Meet the Trainers

Cherie helps families teach their dogs to be well-behaved members of the family.  She teaches effective and humane
methods for basic obedience and a wide variety of other types of classes including Agility For Fun, Training for Therapy
Dog Visits, Helping the Cautious Canine, Feisty Fido and more.  Ms. Maitland also offers classes to help people
prepare to take and pass the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. Cherie is now also an approved AKC CGC evaluator.
Cherie also helps with more serious problems including fearfulness, anxiety, aggression towards people, dogs and
cats, nuisance barking, and safety with kids and dogs.  She hails more from the new school of training, incorporating
learning theory and understanding canine psychology (see Philosophy & Methods) to teach people to be great dog
owners, handlers and leaders. When needed, other approaches are incorporated, because she believes that there is
often something valuable to learn from most approaches and that flexibility and tailoring methods to a specific owner,
dog and situation is crucial. Cherie's instincts about what people and their dogs need to be a better team, combined
with her practical knowledge and step-by-step teaching style is extremely effective.

She now lives in the Sierra Foothills with her beloved 4 dogs, 8 cats, and her horse, a mustang lives on a nearby ranch.
Over the years, Cherie has taken 4 dogs through the process of becoming Registered Therapy Dogs, and one of her
dogs is now her Registered Service Dog to help her with her anxiety of flying and her heart condition.

Contact her to discuss your dog(s) and your training needs and get started on an educational and satisfying experience
with Our Furry Friends.
Our
Furry
Friends
Cherie Inherited Some of Her Connection With Animals From Her Mom
Cherie's background is in coaching and counseling, small business management, accounting, teaching
and running kids programs in the 1980's on the California Coast.  In the early 1990's she was and
wanted to find people who were doing the same thing with dogs. She found two very experienced She
studied and trained with a variety of other trainers from a wide range of philosophies. After adopting a
"problem" dog, (who was the wonderful registered therapy dog you may have known as Pepper,)
Cherie needed the behavioral expertise of several local, prominent trainers. After years of studying with
and assisting other trainers, and working with dogs at the shelter, Our Furry Friends was born in 1999
in Santa Cruz.




classes, has given Alan an "inside" perspective on problem behaviors and their resolution.
With a faith-based passion for helping, an abiding love for dogs, and a gift for “modeling” their
inner life, Alan empowers pet owners to get the cooperative pets they dream of, by understanding
and meeting the needs of their "pack."

With his prize-winning Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog, Ch El Dorado's Whoa Nellie, Alan has
been active in Champion Class conformation competition in the United Kennel Club (UKC), as
well as conformation and ranch trials in the National Association of Louisiana Catahoulas (NALC),
and is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. He has served as Judge for conformation
and obedience competition in the NALC.
Trainer & Canine
Communication Specialist
Training With Respect & Understanding
Debbie Butterfield McMurdie
Rally Practice - Novice
Competition