Mailing Address for Donations: PO Box 1047, Pleasanton, Texas 78064
Our Canine Facilitator Program Team
Chaplain Allison Hanscom, Board Liaison
Allison, a Chicagoland native, has been involved in the dog therapy world with her Golden Retriever Lucas since 2016, and a member of Canines for Christ since 2022. She helped start and currently leads the C4C Chicagoland/NW Indiana chapter. She and her husband Doug have been married 45 years and have two daughters, two grandsons, and a granddaughter. Allison is a musician and private piano instructor, having taught hundreds of students over the last forty-plus years. She is also a dedicated volunteer since 2013 at a local animal shelter, where she trains and socializes dogs, getting them ready to go into loving homes.
Allison is grateful to be part of the Canines for Christ ministry because it allows her to integrate her love for Jesus, her passion for people, and her delight in dogs in a way that blesses others and glorifies God. Allison feels that every day is a gift - to live each day with love in one’s heart, praise on one’s lips, and gratitude in one’s soul is the essence of true joy.
Chaplain Jill Marie Chambers, C4C Lead Trainer
Jill Marie has always had a "way" with animals. Her father always told her that both her ability with animals and her deep love for them was a gift from God. When she was about nine or ten her Dad asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said that she wanted to know everything there was to know about animals. Her Dad said, "to do that you first have to learn about who created them." Then he handed her a Bible. Jill Marie read it cover to cover and that same year, around Christmas time she prayed "God, if you are real and you love me, we will have snow for Christmas." That night it snowed about three feet! She has been a believer ever since.
As a dog trainer she tries to remain humble and never say that she knows it all. Jill Marie is always trying to add to her current skills and looks for better ways of doing things. She has studied dog language and behavior, dog nutrition, and holistic healing practices. She often says that her skills as a dog trainer are reflected by the awards her dog, Cookie, has earned. And Cookie has earned quite a bit! She has also taught Jill Marie to be a better trainer as the "usual methods" hardly worked with her!
One of the main ingredients of Jill Marie's recipe for dog training is developing a relationship built on trust and mutual respect. She will help you understand what your dog is saying through body language and how you can "speak dog" by using your body. Dogs' primary way of communicating is through body language. Understanding what your dog is "saying" will help develop a more trusting relationship. This relationship building will help your training efforts, as well as help to alleviate any anxiety your dog may be experiencing. One big area she feels is a great help to your relationship is there should be a measure of "cross" training in each relationship. What she means is you should be doing alternative activities with your dogs such as trick training, barn hunt, agility, nose work, doggie freestyle dance, hiking or even mountain biking with your dog, etc.
Jill Marie also feel that exercise and nutrition should be looked at, as lack of, or improper exercise can result in multiple behavior issues and anxiety. Sometimes a walk around town just isn't enough! Nutritional deficiencies can also lead to behavior issues and anxiety. Most of all she feels training your dog should be FUN!
Lisa Gainer, C4C Team Trainer
Lisa, a life-long resident of Brewton, Alabama, her husband, Allen and their Toy Poodle, Lily work with C4C in south Alabama and Northwest Florida visiting children, the elderly, and make rounds at Baptist Hospital, where Lily is a celebrity! Together, they have represented C4C at various speaking engagements and Lisa has lead training workshops for interested chapters and at the C4C International Conference in San Antonio. Lisa is a graduate of Victoria Stilwell Positive Dog Training Academy and a CPDT-Knowledge Assessed Trainer (nationally certified). To earn this certification, a trainer must meet experience requirements, document their hours, and pass a comprehensive knowledge-based exam covering topics such as learning theory, canine ethology, and training techniques. As an AKC Evaluator, she offers CGC (All levels) and titles in Puppy Manners and Trick Dog (All levels).
She is active in her local chapter and leads training sessions for those teams and is a Temperament Test Evaluator for C4C. Lisa has trained dogs for 20 years but has been professionally training dogs as The Barkeologist since 2020. When she retired in 2020 from a small community college in south Alabama-after twenty-seven years of teaching history- Lisa built an in-home private training business that now boasts 100s of clients. As a trainer she specializes in teaching basic manners and novice and intermediate tricks. She also helps owners manage and eradicate nuisance behaviors and is particularly skilled at managing resource guarding and separation distress.
Lisa is especially fond of puppies and Poodles!
Lisa and Allen are active in their church, East Brewton Global Methodist.
Lily, who is only two years old, has earned six AKC titles.
Chaplain Amanda Haas, C4C Team Trainer
Amanda has been working with dogs for almost 30 years. She owns Animal Magnetism, they offer training, boarding and grooming. It's has been her main job since 1996.
She was a firefighter EMT for 17 years and learned scent work with her partner, Joe Bracamonte in the fire service and his arson k-9's. Amanda has two children, one of which passed away February 6, 2022. He was a firefighter/EMT as well.
Her daughter works with her in our business. She has been married for 31 years to a man that loves God as much as she does. They have six dogs, two of which are therapy dogs for Canines 4 Christ, one in training to be a therapy dog when Bindi retires, a feral dog which was a failed foster, a chihuahua/corgi that thinks she's feral, and a bulldog /pittie mix that scents water leaks.
Amanda is also a 4H leader and helps run the canine club on her late son's lot. She also works with her local Humane Society and Animal Control to take dogs that were considered unadoptable because of behavioral issues and gets them trained and in the appropriate homes.
Chaplain Kelly Corl, C4C Team Trainer
Kelly Corl is the owner of Walk by Faith Dog Training
She has 15 plus years’ experience teaching AKC S.T.A.R. puppy class, agility and Manners classes. She is a CGC evaluator through AKC. She is the founding member Keystone Canines for Christ as well as a Chaplain for C4C.
Kelly enjoys competing and participating in all types of dog sports from AKC and ASCA agility, barn hunts, rally, obedience, dock diving, scent work, trick dog training, shed hunting, parkour, big game recovery and even sheep herding. Since 2014, Kelly and the four dogs she has owned over the years have earned over 70 American Kennel Club, Australian Shepherd Club of America, and Do More with Your Dog titles.
Her Aussie, Hannah, earned her Elite Performer trick title – the highest trick dog title awarded by AKC and was recognized as an outstanding performance at the inaugural 2019 Trick Dog National Competition. Her Labrador, Roscoe was a 2020 Rally National qualifier. Kelly’s youngest Labrador, Victory, earned 17 AKC titles in 5 different venues before the age of 4 years. Victory is her Canines for Christ therapy dog ministry partner. Kelly and Victory are also part of the Canine Ambassador program thru AKC.
Kelly is a licensed psychotherapist and her training in the field of behaviorism affords her an advanced understanding of the science behind drivers to behaviors and theories of learning as well as helping people connect with their canine partners relationally.
In 2016, Kelly was the Altoona Area Kennel Association’s Good Sportsman of the year. Kelly served on the Board of Directors at AAKA from 2015 to 2019 and has done several presentations at the AAKA club’s monthly meetings including one on pet grief and another on various types of service dogs.
Kelly has continued to enroll in courses regarding dog training topics from trainers around the world. She believes a good teacher is always learning. Kelly is a Certified Canine Enrichment Technician and CGC Evaluator.