BEST PAW FORWARD, INC.
1835 Oak Haven Plantation Rd.
Osteen FL 32764-8872
407-321-1006 www.bestpaw.com bestpaw@iag.net
P.J. Lacette has been training dogs and people for 35 years. When her first Irish setter destroyed its third couch P.J.'s husband Larry demanded that something be done about those dogs. P.J. took Erin, a sweet, rowdy, destructive Irish setter, to an obedience class and has been involved in dog training ever since. Erin was the first of a number of P.J.'s nationally-ranked obedience dogs (Irish setters and flat-coated retrievers), as well as champions and dogs with agility rankings and sporting field titles.
Twenty five years ago P.J. and training school partner Sandy Guy started Best Paw Forward Inc. for private and group dog training. Sandy has retired due to poor health and P.J. now runs the full-time operation on 10 acres in Osteen in Volusia County as well as various area locations. The program features all facets of pet training: obedience, agility and conformation classes and workshops, as well as behavior problem solving including aggression counseling and workshops. We have offered this level of aggression work for family dogs longer than any other program in Florida.
Seminars presented by P.J. at Best Paw Forward and other clubs have covered a wide range of topics including scent articles, recalls, retrieving, training foster dogs, jumping for obedience and agility, weave poles, agility teeters and conformation, all from a clicker point of view. Best Paw has the longest running group clicker classes in the southeast U.S. and P.J. was one of the original trainers/instructors to become faculty members for Karen Pryor Academy, an advanced-level certification program for dog trainers who use positive methods. She has since dropped out of that organization to focus on her own new property and programs, including the start of Best Paw Forward Dog Sports Inc.
Her numerous television appearances have included Petsburgh U.S.A., Good Dog U, Ask the Vet, iVillage Live, That's My Dog and Way to Grow as well as countless t.v. news segments and programs. She was a consultant on and appeared on Zig & Zag Alpha Dog Challenge. Her dogs and cats, as well as those of her students, have also been featured in television and print ads, in movies and at conventions and trade shows.
Working for The Orlando Sentinel, a major newspaper, for 20 years helped maintain an early love for writing, and her by-line has appeared in dog publications such as the AKC Gazette and Setter Quarterly. Dog photography is another way P.J. enjoys her time with dogs and her photos have been featured in multiple national magazines and journals, including covers of the Flat-Coated Retriever Directory, the golden retriever national club magazine and an Irish setter calendar.
An early introduction to Ian Dunbar's positive training methods paved the way for quick acceptance of clicker training, and the establishment of the longest-running puppy classes in Florida catering specifically to puppies ages 8-20 weeks. Dunbar is also the founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, now the largest dog training organization in the world, and P.J. is charter member #15.
P.J. and Sandy heard Karen Pryor, Gary Wilkes and Sue Sternberg speak for the first time at an early APDT conference in Chicago and were instantly hooked. Before long, the clicker way was firmly ensconced in their Central Florida program.
P.J. has also volunteered or worked at nearly every APDT conference and at multiple Clicker Expos, and has attended literally hundreds of educational seminars before and since, proof that all roads lead to clicker. She was vice chair for the APDT conference committee in 2008 and continues to provide assistance to that committee.
She is also a member of the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors, and Best Paw Forward Inc. is a member of Dog Obedience Clubs of Florida.
