Our Instructors

Cherie Gessford

Oh, where did my story in dog training begin?  I guess it was my decision to own a purebred dog in 1988.  I had owned mixed breed dogs for years.  The breeder would only sell me the puppy I had my heart set on if I promised to enroll her in Basic Obedience.  The rest is history!  I was so impressed with the resulting connection and teamwork with my dog after that class that I kept taking more advanced classes.  Then I was asked to start helping teach the classes.  The next logical step was to join Sierra-Tuolumne Kennel Club.  Over the years I have taught Puppy, Basic Obedience, all levels of Rally and Agility.  My dogs and I have gone on to compete in Obedience, Conformation, Rally and Agility, with many, many championships to our names.

My passion in life has always been to teach, whether it is humans, mostly high school, or dogs!  So, it is my privilege to be an instructor for STKC.

Diana Rapa

Diana is a CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed), a Professional Member of the APDT (Association of Professional Dog Trainers), and an AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Evaluator. She continually researches and stays current on the most modern, science and reward based training methods.

She is also involved in performance dog sports with her personal rescue dogs. She has competed with four of her dogs in Agility (USDAA and ASCA), as well Disc Dog, Barn Hunt, Nosework, Rally, and RallyFree.

Diana started teaching obedience dog training and puppy classes in Morgan Hill, CA in 2012.

Her passion is not only in rehabilitating shelter dogs, but also teaching pet parents the canine language, so that pet parents can better understand and communicate with their dogs to develop a great, compassionate, fun, and positive relationship with their dogs.

Diana has also trained two of her K9’s in Search and Rescue – area live find, HRD, and trailing.