Our Team
Meet our favorite people - educated, experienced, and assembled to meet the needs of your favorite canine.
The Crew
Wendy Kelly & Bandit
Our owner, Wendy Kelly, has a wonderful backstory of love, devotion, and hard work leading to success in dog training.
As a five year old observing her mother training a German Shepherd, something clicked -- and by age six, she had saved up to purchase her own dog, Princess, with money she earned. At age six! Soon, the happy pair would find themselves entering dog shows and winning for obedience, tricks, even costumes... Wendy was hooked.
By age ten, she had become the Presdient of the local 4-H dog club with her second dog, Ladybelle, and the ribbons were stacking up. She worked daily with her dog and read every dog book she could and participated in dog training clinics to improve her training skills -- and boy, did she ever!
Traveling the southeast to participate in various dog shows allowed her to compete against professional trainers and adult dog owners while she was still a teen, often winning. In fact, four of her dogs ranked nationally in the top 10 of their breed. Her dogs excelled at a variety of skills, such as obedience, sheepherding trials, tracking, tricks...and pet therapy, while in its infancy. It's interesting to note that most of her prize winning pets were breeds she adopted that were known to be difficult to train; she doesn't shy away from a challenge.
Knoxville provided the home base for her dog training schools since 1983. She currenrtly owns and operates Wendy's Canine Training with a foundation of decades of dog expertise.
Her current dog, Bandit, is a tripaw she encountered at the local shelter. He had been injured by a car and abandoned by his family...but along came Wendy.. His recovery has been amazing and he even completed beginner obedience class during recovery.
Anna McAndrews & Hank
Anna McAndrews is a third-generation dog trainer and the world of the canines is like a second language to her. Eventually, she made it her profession.
In middle and highschool, she competed in the 4-H dog club competitions with her family's dogs at the state level. Her dogs, Mac and Thunder, have earned multiple AKC titles. In 2022, Anna and her dog, Sparky, placed 1st three times and 3rd one time allowing Sparky to earn his AKC Novice Rally title.
Since 2016, Anna has been one of Wendy's Canine Training canine professionals teaching classes such as Beginner, Canine Good Citizen, Trick, and Therapy Dog Classes. Intense two week Board and Train sessions were another service she offered.
She can't deny that her favorite part of being a trainer is coaching individuals with disabilities in the training of their own service dog. Anna loves working with kids and adults alike and finds nothing more rewarding than helping them to facilitate the bond of a dog and handler team.
In 2022, Anna married David McAndrews, and together they pooled their many talents to start Knox Service Dogs. It's been a wonderful journey thus far. Carefullly chosen pups (like Hank) are evaluated, trained, and then connected to individuals who need service dogs. The job continues as she trains the human part of the team the job of a service dog owner and how they can work together to provide for their specific needs.
That handsome doodle is our sweet Hank. Exciting news! Hank already has a match with his boy, Bill. With excellent training, Hank is ready to serve. We can't wait to see that relationship blossom.
Cheryl Massey & Cosmo
Joining us in 2019, Cheryl Massey has many years of experience in training dogs and all types of animals. Her own journey as a lifelong dog owner has opened doors, too. Big and small, her family has loved them all: Chihuahuas, Labs, Beagles, Airedales, German Shepherds, Poodles, Terriers, and a variety of magnificent mutt mixes have shared her home.
Along the way, she obtained insight to many different dog personalities, characteristics — and problems. Her passion for pets drives her pursuit of solutions to canine problems and the desire to help others love and enjoy their pets.
As a retired nurse and teacher, she is now finding a new way to assist others by helping dog owner's navigate the path from problem to solution. This desire to serve people led Cheryl to therapy dog work with her own favorite little dog, Daisy. Daisy was a severely abused rescue who had lost sight in one eye due to a head injury. Her fear was crippling, but with patience, she was able to gain confidence through training. Now, in additon to being a certified therapy dog, Daisy holds several AKC Obedience Titles including the AKC Canine Good Citizen, AKC Urban Canine Good Citizen, AKC Advanced Canine Good Citizen, and AKC Novice Trick Dog.
This year, she added another member to the family: Cosmo, a Standard Poodle. Cosmo helps with demonstrations in her classes while he continues to train. He has earned his AKC Obedience Certifications for Star Puppy, Canine Good Citizen, Urban Canine Good Citizen, Advanced Canine Good Citizen, and Novice Trick Dog. Cosmo is also a certified therapy dog with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and makes regular visits around Knox County.
Michele Wong
Every business needs "behind the scenes" staff and we are so grateful to have Michele Wong.
If you asked Michele what her favorite place to visit was, you’d have insight into her heart. It’s zoos! She is an animal lover through and through, but fortunately for us - she also loves to help people. Michele keeps the communication flowing and the trainers up to date.
In 1991, a scare with her first dog, Atteka, brought her to Wendy’s Canine Training as a client. Atteka had escaped and ran across a busy road. Training becomes so important when you realize the risks to your pup.
Fortunately for us, she stayed on as Office Manager until she expanded her family with the birth of son, Alex, and daughter, Kate. Along the way, she established herself as a dog sitter with a little help from Wendy’s family. Once you fall in love with dogs, it’s hard to walk away from it.
Fast-forward to 2022, and Michele is back with us as our home-based office assistant.
Recently, Michele lost her dear dog, B. J., pictured here. It’s a hard truth we all know when we invite pets into our home: the day may come when we have to say goodbye to them. Five rescued cats await at home to help her during this sad time…and a whole team of trainers waiting for the next pup to appear.
We ARE a team.
A big thank you!
We're grateful to Kait for her sharing her talents.
Kait Kouns Photography
https://kaitkounsphoto.com
Contact kaitlynnmiller99@gmail.com