Who We Are
Bert, President
Sarah, Vice President
Sarah, Vice President
A former professor of communication at Pepperdine University, Bert has shifted his expertise to improving relationships and communication between dogs and their handlers. After nearly a decade and a half of living in Canada, California, and China, he is glad to be home in Colorado, where he was raised and graduated from Colorado State Uni
A former professor of communication at Pepperdine University, Bert has shifted his expertise to improving relationships and communication between dogs and their handlers. After nearly a decade and a half of living in Canada, California, and China, he is glad to be home in Colorado, where he was raised and graduated from Colorado State University with his B.S from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver.
Bert grew up around a lot of different kinds of dogs, and his family has owned and raised many dogs over the years. In addition to expertise in communication (widely published on many different topics), Bert brings entrepreneurial and business management experience. You will always find him with his small (only 70 lbs!) Bernedoodle, Bihn An, next to him as they work together. When not helping with the family business of Dog Training, you will find him biking, hiking, camping, or trying to get some rest!
Sarah, Vice President
Sarah, Vice President
Sarah, Vice President
A former professor of communication at Pepperdine University, Sarah is pursuing a new passion! Especially passionate about the service dog programs DTE offers, she has seen first hand how the bond between dogs and people can help someone live more fully, especially with a well-trained service dog.
In addition to bringing communication and
A former professor of communication at Pepperdine University, Sarah is pursuing a new passion! Especially passionate about the service dog programs DTE offers, she has seen first hand how the bond between dogs and people can help someone live more fully, especially with a well-trained service dog.
In addition to bringing communication and counseling expertise and having dogs around her all of her life, Sarah grew up managing her family's business in Estes Park, Colorado. A true Colorado native, she is glad to be home among mountains and fresh air!
Sarah earned a B.S from Colorado State University, and M.A in counseling from Denver Seminary. Her companion, a Border Collie- Doodle ("bordoodle") Oso, is a huge cuddler and will always be there when someone needs a hug. Like Sarah, Oso is outgoing, positive, and enjoys bringing a smile to everyone's face!
Jennifer, Treasurer
Sarah, Vice President
Jennifer, Treasurer
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Site Content
Unique Scent Training for Service Dogs
Building on the work of John Mestas and KC Owens on scent training, which has primarily focused on alerting for Type I diabetes, Dog Training Elite Denver (DTED) has been successful in adapting the training method to train for alerts regarding epileptic and non-epileptic seizures, fainting spells, asthma attacks, histamine responses, migraines, food allergies, heart rate, blood pressure, hyper and hypo-glycemia, oxygen levels, Dissociative Identity Disorder alter switches, and even anxiety attacks.
In particular, given that Sarah and Adria Ballard, owner and advanced trainer at DTED respectively, struggle with multiple genetic disorders, DTED has cultivated a unique market and community related to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS, usually hypermobility), and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Please see medical research articles below for specific details.
For this disease cluster, presentation of symptoms often leave even doctors confounded, as no two individuals may present the same symptoms in the same way, and no two individuals may have the same causes for the same symptoms. You see, Sarah and Adria have MCAS; however, while Adria may have seizures that can last 30 seconds to 3 hours, Sarah experiences migraines and chronic pain akin to arthritis. Because of the uniqueness and relative newness of this diagnostic phenotype, individuals with this disease cluster and others like it can be on waiting lists to see medical experts for up to 4-5 years, and they likely have to visit multiple doctors involving multiple expertise (pain, cardiologist, internist, allergies, etc.) in multiple locations, usually in multiple states, to receive meaningful care.
In summary, due to nuanced, individualized, and complex factors of the MCAS, EDS, and POTS diagnostic phenotype, training a service dog for individuals with this and other unique conditions requires special attention to naming episodes, multiple medical causes, the customization of “fixing” it, the 75% rule, choosing a dog, and timing of scent and obedience training. Given the uniqueness of this situation, our current success with clients presenting these and similar comorbidities, and our expertise and experience in working with these types of individuals, the Center for Scent Service was created.
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