Barbara L Lewis

Many years back, Oklahoma native Barbara Lewis acquired a Cairn Terrier to help fill her "empty nest." Attending training classes for her new dog, she enjoyed the process and began reading voraciously about dog training while attending workshops, seminars and conferences. She gravitated from obedience competition to volunteering as a therapy dog handler, but after a move to a rural home she started training dogs and conducting training classes. She later accepted a position with a national...See more

Many years back, Oklahoma native Barbara Lewis acquired a Cairn Terrier to help fill her "empty nest." Attending training classes for her new dog, she enjoyed the process and began reading voraciously about dog training while attending workshops, seminars and conferences. She gravitated from obedience competition to volunteering as a therapy dog handler, but after a move to a rural home she started training dogs and conducting training classes. She later accepted a position with a national agency placing service dogs in Oklahoma. After she helped start a dog-training program at an Oklahoma correctional facility, she and a small group formed the nonprofit agency A New Leash on Life in Norman, Okla., adding the training of therapy dogs and service dogs to the group's efforts. With her publication of Successful Working Dogs, she hopes to promote more successful service and therapy dogs in communities nationwide. See less