Rosie Higdon, owner and trainer for Hi-D-Ho, has been teaching dog obedience classes since 1985. She started her teaching career when she was 16 years old and has been teaching something ever since. She trained her first dog by attending local obedience classes in 1976. Rosie's teaching career in dogs began by participating in the apprentice program for dog obedience instructors with the New River Valley Kennel Club. Rosie taught for the Kennel Club for four years. Rosie has been teaching for the Christiansburg Parks and Recreation Department since 1986. Rosie continues her own education by attending and participating in dog training seminars and workshops, the Association for Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and seminars related to teaching people.
Rosie competes with her golden retrievers, Autumn and Annie, in the dog sports of agility, flyball, obedience, field and tracking. Together they have earned titles in obedience (CD, CDX and RN), agility (AX, AXJ and MXJ), tracking (TD), field (JH and WC) and flyball (FM). She is also working on freestyle routines with each of her dogs.