ABOUT the Tevra Team

Below you will find information relating to each of the Tevra staff; Janice, Alastair, Gail and Barbara.

Janice Kirk

Janice has had a lifelong association with training animals. She started with horses and as a youngster successfully competed in many areas of equine competition. In her early twenties her interest shifted to dogs and so began the path that has lead to Tevra Dog Training and K9 Wear as we now know it.

Her life has been busy with almost continual training both of her own and others people's dogs, helping people find the right dog to fit their life-styles, re-homing dogs, running seminars and workshops for instructors and handlers in both Australia and New Zealand, and sitting on many committees involved not only with dog obedience but also advisory matters and welfare issues relating to dogs.

Janice - The Boss Lady!

Under the name of Thistledae Kennels, Janice has bred prize-winning Shelties and continues with this trend with her current stud dog, Ob Ch Miljen Devil's End CDX Silver (Imp Aust) and her new Australian imported bitch Summerset Lindi Lou. She has also raced and bred Siberian Huskies, Sibe-Bords (Siberian Husky/Border Collie cross)

Apart from the Sibe-Bords, Janice and her family have owned German Shepherds, Spaniels and Shelties, and the Kirk house has had long-term care of a wide variety of other breeds over the years, so Janice is very familiar with the care of many differing personalities!!

While doing all this she also raised three boys (now young men with their own families), ran the household and still managed to always have fresh-baked cakes or biscuits for unexpected callers!!

Janice ensures that she personally meets everyone who attends Tevra Dog Training and that the training by her team is meeting her own high standards and the requirements of the dog and handler.

Alastair Kirk

Alastair Kirk is very involved with dog training and supporting Janice in her business. He is an obedience judge and an active member of the Obedience Judges Association. With his extensive dog handling knowledge which he uses also as an animal control officer and a background of mechanics and panel beating, Alastair is well aware of the comfort and safety requirements for travelling dogs, and custom builds travelling dog crates for cars and trucks.

Alistair with Hocus Pocus

Barbara

Barbara has been involved with dogs all her life. She first started training with the Tevra Team in 1996 with her Border Collie dog Shadow. Although Barbara no longer competes in Obedience, she still shows Border Collies at Breed Shows. Through her Club involvement and owning Belgium & German Shepherds, Spaniels & Labradors as well as the odd mixture in the past she has had experience with a variety of dog breeds. Barbara's husband Colin competes successfully in both Obedience and Agility with a very nice Border Collie bitch called Indie who was bred by Barbara.
Barbara has completed a course on Holistic Health for Animals at Canterbury College of Natural Medicine as well as a Massage course for dogs.

Gail

Having had dogs all her life, Gail started training with Tevra in 2002 with her Border Collie Invercust Ravencoat CDX (Robbie). Within a year she was instructing under Janice’s tutelage and was soon taking domestic classes on a regular basis and competing in national obedience competitions with Robbie. In 2005 Ravencoat’s Mystic Jade (Jade) joined the family, also competing in obedience.

Gail has two other adopted pack members - Glenstar Lochan Ora (Chino) a Chocolate Labrador aged 4 years at the time, from a breeding and show kennel and Amy, a 3 ½ years old Japanese Spitz/Poodle cross who came from a loving home but sadly her owner was no longer able to give her the exercise she needed.

In May 2008 Gail caught the Rally-O bug that was sweeping the country and now concentrates on instructing and competing in Rally-O competitions. For more information on Rally-O click here. All four of her dogs compete in and enjoy Rally-O locally and nationally.

Photos