Canine Camp Getaway’s head agility instructor Marcia Boxenbaum has been working with dogs for more than two decades. An avid dog sport enthusiast, she frequently competed in agility and rally obedience with her two (now retired) English cocker spaniels: Vegas, her performance dog (also a certified Therapy Dog), and Snickers, her Grand Champion show dog.
Marcia began her agility career in 1999 with Oliver, her American Cocker Spaniel in hopes of reducing his anxiety problems. Bitten by the agility bug, Marcia and Oliver continued agility classes and began competing in 2003. Having found her passion, she began studying agility under top trainers from all over the East Coast. Before long, she was working as an assistant agility teacher at Best Friend’s Dog Training, where she spent several years learning the “teaching ropes.”
Marcia has taught numerous classes in agility, rally, attention training and obedience. In agility, she has competed in AKC, USDAA, NADAC and CPE, and has competed in rally obedience in AKC and APDT. She and Snickers earned their CPE “C-ATCH” in agility in 2017 before he retired in 2018 due to an injury.
In addition to her training on the field, she continues to attend a variety of agility, obedience and other dog related seminars from top instructors. She attends dozens of dog events, shows and competitions annually, and has spoken at various dog shows and events in the tri-state area including the NJ-based Fido’s Festival USA, which drew 10,000+ people. She volunteers teaching an obedience class for the 4-H in hopes that she can introduce more young people to the sport. She is an AKC CGC evaluator, Tricks evaluator and Temperament evaluator, and an Agility Course Test evaluator.
But while dog sports are her milieu, Marcia is equally well known for her home made dessert creations, which run the gamut from intricately designed chocolate agility courses and other edible dog-themed centerpieces to homemade peanut butter cups and rugalach, and which are star attractions at the parties and dog competitions she attends. In recent years, she began making equally delicious dog treats for her own extremely food-motivated dogs, as well as their canine friends, with a focus on healthy treats that allow her to keep her Grand Champion at his ideal weight.
When she’s not competing in the ring, she enjoys spending weekend trying out new dog treat recipes, with her faithful “taste testers” by her side.