About Melissa Bishop, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA

Fun Pup Dog Sports in Fort Collins, Colorado, is the culmination of more than 25 years of experience training dogs, including eight of my own and hundreds of students’ dogs. Opening an agility facility has been a decades-long dream, and I’m excited to meet you and be a part of your agility story!

I began training dogs as a teenager, first in junior showmanship/conformation, and then in obedience. While living in Europe after college, I found and fell in love with the sport of dog agility. In addition to competing with my own dogs over the last 25+ years, I have enjoyed teaching agility, rally, canine manners, and tricks.

“I believe that clear communication is the key to excellent dog training. I strive to help handlers understand what their dogs tell them through body language and behavior. This knowledge can improve the relationship and teamwork between people and their dogs. I am a big believer that both the dog and the human part of the team should always be having fun!” – Melissa

I am a Certified Training Partner of the Karen Pryor Academy and a Certified Dog Training Professional—Knowledge Assessed through CCPDT. I have a TAGteach (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) Level 1 certification. Over the years, my dogs have earned four ADCH (agility dog championship) titles in USDAA. My dog Maybe placed 6th in Grand Prix at Cynosports in 2022, 8th in Biathlon in 2019, and won Masters Jumpers Dog of the Year at USDAA’s 2018 TitleMania. She recently earned USDAA’s Lifetime Achievement Award—Gold. She also earned her IAC and CSS (agility championship) titles in UKI in 2022. Pirate earned his ADCH in 2023 and has become a reliable, consistent, competitive agility teammate for me, including placing 3rd in Steeplechase Finals at the Rocky Mountain Regional in 2024.

I share my life with my husband, Stan, our two sons, and three dogs: Maybe, Pirate, and young Scallywag, as well as two cats. Prior to opening Fun Pup Dog Sports, I taught at Summit Dog Training in Fort Collins for four years. Before that, I taught agility at WOOFS! Dog Training Center in Arlington, Virginia, for six years and for the Fairfax County (Virginia) Park Authority for 12 years. Before becoming a full-time dog trainer, I served a 21-year career as a member of the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., retiring as a Senior Chief Musician. 

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