Ms. Anne Riba

Anne Riba's Belgian Malinois, Temi, knows who's boss.
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Anne Riba already knows how she's going to spend Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.Not at a barbecue or the beach, but at dog training seminars.

Ms. Riba, who owns two German shepherds and a prize-winning Belgian Malinois, says learning new techniques for teaching dogs obedience, agility and showmanship "is an unquenchable passion."It would have to be: On top of a typical workweek, Ms. Riba spends 30 hours teaching classes, judging contests and training her own Malinois for competition.

Oh, and by day?She oversees product safety for Libertyville-based medical device maker Hollister Inc.

Ms. Riba says she turns a profit training dogs (she won't say how much), but didn't set out to create a part-time business.In 1991 she took dog training lessons at the Lincolnwood Training Club for German Shepherd Dogs Inc. and even taught one class on Friday nights.Since then, demand for her classes has surged.She now teaches 22 classes at three locations in Deerfield, Mundelein and Lincolnwood.

"She's the hardest-working person I know," says Lesley Spencer, a Chicago-based composer who has known Ms. Riba for six years and is currently using her services to train a 16-week-old golden retriever.
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While her co-workers at Hollister don't (we think) drool or bark, Ms. Riba says her two jobs have lot in common.At Hollister, which manufactures medical devices and supplies for incontinence, breastfeeding and wound care, Ms. Riba is largely a troubleshooter.She provides information and guidance to employees at Hollister's manufacturing plants in Denmark, Ireland and the U.S. as they select product materials and refine manufacturing methods.

She's a consultant to dog owners, too, who often want to address canine behavioral problems via teleconference."I do what I can over the phone," she says."The business is not about charging money," but rather about helping dogs and owners communicate to avoid a trip to the pound.

Of course, dog-to-person interaction is even better."I get complete enjoyment out of watching the communication between the dog and the handler come into place.A lot of times the handler totally underestimates the intelligence of the dog.When you see the light bulb go off, it's amazing," says Ms. Riba, who holds a bachelor's degree in animal science from Purdue University in Indiana.