About Our Founder, Jane
About Jane
Hi, I’m Jane Messineo Lindquist – professional dog trainer, breeder, AKC judge, and founder of Madcap University. We live in beautiful western New Jersey, USA. I’m thrilled to welcome you to our community!
I’ve had Bull Terriers since 1982 and I’ve been showing and breeding Bull Terriers under the Madcap Kennel name since 1998. My husband, Mark Lindquist, and I have bred and/or shown our Bull Terriers and three Australian Cattle Dogs to over 100 titles in conformation, rally, agility, tracking, nose work, barn hunt and watersports. Mark and I have produced numerous ROM champions, Versatility award winners, and best in specialty show winners.
Although our show and performance record is impressive, we are, first and foremost, pet breeders. We never lose sight of the fact that our goal is to breed behaviorally sound dogs that will enhance the lives of the people they live with, and that is the proposition that our program is based on.
What Experience Has Taught Us
We’ve truly done it all with our dogs and, in our over 40 years of experience, we have learned two things more than anything else:
First, behavioral soundness is the most important thing in the world. You can breed the most talented, smartest, healthiest dogs, but all of that is nothing without behavioral soundness.
Second, behavioral soundness is, to a large extent, determined by what you do with a puppy in the first few months of his life.
Applying Our Experience To Puppy Rearing
Over the years, we dove deep into the research and developed a science-based early puppy development program for our own puppies, with great success.
Our puppies grew to dogs that were easier to show and train, were less environmentally reactive, and made better companions.
Meanwhile, as a professional dog trainer and rescue foster, I noticed that many, if not most, of the “behavior” problems were really just gaps in the dog’s education as a very young puppy.
These were behavior problems that could have been so easily prevented by doing the right thing at the right time when the dog was still a young puppy.
Why We Made Puppy Culture
So, I knew that optimal puppy rearing made puppies easier to train, less environmentally reactive, better companions, and also prevented a large portion of “behavior problems” in adult dogs.
And I knew that the science on this was out there, available to everyone. So, why wasn’t the word reaching breeders and owners of young puppies? Well, even though the research on best practices in puppy rearing was out there, it really wasn’t easily accessible.
The information was scattered and sometimes buried in obscure scientific journals. Someone needed to organize it and put it all together in a comprehensive and easy-to-follow program of early puppy development. And so, Puppy Culture was born.
Where We Are Today
Today, we’re a thriving community of over 75,000 followers with well over 170,000 videos, courses and books sold.
We’re proud to say that our work has changed the way an entire generation of breeders thinks about puppy rearing, and brought together breeders, rescue workers, trainers, and puppy owners under one roof with a common cause of doing the best thing for every puppy.
The proof is in the puppies.
- About
Jane - What Experience
Has Taught Us - Applying Our Experience
To Puppy Rearing - Why We Made
Puppy Culture - Where We
Are Today
Hi, I’m Jane Messineo Lindquist – professional dog trainer, breeder, AKC judge, and founder of Madcap University. We live in beautiful western New Jersey, USA. I’m thrilled to welcome you to our community!
I’ve had Bull Terriers since 1982 and I’ve been showing and breeding Bull Terriers under the Madcap Kennel name since 1998. My husband, Mark Lindquist, and I have bred and/or shown our Bull Terriers and three Australian Cattle Dogs to over 100 titles in conformation, rally, agility, tracking, nose work, barn hunt and watersports. Mark and I have produced numerous ROM champions, Versatility award winners, and best in specialty show winners.
Although our show and performance record is impressive, we are, first and foremost, pet breeders. We never lose sight of the fact that our goal is to breed behaviorally sound dogs that will enhance the lives of the people they live with, and that is the proposition that our program is based on.
We’ve truly done it all with our dogs and, in our over 40 years of experience, we have learned two things more than anything else:
First, behavioral soundness is the most important thing in the world. You can breed the most talented, smartest, healthiest dogs, but all of that is nothing without behavioral soundness.
Second, behavioral soundness is, to a large extent, determined by what you do with a puppy in the first few months of his life.
Over the years, we dove deep into the research and developed a science-based early puppy development program for our own puppies, with great success.
Our puppies grew to dogs that were easier to show and train, were less environmentally reactive, and made better companions.
