About Us

Get to know the team behind DYD!

Heidi Benson
Owner & Training Director | Private Lesson Instructor | Class Instructor | Barn Hunt

Heidi was born into a family of canine professionals and shared their passions: Her Mother was prominent breeder & exhibitor of German Shepherds and Rottweilers for many years, was a founding member of New England Rottweiler Fanciers; President of the Bay State German Shepherd Dog Club and managed the family's large boarding and training facility. Her Father was the first training director of the Boston Police K9 Unit & helped institute K9 programs for 43 other police departments around the United States; founder of the North American Police Working Dog Association and was Vice President of the United States Police Canine Association.


Needless to say her youth was spent either at the end of the leash or on the back of one of her horses. She titled her first dog in obedience at age 12 & put the first championship points on a parents dog at 15.

After years of assisting under her father in classes, service dog, personal protection & police training as well as their school for professional trainers, she struck out on her own. With an initial focus on family dog training, re-schooling rescue dogs and coaching obedience competitors, she has instituted training programs & worked with students from New England to the Carolina's under her own business for the past 27 years.


After moving to the Westerly area in 2015, her long term goal became clear – to create a training center that offered all the wonderful sports & activities available to dog lovers and encourage people to do more with their dog.

In 2021, she teamed up with former client Shady Stanley and Discover Your Dog! Opened its doors to an enthusiastic and welcoming community!


The director of a herding breed rescue she founded in the 90's, she has a special love & understanding of the working breeds. Her teaching methods are eclectic and all encompassing – drawing on a variety of proven methods with the knowledge that not one style suits all students and the method should be fit to the dog, not ever forcing a dog to one single minded method.

Continuing education is a priority for Heidi and throughout the year she attends seminars, enrolls in courses involving canine behavior, nutrition & biology and regularly participates and takes the lead in peer discussion groups. Most importantly, she knows that there is always something new to be learned every day and learning is always easier in a fun atmosphere.


In her 'off' time, Heidi is almost always found training/competing with her dogs in Rally, Obedience, Barn Hunt, Disc Dog, Dock Diving, Herding, Scentwork, Coursing, FastCAT's or in the Conformation ring. She has earned numerous titles in various sports over the years, but the one she values the most is the title of Best Friend to her four legged family.

Shady Stanley
Owner & DayCamp Director

Shady Stanley is co-founder of Discover Your Dog. She can normally be found in the front office, surrounded by several of her furry assistants. A native of Georgia, she and her husband Craig relocated to Rhode Island in 2017.

With the change of scenery she found herself looking to make other life changes as well. After raising 5 children, running several family businesses and a very long and fulfilling career as a Paramedic she decided to pursue a dream of her own and work with animals. Being an animal lover since a child, rescuing strays, caring for and keeping quite a menagerie of wild and domestic animals over the years she has always had several trusty companions by her side. Her love for these dogs set the stage for her to embark on this new adventure.

Along with her love for spending time with her family, the outdoors and fishing, she has now come to enjoy working with her 4 dogs participating in many dog sports including Disc games, FastCat, Barn Hunt, and ScentWork.

Her goal now is to continue to build her skills and education so she can help create a place where dogs and their owners can come to strengthen their bond, learn, play and live their best lives ever!

Shayla Keena

DayCamp Team Leader

Shayla works tirelessly in keeping our DayCamp running smoothly and our Campers happy. Those who have met her know she always has a smile on her face and has an infectious laugh. Her happy demeanor translates to happy dogs as they ALL love being around her as much as she loves being around them.

Shayla came to us after working for a year at a boarding and daycare facility where she was assistant manager. She has a natural knowledge of canine body language and understanding of behavior.

During her free time she goes on adventures with her own 6 dogs, who include a Great Pyrenees and Australian Cattle Dog.

Chandler Moyer

Camp Counselor

Chandler is one of our full time Camp ‘Counselors’ and has been working with animals since she was a child, as she grew up on a farm. She has 9 dogs of her own (3 bulldogs, 2 corgis, 2 pitbulls, a rottweiler, and a shepherd/husky!) and a house pig who thinks she's a dog. She has a keen eye for detail, has a wonderful, natural way with the Camp dogs and fits into our program seamlessly.

She loves studying animal behavior and training. In her free time she likes to hike and paint portraits. Chandler has also been an Allstar cheerleader for 17 years and has competed at the ESPN televised world championships.

Christine Seibert

Class Instructor: Obedience, Agility, Tricks, Rally

Chris began her journey with dogs in her early 20’s, competing with the many different breeds that she has owned over the years. She owned a grooming business for 15 yrs as well as worked at Delmyra kennel for 15 yrs as kennel manager, groomer & trainer.

Training professionally since 1995, Chris now competes in a variety of sports with her dogs Bodhi & Journey in Rally, Obedience, Agility, Barn Hunt, Scentwork & Tracking. Chris runs many of our group classes and has been with us from our opening in 2021. If you want to dip your toe into a sport or training, she’s the go-to gal!

Away from the training classroom, Chris is also certified in human reflexology as well as small animal reflexology, massage & Reiki.

Sage Rainier

Class Instructor: Puppy, AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, CGC, CGCA

Sages’ methodology as a dog trainer lies solely in maintaining, rekindling, and strengthening the relationship between you and your dog, with an understanding that dog ownership is not always rainbows and butterflies. It can be frustrating, demanding, and draining especially when you are dealing with reactivity or other behavioral issues. Her goal is not only to assist you in training your dog but have you leaving sessions thinking more like a dog trainer yourself. Learning about your dog and their behavior while practicing effective communication techniques to help you lead a better life as a team.

Sage leads our Canine Good Citizen, Community Canine (CGCA), STAR puppy and our Puppy Preschool classes. She has a passion for helping new dog owners get off to a great start and you will love the diversity of her classes! In her spare time, she spends time with her own dogs as well as assists her mom with their rescue, Chasing Sunshine Dog Rescue.

Jen Anderson

Class Instructor: Scentwork, Fit Dog, CGCU

Jen is an animal trainer and teacher with 30+ years of experience in canine, equine, avian (raptor) and small animal training and rehabilitation. Jennifer has an UG degree SUNY New Paltz in Physical and Applied Geography with Minors in Chemistry/Botany and a Master’s in Environmental and Community Planning from the URI. A Spring 2013 graduate of the FBI New Haven Division Civilian Academy she has continued study in Forensics and Forensic Anthropology and integrates these disciplines into her application of the chemical and physical properties of scent theory, meteorology, topography and human and animal behavior.

Jen is a 2006 certified canine search specialist with the State of Rhode Island Search and Rescue Team task forces and member of the Rhode Island Canine Search and Rescue team (RICSAR), a Canine SAR team. She has certified and deployed with 6 canine partners since 2000 and currently works with her canine partners and family members, Ryder, Finn, and her newest recruit Bellamy - all Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. Jen’s working partners are also CGC and Therapy certified.

Jen is an Urban Rubble and Wilderness Instructor with the International Police Work Dog Association (IPWDA); National Search and Rescue Association (NASAR) Tracker I, SARTECH II and National Ski Patrol I and II certified deployable technician.

Her public/private training programs include: AKC CGC, Star Puppy and tracking /trailing, AKC Scent Work, ATT and Farm Dog Judge; scent discrimination and nose work craft, Core Fitness work, obedience in drive, agility, shaped tasks (service oriented animals), isolation and reduction/removal of undesirable behaviors (biting, destruction of property) and search and rescue.