USCA Northeastern Region

My name is Ray Harris. I am the training Director for my club Alpha and Omega Working Dog Club located in NJ. I started out in the sport of Schutzhund as a competitor in 2009 with my American Bulldogs. From then on, I grew to love the sport so much as a competitor that I wanted to learn to become a helper. In 2014, I met my mentor John Bochenek of Metro-Detroit Schutzhund Club in Milan Michigan. I spent months of training with John to learn the mechanics of helper work. In 2015 I was given the green light to classify at Metro-Detroit Schutzhund club helper seminar.  After becoming classified as a helper, i started doing helper work for multiple local clubs. In 2016, I started Alpha and Omega Working Dog Club  under USCA which is open to all breeds. Since starting the club and being the trial helper, it has opened doors to doing other clubs trial helper work ( AWMA Tri-State IGP Working Dog Club and Greater Philadelphia Schutzhund Club). With the amount of Dogs added in my helper book, I was able to move up in classification. In 2021, I classified as a regional helper with The Helper Academy. In 2021, i was also selected for the front half of The Mid-Central Regionals. Since then, i have now done 6 Regionals with more to come.

I have a goal to become a successful national level helper and competitor.