Hope Saidel is an accomplished author, dog trainer and teacher. She’s a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She loves training her dog (currently French Bulldog Torque, pictured). She also competes with him in AKC Obedience, Rally, and Agility. And Hope teaches Obedience classes for her local Obedience club. She is also an AKC-approved CGC (Canine Good Citizen) evaluator.
She and her sister Fran created the 2-Minute Trainer Method of dog training when it was clear that people want to train their dogs but don’t have time for hour-long training classes and training sessions. Hope and Fran have written 5 courses so far in the 2-Minute Trainer series.
Fran Saidel is an accountant by schooling but got out of that years ago. (Except for doing the books and taxes for her business.) She trains and competes with her dogs in Obedience, Rally and Agility. Fran teaches Rally to beginners at her local Obedience club and thinks the Rally Master class is huge fun. Fran came up with the idea of the Training and Competition Logs when she couldn’t find anything out there that she wanted to use herself.
Fran currently owns Tango, an 11-year-old Brussels Griffon who loves to practice Rally and tricks at home (he competed in Rally and Agility before retiring). Fran also has Booker, a 7-year-old Boston Terrier who competes in Obedience, Rally and Agility, and Simon, a 1-year-old Boston is getting started in his performance career. Fran wrote Tango: Transforming My Hellhound when Tango’s 11th birthday was coming close. Hardly anyone now believes that Tango was a reactive jerk when he was a puppy. (It’s true.)
Golly is the inspiration for Golly Gear, Hope’s and Fran’s bricks & mortar and online shop, specializing in practical, fun and affordable things for small dogs. Golly was a smooth Brussels Griffon and our first entry into dog sports. She was Fran’s very first performance dog and received her CD (Companion Dog) title before retiring.