INSTRUCTORS
Jeri Piercy
I am a founding member of the club, having started out with my littermate teammates, Bailey and Newman. My first trial was in 2002 and the rest is history. I was hooked! My dogs and I travelled all over the Maritimes in the early days going to as many trials as we could. Bailey was the first dog in the NB/PEI region to earn her Lifetime Achievement Award, and Newman was the third (coming in after Toffee, my daughter’s dog). I began teaching in 2004 and have attended many seminars over the years taught by World Team members such as Kathy Keats, Teresa Rector, Susan Garrett, Justine Davenport, Jess Martin, and Rebecca McKay. The sport of agility is evolving at a rapid rate and staying on top of the latest handling methods is half the fun. I have competed at every Regionals since I started and attended most Nationals. Bailey is a past winner of the 22” division at Regionals (2004) and 10” veterans (2009 and 2010). Newman took a while to get the hang of the sport, but was a winner of the 16” veterans division (2011). I have since retired both Bailey and Newman, retriever mixes, and am now training and trialing with my 8 year old dog, Rowdie, a Pyrenean Shepherd, and my 3 year old Border Collie, Keg.
Erin Piercy
Starting out as a kid who just followed Mom around back in 2001, agility quickly became a major focus in my life. I started out running my mom’s dog, and then moved on to running fellow competitor’s dogs. I became the first participant in the Junior Handler program in the Maritimes, and gained valuable experience by working with and handling several different breeds, with varying skill sets.
My sheltie, Toffee, and I won Top Junior Handler on many occasions. We won multiple Regional Championships, a National Championship, earned our Lifetime Achievement Award, and we continue to consistently place at the top year after year in every trial we enter. Together we’ve competed at every AAC Nationals since we started in 2007, and even as she ages, she continues to bring home the gold!
My border collie, Mach, has brought me on a different journey. We set out to fulfill big dreams, and he has done just that! We have been a part of Team Canada several times, traveled across Canada, the US, and Europe competing at National and International competitions.
I have trained with some of the top trainers and competitors from around the world, and have been teaching since 2008. I’m always trying to evolve my training and handling, and teaching has been a big part my learning process.
Melissa Murphy
Melissa started agility with her Dalmatian Dino with the Kapers in 2012 and has been hooked on the sport ever since. An animal trainer and adult educator at heart, she rode and showed horses for many years before switching to dog sports. Melissa has two Dalmatians she's trained in agility, rally, tricks - Dino (retired) and Abby, her current competitive agility dog. Both dogs have been very successful in agility - attaining ATChC titles in AAC, and Dino has Rally Obedience titles in CKC and CARO. Melissa has been teaching agility classes with the Kapers since 2018 and really enjoys seeing people succeed with their dogs in lessons and in the trial ring.
