Meet the NSMASC Board Members
Cassy Janssen serves as president of NSMASC! She and her husband Nate live in East Grand Forks, MN with their 4 Miniature American Shepherds, a couple cats and a small flock of chickens and ducks. She has been an active member of the club for many years.
Cassy was fortunate to have been introduced to the breed through Lori Mckusick when she was a teen. Through the years she has trained and trialed her dogs in agility, rally, obedience, disc, scentwork, herding, and conformation, as well as attended several National Agility Championships and National Specialties. These activities also sparked an involvement in her local training club and the regional Australian Shepherd rescue where she serves on their respective boards.
Volunteering has held a primary focus in Cassy's personal life and she is excited to step into this new role within NSMASC! She hopes to help promote the versatility she loves so much about MAS, as well as develop a deeper sense of community within our breed.
Lucinda Schuft, Vice President of NSMASC- I have participated in dog sports for around forty years. Prior to that, I had horses and participated in rodeo, eventing and just fun stuff with my horses.
I got into Miniature American Shepherds thanks to Lynn Gray. Prior to that i had owned two Champion Flat-coated Retrievers, with performance titles, trained retrievers for field competitions and obedience. When I met Lynn I was competing with Golden Retriever in obedience and looking to get a nice all around dog. Hence Bluegrass Boomerang came into my life at 6 years old. I already had a pup from Lynn, so these were my first MAS, but before recognized by AKC. Boomerang and I earned rally and obedience titles and NADAC agility titles in our very short time together.
After that several other MAS came into my home and I also got into border collies. Boomerang was my first herding dog, and I learned more and more about working stock. Which I’m enjoying. I currently own two border collies, one MAS who has her Championship (earned it in two show weekends with all majors) and a Grand Champion Icelandic Sheepdog. I finished both of those myself in recent years. We still,have a black Labrador as well.
I currently am working on learning herding and competing with a master level barn hunt dog who also just completed her master rally title. I have a couple younger dogs coming up in various sports but much,of my focus this year will be on herding. I compete in dock diving, rally, regular obedience, NADAC agility, barn hunt, and hopefully some herding. I have retired from conformation.
Megan Philpot, Secretary- I can't remember a time when dogs weren't something that I was passionate about. I got my first purebred dog as a college graduation present to myself. I wanted a breed that I could do anything with and fell in love with the Australian Shepherd. I've been breeding Australian Shepherds for 11 years and have multiple dogs in performance homes with several MACH and PACH titles. I love training my dogs and compete in Agility, Obedience, Rally, Conformation, and have started training in Scent Work. This love of dog sport bought me to the MAS as I wanted a smaller more portable dog for traveling and kept coming back to everything I loved about the Aussies. The versatility of this breed is what I have been most drawn to and strive to produce.
I'm an active member of our local kennel club and have been an instructor for many years teaching obedience, rally, conformation and agility. I've been a member of the NSMASC since 2019 and have served 2 terms as a director befor becoming the secretary. I also act as the MASCUSA affiliate rep for our club and enjoy getting to sit in the board meetings and hear what is going on in our parent club.
I would like to see our club get more active and offer more fun activities to do with our dogs. As such a versatile breed I'd like to see us do more in the performance events and celebrate all that our wonderful dogs are capable of.
Beth Collins, Director (Conformation Committee)- l'm interested in helping the club by serving as the director for the conformation committee. I began showing golden retrievers in conformation in 2019 and then started showing MAS in conformation in 2021. I have been actively involved in the Fort Dodge Kennel Club, an AKC all breed club in north central Iowa, since 2018. During my time with the FDKC, I have served as President, Secretary, board member, and am currently the show chair for our 2025 conformation show. I have also been active in several performance sports, including scentwork, obedience, rally, dock diving, UpDog, and fastCAT.
Professionally, I Im a college biology professor. At work and in my volunteer jobs, I am hard-working and motivated, but I also like to have fun.
Jill Swingen, Treasurer- first got involved in the dog sport world when she got Henry, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, in 2016. He loved training and trying new things which lead to training and competing in Obedience, Rally, Scent Work, and mostly Agility. After attending many varieties of competitions and events, Jill became drawn to Miniature American Shepherds for their versatility and work ethic and got her first MAS, Rogue, in 2022. Jill is active in her local dog club including as an instructor and is involved in various event committees. She lives in Grand Forks, ND with her husband, Alex, and four dogs. She regularly competes in Agility in Minnesota and looks forward to continuing to meet MAS enthusiasts in the area!
Shelley Wiehert, Director (Performance Committee)- I live in southwestern Wisconsin on a small hobby farm with my husband and son. I have had MAS since 2018. I have 3 MAS which I show.Bliss is my main boy. He has 4 rally championship. Is ranked #1 in the country, third year in row for MAS rally. Is ranked # 18 in all breed for rally Nation wide. Ellie has her RACH and Harley is just starting his adventure. My most memorable moment is when Bliss won rally at the MASCUSA 2024.
When not in training class or showing, I like to garden in my flowers, hiking, walks with my dogs.
Katie Cassens, Director (Communications Committee)- My partner, Victor, and I and share a blended household of his chihuahua (Missy), my cat (Elliot), and our two young Mini American Shepherds. Storm was my first MAS, and I totally fell in-love with this breed. I love the MAS for their size, drive, and versatility. We recently added new puppy named Atlas.
While growing up, my mom showed dogs in conformation and taught puppy classes. We always had a crew of dogs around of various breeds including Aussies and Berners. I had my own Aussie through middle and high school and participated in 4H (agility/obedience) with her, as well as titling her in AKC Obedience and Rally. After college, I took a long hiatus with no dogs. In my thirties now, and Storm has brought me back into the dog world at full force. We currently compete in Rally, UpDog and Conformation. We’re also training for Agility and Dock Diving.
I’m brand new to this board, but excited to be more involved in NSMASC, and building a community around this breed and its fanciers