Meet our Trainers
Olga Chaiko
Olga Chaiko is a world-class agility competitor, highly skilled dog trainer, UKI judge, and
insightful and detailed instructor.
She has been involved in agility for decades and was the 2006 IFCS World Champion with her
border collie, MACH6 ADCH Luz, LAA-Platinum. With her border collie NAC MACH Yankee,
she won the BCC European Championship in 2008 and AKC National Agility Championship in
2009.
Her course curriculum is informed by current trends across many agility organizations, both
domestic and international, and her understanding of canine behavior. She presents unique
techniques and solutions tailored to each individual dog/handler team in an engaging and fun
way. Olga has been teaching for VHOC since 2015.
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Patti Rovtar
Animals have been one of the richest parts of Patti's life, from her very first pet, Applesauce the guinea pig, to her very first horse, Smokey and her beloved Rottweilers past and present - Luna, Chili, and Pippi. She has treasured them all. Amongst family dogs, kitties, hamsters, birds, fish, and yes, even reptiles, she grew up with a great respect and admiration for the natural world and the life with animals that our world brings with it.
After raising her kids with horses, Patti became involved in dog sports when she came home with a Rottie puppy that really, really needed a job to do. While Patti had extensive experience in the world of horses with both competition and teaching, she had not yet trained a dog to a competitive level. Then along came Chili. She was game for anything Patti came up with and really asked for the structure and engagement that formal canine activities offered. So Patti gave it to her and received a gift she didn't see coming.....the camaraderie and encouragement of the competitive obedience community and the ability to compete at a national level with dogs that she loves to her core.
Chili and Patti participated in rally, agility, and obedience. Rally was a great introduction to obedience for them as it taught them to work in pieces and then to put those pieces together into a cohesive whole. Agility taught them how to trust and work independently while also together as a team, and those experiences really came together for them in competitive obedience. Chili loved doing stuff and obedience satisfied her needs, from foundation and structure to the joys of run and jump that the upper levels of obedience offered. This was a great game for her and she loved all of it. Chili and Patti achieved Top 10 rankings in the American Rottweiler Club every year from the start of her obedience career, and continued on to earn multiple High in Trial and High Combined. They earned invitations to the AKC Obedience Classic and the year they were able to travel to Orlando Chili and Patti placed 11th in Master's Obedience out of a group of 55 national level competitors. Patti couldn't have been more proud of her if she tried! Chili retired at age 11 with 59 OTCH points and 7 years of participation in the sport.
Patti's current dog, Pippi (called the Little Red Corvette by her breeder) came into the game peeling rubber! While very different in temperament than Chili, the lessons Patti learned from Chili translated very well for Pippi, with some thoughtful adaptations that suited Pippi's personality better. Pippi and Patti first competed through Rally Excellent, earning an invitation to the Rally National Championship, prior to competing in formal obedience. Pippi earned her obedience titles from Companion Dog through Utility in 7 months, crowning her achievement with a High in Trial at the 2017 Rottweiler National Specialty for her 3rd leg in Utility A. Pippi and Patti have gone on together to achieve many High in Trial and High Combined awards, along with multiple invitations to Westminster Master's Obedience, AKC National Obedience Classic, and the AKC National Obedience Championship. They were featured in the Front and Finish Profile 200 for a highlight of their work together, a perfect 200 score in Utility B. Pippi earned her OTCH in May of 2019 and earned her OTCH2 five months later in November of 2019. Pippi has been in the Top 10 rankings in the American Rottweiler Club every year she has competed, and is the #1 Rottweiler in both Open and Utility for ARC, and for the Front and Finish Delaney ratings, and is the #1 Rottweiler in AKC Obedience for 2019. Pippi and Patti made the national list of the Top 100 Obedience dogs for 2019. Patti is still in awe of Pippi's achievements.
These achievements are absolutely due to establishing a strong foundation prior to entering a trial ring, and consistently revisiting foundation on a regular basis. Dogs naturally seek a relationship with us and if we listen to them and offer the understanding and education they need as individuals we can reach our moon, however that is defined for us, as a team. These are the concepts Patti strives to share with those new to competitive obedience.
Melissa Casanova
Melissa has been training and working with dogs for over 20 years. During that time, she has worked in shelters, rescues, dog boarding/training facilities, and has run her own business. Melissa enjoys training all dogs, from puppies to adults, and specializes in behavioral issues. Melissa is a CNWI, NACSW trial judge and a professional handler and trainer for Narcotics dogs and handlers. She has worked and trained several different breeds for Narcotics work, conservation work, and plays with her own dogs at NACSW trials. Melissa truly enjoys watching dogs and their partners work together, and has coached many teams to achieve various personal victories.
Jinny Chow
Jinny Chow is the head trainer at Infiniti Dog Training, which offers group classes
in scent work and rally.
Jinny has been training dogs for more than 40 years, and has trained and competed
in agility, obedience, rally, barn hunt, and fast cat, in addition to scent work. Jinny
began taking scent work classes in 2010 with her Sheltie Jasmine, under Michael and
Natalie McManus, of Ready, Sit, Go and the two quickly fell in love with the sport.
Jinny has been fortunate to be able to study with Jill Marie O’Brien, Ron Gaunt, Amy
Herot, Pete Stevens, and John Rogerson, among others. She was also very involved in
therapy dog work with Jasmine and visited regularly at Children’s Hospital Los
Angeles, Shriners Hospital, and St. John’s Medical Center.
Jinny is now training and competing in scent work with her Papillons, Shocker and
Lexie, and her Mini Poodle, Liam, and the newest member of the pack, Toy Poodle Izy,
will be starting her scent work journey and will be out competing next year. Jinny
and Liam have also begun trialing in obedience and rally.
Jinny began teaching scent work at Action Dog Sports in 2018 and has been teaching
at Bonn Fyre Farm since 2022. Jinny teaches obedience and rally and was an
evaluator for Pet Partners for many years.