About Us

Retired co-founders Maureen Bennett, Angela Ross and Sharon Owsley brought over twenty-five years of combined experience in service dog training to the program. Their combined experience in dog breeding, early puppy socialization, service dog training, and graduation from programs where the disabled train their own service dog created the foundation for IDEA Service Dogs.

Maureen and many of our other board members and volunteers also have personal experience with the challenges of living with a disability. The need for affordable access to service dogs drove their desire to design IDEA to become one of the only owner trained service dog schools in the metroplex.

As the school has grown, we had been fortunate to continue to add to our all-volunteer staff. This group includes certified professional dog trainers, experts in marketing and finance, information technology volunteers, and persons experienced in multiple areas of early puppy socialization and ongoing canine care. Our current president Alice took over in 2024 to help continue the legacy of what the founders envisioned for IDEA Service Dogs. We continue to provide affordable training options for those who need a mobility or medical response service dog.

Board of Directors

Alice Church – President

Alice is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Biomedical Science. She is also a certified dog trainer through Karen Pryor Academy and the CCPDT.

She began training dogs in 2014 when she discovered her hidden talent and made a career change to follow her passion. Since then, she has trained everything from chihuahuas to alpacas. In her free time, she loves to do UKC Nosework competitions, Crossfit, and attend anime conventions. She lives in Keller with her family and two german shepherds.

Barb Gadola –
Vice-President and Director of Training

Barb is a professional and certified dog trainer that assists IDEA by providing hands-on training for our student teams. She also assists with curriculum planning, identifying and maintaining our video library, canine behavior and training advances, equipment evaluation, puppy enrichment techniques and puppy temperament evaluation.

She and her husband live on a small farm in north Fort Worth with a variety of animals. Barb’s undergraduate degree is in education with graduate work in behavioral psychology. She enjoys spinning alpaca fleece when she is not training dogs.

Rachel Black –
Secretary and Assistant Director of Training

Rachel is another dog trainer who helps assist our team, students, and learners with various skills. She assists with foundational skills, cooperative care techniques, and specific assistance skills for service animals.

She received her BFA in 2015, and then worked as a Veterinary Technician until 2020. She also attended CATCH dog training academy and is working on her certificate. This experience, and along with the help of an incredible mentor, led to her discovering the wonderment of training dogs. She and her partner live in Denton with their “Staffordshire Terrier”, Taz.

Karen Frueh – Treasurer

Karen is a Certified Professional Pet Sitter and has operated her own pet services business since 2013.  Besides providing a superior level of pet care to her customers, Karen is passionate about pet nutrition and dog training.  She has been a volunteer with IDEA Service Dogs since 2020.

Karen has 25+ years management level experience in Operations, Risk Management and Project Management for the Service and Banking industries. She was raised in the Midwest and attended the University of Missouri (Columbia and St Louis). Karen relocated to Texas in 2005 and lives in North Fort Worth.

Sean Stolz – Director of Operations

Sean is a retired Naval Aviator who spent 20 years flying cargo for the navy in helicopters and multiple types of aircraft.  He has trained his family dogs over the years but became more interested in the science of training and positive reinforcement after adopting his Australian Shepard Remi in 2021.

He started volunteering with IDEA in 2022 and continues to widen his dog training knowledge and improve his handling skills.  His other hobbies include baking, traveling, and hiking.

Debbie Schwartz – Director

Coming soon!

Honorable Mention

Maureen Bennett – Retired Founding President

Maureen is one of the co-founders of IDEA. She lead our board of directors and managed the administrative and financial aspects of the school for over 15 years. She frequently provides community education about assistance dogs, the government protections for persons with disabilities, and how service dogs can assist with the challenges of daily living. Maureen’s own disabilities took her from a corporate executive career in operations and program management to her current passion of assistance dog training and non-profit organizations. Her formal education includes a degree in Business Management and Accounting from California State University – Fullerton. She and her husband live in Denton with two golden retrievers; one is Maureen’s retired service dog and the other is her current one. They also have two grown sons who are married and live in the DFW area. We honor her today by continuing the training mission she created.

 

Volunteer Opportunities

We are grateful to the many volunteers who also assist the school in many areas, including dog training and handling, graphic arts, fundraising and many other skills. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us for more information.