Tena Parker has been working with dogs for over 15 years. She earned her Master’s Degree in Education and her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology (with a “minor” in Physics, just for fun) from Sarah Lawrence College and is the head trainer for and owner of Success Just Clicks Dog Training. She is a nationally Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) with IAABC, a nationally Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) with CCPDT, is a member of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), is a Certified APDT C.L.A.S.S Evaluator (and instructor), is a Certified Trick Dog Instructor (CTDI) with DMWYD,  is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator, and is a Tester/Observer for Alliance of Therapy Dogs.

Tena finds continuing education vastly important in the ever-evolving world of dog training and attends seminars, conferences, expos, and participates in webinars and online classes often. She firmly believes that the book knowledge and hands on experiences she gains doing continuing education allows her to be an exceptionally effective trainer due to her ability to be creative with challenging situations.

Tena’s background in education has played a critical role in how she runs her classes, develops her curricula, and works with her individual students. Her deep understanding of how humans learn allows her to teach dog owners how to be very skilled trainers and teach them how to continue to help their dog. Students quickly learn that having fun is an important part of how she teaches classes and interacts with clients. If training is not enjoyable, it’s not likely to happen but if everyone involved enjoys the process, it’s much more likely to be worked on and refined.

Tena’s heart dog, and the reason SJC exists, Shayne, passed away in 2020. Shayne was an active competitor in multiple dog sports and competed in Rally O until she was 14 (she retired just a few months before she passed). 

Tena currently shares her life with four dogs— Rio, Oswin, Alfie, and Strax. Rio, Oswin, and Strax have competed in canine sport events throughout OH, NY, PA, CT, and MD—Rally-O, Obedience, Scent Work, Agility, Lure Coursing, and Barn Hunt.   All three have been extremely successful in World Cynosport Rally-O and have all made the national rankings several times. All of them have put down many perfect scores over the years, but the best compliments that Tena receives are how happy the dogs look to be working and how much fun they look to be having (along with those perfect scores and blue ribbons)! They have such an ever-growing list of accomplishments in their sports, that as soon as they are written here, they are practically out of date. 

Rio is a retired therapy dog and both Strax and Alfie have picked up where he left off and have been actively working as therapy dogs since things opened up from COVID restrictions. They traveled to St. Louis in 2022 to work as therapy dogs at the Parents of Murdered Children conference, have visited several local universities and a nursing home regularly.