Personnel

Don Hanson, co-owner and director of behavior counseling and training at the Green Acres Kennel Shop, 1653 Union St., Bangor, was recently elected to a one-year term as president of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. The association, based in Greenville, S.C., is the largest organization of dog-training professionals in the world, and is made up of more than 5,000 members. Hanson recently returned from a 10-day training session at the Natural Animal Centre in Carmarthen, Wales, and a two-day conference in Cleveland for the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. On Sunday nights, Hanson hosts “The Woof-Meow” radio show, which can be heard on WVOM-FM. In its third year, the show educates listeners on pet care and training.

Also at Green Acres, dog trainer Kate Dutra has earned Level I certification through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Dutra joins more than 1,000 certified pet trainers throughout the United States and several countries. The council’s program is the first national certification for dog trainers. Dutra has been teaching dog training classes at Green Acres since 1992. She served as kennel manager until 2002. Since then she has focused on training and assisting Green Acres co-owner Don Hanson with pet behavior consultations.

Liberty Mutual has promoted 21-year insurance sales veteran Michael Cooper to executive sales representative in the Bangor office. Cooper joined Liberty Mutual in 1986 as a sales representative, and for the past 10 years has counseled local auto, home and life insurance customers as a senior sales representative. A resident of Carmel, Cooper is a nine-time Liberty Leader, a Liberty Life Leader, a two-time Gold Life Achievement winner, and an eight-time Silver Life Achievement awards winner for Liberty Mutual sales performance. Cooper is a 1973 Bucksport High School alumnus and graduated from University of Maine in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in business management.