Each of our trainers has years of training experience, not only with their own dogs, but with all kinds breeds encountered at ABOTC.

If you have a question about our classes that is not answered on this web site, please send your question to our team of trainers - click here.

For information on private lessons, click here...

Bill Martin

Bill began training dogs over 30 years ago with Shane, his first Irish Setter. He has always loved this breed and before he bought his first one he looked at their size and personality and figured they needed obedience training to be good canine citizens.

Since that time he has put four Companion Dog titles, four Companion Dog Excellence titles, and two Utility Dog titles on his dogs, in addition to two Dog World Awards.

Bill's Setters have ranked in the Top Five Obedience Irish Setters in the country for many years. His current dog, Quest, CDX/Companion Dog Excellent, has also received his Confirmation Championship.

Bill has always said that regardless of their age all dogs can and will benefit from obedience training. Obedience training is not only fun for the handler, but also for the dog, as a trained dog is a better companion, enjoys working for its master, and enjoys being taken to class, on trips, or just for a ride in the car.

"All you have to do to be successful is to listen to your instructor and dedicate a few minutes a day to train your dog. You will see the difference in your dog in the first week. While we know most people will never show their dog for titles, you will train your dog the same way and if you decide to show you will be ready for the show ring."

For information regarding classes held in other areas of Dallas, contact Bill Martin directly by calling 972-744-0419 or by email (BillM@ABOTC.com).

Beth Bornman

Beth began training dogs over 20 years ago, starting with her first black Labrador, Cochise. Beth was raised with small poodles, but fell in love with a Labrador owned by a (former) boyfriend.

After getting married and purchasing a home, she at last got the large dog she loved. However, Cochise died soon after finishing a Beginner Class, and Beth obtained Loki a few months later. She was able to train Loki through his Utility title in AKC.

Loki also became a certified pet therapy dog at Baylor Rehab and gave love, and hope to many before he died. A neighbor gave her a red Doberman puppy, Sasha, which became the family's second large dog in the household. Sasha received her CD/Companion Dog and CDX/Companion Dog Excellent titles through AKC.

Her black Labrador, Merlin, has received his CD/Companion Dog and CDX/Companion Dog Excellent titles in AKC and one leg towards his UKC Companion Dog title.

Beth has taken classes at Eastfield College and Hound House, as well as from All Breed Obedience Training Club. She became a teacher at ABOTC about 15 years ago. Beth has instructed the First Night, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced classes.

She is currently teaching the First Month Class, which she finds rewarding, because it is easy to see how the dogs improve each week with their training, with the help of their owners.

"Wednesday night training classes are one of the highlights of the week, because they are fun and exciting, with the opportunity to meet new people and new dogs, as well as visit with friends."

You can contact Beth by email using the Contact form on this page or by sending an email to BethB@ABOTC.com.

Emily Heitzman

Emily started as an ABOTC student at with a mixed breed puppy who showed up on her driveway at only 5 weeks old. Her vet told her to get the puppy into an obedience class - quick.

Since joining ABOTC in 1995, she has trained that puppy, Tiger; Maggie, an Austrailian Cattle Dog/Greyhound mix, Lexus and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Max.

Her Blue Heeler, Maggie, has been her class demonstration dog since she started teaching.

Emily is a firm believer in dog rescue - responsible rescue with training to create canine good citizens. She teaches beginner's class to show first-time dog owners a new way to communicate with their dog and the personal satisfaction of a well-trained dog.

Emily has been a volunteer teacher at ABOTC since 1998.

This clip shows Emily explaining some basic training information to dog owners at the First Month Class.

Tom Hansen

In 1996, a big strong Labrador pup Harley was given to me by a family that had lost control -the dog was chewing up the kids. I was now hit by a tornado of a dog that would pull me down jump on me and bite.

I turned to ABOTC for help. With instruction from all the trainers - Billy, Wade, Mary, Beth, Marty, Evelyn - I was able to go from Beginners to Advance class and win first prize in all AKC dog shows wining CD/Companion Dog and CDX/Companion Dog Excellent itles.

"What a great dog Harley was, and she gave me Sam the best black Labrador, now 10 years old. I don’t remember ever having to train Sam, Harley did all the training. After Harley died Sam was very depressed so I got my third Labrador, AH-OH and he has been living up to that name every day.

"I love Labs - they are energetic, strong willed and very challenging to train. All my dogs have gone through AKC Good Citizen Ship and are Patient Therapy Rehab dogs at Baylor Hospital."

Tom has been the ABOTC Advanced Class instructor for over 10 years, and has been trained by the dog whisperer- Cesar Millan - and Wendy Volhard (dog training for dummies), .Lee Mannix (dog aggression) and SPCA CAT aggression shaping seminars.

“It sometimes takes years for a dog to make it to my advance class and I try to challenge both the owner and the dogs to try new obedient training methods like jumping, hand signals, freestyle heeling, we try and make it fun for the dogs. I am proud of my advance class, they have worked for years and are dedicated to training there dogs to be obedient members of there family’s and completive show dogs.”

If you have Labrador questions or are in need of personal training, please contact Tom directly at TomH@ABOTC.com.

This clip shows an Advanced Class running through a number of exercises under Tom's guidance.

Bobby and Jean Bonds

Bobby trained with ABOTC several years ago, with his Doberman and returned to ABOTC three years ago with his new husky mix, Naej.

He has since added a wife (Jean) and another husky mix, Lelu, to his household.

Bobby also enjoys bicycling and hunting, as well as dog training.

Bobby teaches the Second Month class.

This video shows Bobby giving his introduction to the Beginners class program.

Terry Guyton

Terry is a long-time club member of more than 12 years and a bonafide product of ABOTC, training her fourth dog.

She recently started entering show-n-go "competitions" just for fun with most recent dog, Sophie.

She assists a professional trainer outside ABOTC with aggression aversion training when time permits, and recently started co-teaching ABOTC's biannual AKC Canine Good Citizen certification classes with Jim McCray..

Terry started teaching Beginner classes in 2008; even though she thinks she knows everything, she is always looking over her shoulder for Beth and Billy.

"One rewarding part of all this is watching a person 'get it'. For me, teaching dog training skills is mostly about the average house dog. The better their humans understand them and the better job the human does training the dog up, the better times everyone has together. ABOTC membership is a mix of house-dog folks, serious obedience and agility competitors. A cool thing about the club is it's a huge collection of people just like me who remember dog names better than we do people names... and we're ok with that!"

Jim & Brenda McCray

Jim and Brenda teach our semi-annual AKC Canine Good Citizen classs with Terry Guyton.

Private Lessons

For information regarding private lessons, contact Jeff Bornman directly by calling 972-329-3165 or by email (JeffB@ABOTC.com). His website is JKBot.com.

For information regarding classes held in other areas of Dallas, contact Bill Martin directly by calling 972-744-0419 or by email (BillM@ABOTC.com).