Meet Canine Trade Group – Music City Dog Training’s exclusive support team
John Van Olden – President/CEO – Canine Trade Group
John is a recognized and respected member of the canine professional community, and the president of Canine Trade Group. He started the company in 2010 to provide professional development, peer support, administrative, marketing and back office support for an exclusive network of invited professional dog trainers, who are all highly successful, independent, business owners.
His more than 30 years of experience began in the military and continued to grow as he started the very first dog training franchise in the country, K-9 Advantage, becoming one of the earliest members of the International Association of Canine Professionals, eventually serving on their Board of Directors.
Cristin Ellis – Operations Manager
Officially, Cristin is Canine Trade Group’s Operations Manager. Unofficially, she’s so much more than that. Cristin has an extensive background in training dogs for agility competitions, earning two Master Agility Championship (MACH) and attending two AKC National Agility Championships as well as numerous other titles.
Her total experience adds up to about ten years of competition training and plenty of time spent around dogs. But she didn’t quit there—Cristin also decided to educate herself more on the behavioral aspect of dog training, and, after seeing how a few techniques from Canine Trade Group trainers helped her own dog with his territorial tendencies, she became a firm believer in the CTG programs.
Dr. Karen Usselman V.M.D. – On Staff Veterinarian Consultant
Dr. Usselman is originally from western New York, attended Cornell University and then the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine in Philadelphia. She graduated in 1996 and joined Brenford Animal Hospital in May 1996. She is currently a partner with the practice.
Dr. Usselman enjoys working with dogs and cats. She is particularly interested in internal medicine, ultrasonography, behavior and dentistry. She serves as the treasurer of the Delaware Veterinary Medical Association and has taught in the Delaware Technical College Vet Tech program. Dr. Usselman is married to Dr. Jeff Booth and has two children, three dogs and a cat to keep her busy at home.
