Meet our dedicated team

CEO and Co-Founder of New Hope Assistance Dogs, Inc., Barbara Ruhlman, has over 50 years experience with dogs, especially German Shepherd's, her breed of choice. Barb is a graduate of Krommerhaus Kennels Training School in Bethlehem, PA, where she was certified in Kennel Management, Schutzhund Training, Tracking, Police K-9, and Obedience. She is also a Search and Rescue graduate of the National K-9 School in Columbus, Ohio. She is a graduate of Cornell University in Solving Canine Behavioral Problems. She is certified in Pet First-Aid and Emergency dog care, in addition to being certified as a Master Groomer by the National Dog Groomers Association. She holds a certification as a Canine Drug Detection, Bomb

Detection, Water Search and Rescue, Mountaineering Rescue, Tracking, and Human Remains Detection Trainer. Mrs. Ruhlman has also received certification in Major Incident and Terrorism training from the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Terrorism Awareness center. She also trained with Julie Kliethermes from Dogs for the Deaf (now Dogs for Better Lives. These are just a handful of the certifications that Barb holds during her lifetime of working with dogs.

  Co-founder and lead trainer of the children’s department, Amy Bennett has over 25 years of experience training dogs and facilitating interactions with people who have special needs. She is a graduate of Bergin University of Canine Studies in Penngrove, CA. Upon graduation, Ms. Bennett returned home and partnered with her mentor, Mrs. Ruhlman, to establish New Hope Assistance Dogs, Inc., in Warren, PA.  Amy grew up living with multiple

dogs and as a child visited nursing homes with her pets and learned how pets were able to brighten the lives of people. She bought her first Golden Retriever, Shadow, at the age of 13 and trained him to be a Therapy Dog. Shadow was later certified through Delta Society as a Therapy Dog. Ms. Bennett became part of Animal Assisted Therapy Group, and pioneered a Therapy Dog Program at Jones Memorial Health Center in Jamestown, NY. All of this while still a high school student and training two more Therapy Dogs.

Amy then worked with Mrs. Ruhlman at Indian Ridge Training and Boarding Kennel, learning to train Search and Rescue dogs, and how to teach obedience classes. In a continuing effort to further her education, she attended numerous dog training seminars, classes, shows, demonstrations, and studied dog training, dog breeds, and animal behavior.  She has also worked at Oregon Trails Kennel as a kennel worker. She has extensive experience with whelping puppies, imprint training, puppy development, socialization, and basic through advanced Service Dog training.

 Bio coming soon!

  Cinda Tarr answered a New Hope ad for a volunteer to become puppy raiser in 2002. She chose Amber, a Golden/Lab cross breed to raise and train. She attended New Hope’s training classes twice a week, and began to help trainer, Amy with puppies that were having behavioral issues. After two years, Amber was placed with a client, but Ms. Tarr continued attending all the classes that were available to her and helped with other dogs that were at the facility. She also worked with Mrs. Ruhlman at her Indian Ridge Kennel and provided kennel care for the dogs at that facility.

For two years, Ms. Tarr not only took all the classes New Hope was able to provide, but she also purchased her own training manuals and studied on her own. She then became an assistant Service Dog Trainer under the direction of Co-founder Amy Bennett and was able to substitute whenever Ms. Bennett was unable to train. During this time, she also began working with Mrs. Ruhlman assisting her with Obedience Classes and with kennel chores. She learned bathing, grooming, and learned how to handle and work with several breeds of dogs.

Over the years, Ms. Tarr, has assisted at New Hope and has continued to advance her training by attending numerous seminars and training sessions offered by Service Dog organizations. She has assisted with American Temperament Testing and with the AKC Good Citizen testing.

In addition to training Service Dogs for New Hope, she also volunteers her time at the local nursing homes with the New Hope Therapy Dogs and works at New Hope demonstrations at local events. Over the years, Ms. Tarr had developed a keen ability to work with the client/canine teams in their final stages to finish and fine tune their team cohesion. Currently, Ms. Tarr is employed full time at a local financial institution and still finds the time to assist with the evening and weekend time at New Hope.  

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon.

 Elizabeth Mourer has a long history with the New Hope organization. She is a graduate of the Pampered Pet Grooming School in Brentwood, PA. She has worked with Ms. Ruhlman at her Indian Ridge Kennel, and helped with the search and rescue team. She also groomed and cared for the kennels and dogs at New Hope. Ms. Mourer recently returned to New Hope after a career of truck driving and recently recovering from Cancer treatments, she now works in the New Hope office in addition to continuing to learn new Service Dog training techniques.   

  Terry Rowland lives at the New Hope facility and monitors the kennels and dogs at night. During the day, she has been learning to train dogs under the direction of Mrs. Ruhlman, Mrs. Bennett, and Mrs. Tarr. Prior to coming to New Hope, Ms. Rowland worked in the health care field and has also worked as a claims processor for Metropolitan Life Insurance. 

 coming soon!

 Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.