids, baby puppies, behavioral issues, and sports.  I am a firm believer that dog sports can be a huge component in saving a dog’s life.  The focus and confidence we can create with our programs are even beyond what I had imagined over the last 20-plus years.

Precious K9s is the perfect mix between my behavioral practice and what people on a larger scale need to have a well-rounded pup. Our amazing group of trainers each excel in their favorite area of K9 training. Some are passionate about Therapy Teams. We have trick dog instructors Scent work, and obedience instructors. Some just love to teach the puppies! The one common denominator is that they all love to educate about K9 behavior. Our team of trainers always make sure to spend time together where they can learn from one another and keep up on the most progressive ways to train your dog and theirs.

In my spare time, I enjoy competing in dog sports, four-wheeling, my chickens, and spending time with my kiddos.

Julie Mueller 

Julie hit the ground running with Precious K9s and the Day Training Program September of 2023. As she has grown with Precious K9s, she has grown towards running the Main Office, Private Coaching with Day Training clients, and leading our group classes.

Lisa King (Therapy Dog Teams and Trick Dog)

She is the instructor, evaluator, and organizer for the Precious K9s Therapy Teams and is a registered Pet Partners Team with her dog Megan. They also hold the additional credential as an Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Team with Pet Partners. Megan is a decorated AKC titled dog in both Therapy and Trick Dog. Lisa is a Certified Trick Dog Instructor with Do More With Your Dog, is an AKC Evaluator, and is an AKC Fit Dog Instructor.

Sarah Schroeder (All things Obedience and Scent Work, and Tracking)

She is also an AKC and UKC judge for both. She has many decorated dogs in Conformation, Obedience, Rally-O, and Scent Work, and is an amazingly laid-back instructor for all of these categories.

Jill Musser (Lead Trainer- Specialty in puppies.)

Jill was a KPA certified by the Karen Pryor Academy, for years. She is a lead instructor in our beginner level classes and runs our children and baby puppy online and in-person programs.

Theresa Bettmann

Theresa Bettmann is a Therapist by day and a long-time dog trainer by night. She is a Canine-Assisted Intervention Specialist certified by the University of Denver Institute for Human-Animal Connection, so she is a great asset for our Therapy Teams and was my right hand for the people when we trained Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals. Unfortunately, with the lack of regulations on Service Dogs and ESAs, Precious K9s has recently decided that the liability of our fully-trained dogs is too high with all of the fake and aggressive SDs in the U.S. It was a hard and long thought-out decision, but we feel that it was the right one for us.

Roberta Mansfield

Roberta Mansfield is one of our agility coaches. She loves to troubleshoot with competing teams and help them fine tune their show skills. We teach all levels here at Precious K9s. Roberta competes in UKI, AKC, ASCA and NADAC.

Howard Carr

Howard has been top 4 at Westminster 3 times and was a 2018 winner. He was an AKC Premier Cup finalist, Incredible Dog Challenge Finalist, and has been an Invitationals and Nationals finalist. For the last 7 years, in RI, he taught and substituted with beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. When you get to the Fundamentals courses, he will be the coach to guide you to show!

Nicole

Nicole has been working alongside Carrie with reactive dogs for over a year now. She has just recently decided it is time to jump in and help out with our group classes. She is in training to be a Lead Trainer for Level One and Two classes and will be Carrie’s assistant, when needed, in her reactive dog programs in the future. Nicole’s day job is focused on data analytics and regulatory adherence, but her true passion is working with animals and helping them learn, excel and meet their goals. She found this love in her 20’s when she was a lead trainer in basic obedience through private coaching. She continued to utilize these skills over the years assisting with her own dogs. Nicole has a 7 year old boston terrier, Charlie, and 4 year old frenchton, Winston.

Barb Stockard

Barb has titled dogs in lure coursing, rally, obedience, and agility. Her passion is agility, and she’s been training and competing in it for nearly 20 years, and teaching on and off for 15. She’s had two different dogs invited to the AKC invitational, and has competed at AKC nationals multiple times. She is our Masters level coach, so her classes have a waiting list! Email the main line for more information!