Meanwhile, as a professional dog trainer and rescue foster, I noticed that many, if not most, of the “behavior” problems were really just gaps in the dog’s education as a very young puppy.
These were behavior problems that could have been so easily prevented by doing the right thing at the right time when the dog was still a young puppy.
So, I knew that optimal puppy rearing made puppies easier to train, less environmentally reactive, better companions, and also prevented a large portion of “behavior problems” in adult dogs.
And I knew that the science on this was out there, available to everyone. So, why wasn’t the word reaching breeders and owners of young puppies? Well, even though the research on best practices in puppy rearing was out there, it really wasn’t easily accessible.
The information was scattered and sometimes buried in obscure scientific journals. Someone needed to organize it and put it all together in a comprehensive and easy-to-follow program of early puppy development. And so, Puppy Culture was born.
Today, we’re a thriving community of over 75,000 followers with well over 170,000 videos, courses and books sold.
We’re proud to say that our work has changed the way an entire generation of breeders thinks about puppy rearing, and brought together breeders, rescue workers, trainers, and puppy owners under one roof with a common cause of doing the best thing for every puppy.
The proof is in the puppies.
The Story Of Our Work
Dog Breeders
Jane and Mark started breeding Bull Terriers in 1998, under the Madcap kennel name, registered with the AKC in the USA.
Jane is an AKC judge, an AKC Breeder of Merit and the President of the Central New Jersey Bull Terrier club.
Jane and Mark are members of the Bull Terrier Club of America.
Trial By Fire
Jane had a passion for Bull Terriers and also for dog agility, which was a problem because Bull Terriers are notoriously difficult to train.
But Jane figured out how to tap into her dogs’ smart terrier brains and make them brilliant and joyful performers.
When Pigs Fly
Everyone kept asking Jane how she managed to train her dogs, and finally someone said, “you know, you should really write a book” and she did. When Pigs Fly was published in 2007.
The title quickly became a bestseller and has sold more than 70,000 copies worldwide.
Dog Training
With the success of “When Pigs Fly” Jane and Mark began presenting seminars around the world.
As demand for seminars grew, they thought it would be best to come out with a film version of the book.
So Jane and Mark taught themselves how to film, edit and produce and went right into production.
Lights, Camera, Action
Meanwhile, in 2011, Jane and Mark started filming one of their litters to document developmental periods in puppies.
But, as they filmed and thought about it more, the couple realized that a puppy rearing film was what the world needed, even more than a dog training film.
Because training can solve problems, but good puppy rearing can avoid them altogether.
Lights, Camera, Action
Meanwhile, in 2011, Jane and Mark started filming one of their litters to document developmental periods in puppies.
But, as they filmed and thought about it more, the couple realized that a puppy rearing film was what the world needed, even more than a dog training film.
Because training can solve problems, but good puppy rearing can avoid them altogether.
Puppy Culture Is Born
Jane and Mark dug deep into the science of puppy rearing, and interviewed leading breeders, veterinarians, and behaviorists.
They filmed that litter going through the program from birth through 3 years old, to show that kind and forward-thinking methods do work beautifully in the short and long run.
The film they ultimately released in 2014 is a binge-worthy family pleaser that kids and teens enjoy as much as adults.
Expanding The Program
Puppy Culture fans were immediately hungry for more, so we continued to grow our family of educational products.
The Puppy Culture Workbook (companion to the original film) is a key addition to this suite - a week by week breakdown and diary of what to do with your puppies and when to do it.
Expanding The Program
Puppy Culture fans were immediately hungry for more, so we continued to grow our family of educational products.
The Puppy Culture Workbook (companion to the original film) is a key addition to this suite - a week by week breakdown and diary of what to do with your puppies and when to do it.
The Family Grows
Today, we offer a whole suite of books, films and courses on dog breeding, puppy raising, training and showing.
We’re a thriving community of over 75,000 followers with well over 170,000 videos and books sold.
Through our 30,000 member Facebook Discussion Group, we’re proud to say that Puppy Culture has brought together breeders, rescue workers, trainers, and puppy owners under one roof with a common cause of doing the best thing for every puppy.
A New Way Of Learning
Our followers are always asking for more - more topics, more details, more learning! So we started Madcap University.
The University Platform allows us to do some things that we can't do in a video or book alone. We can now incorporate video, e-books, articles, studies, links and audio files into one course that's organized and easy to navigate, giving you a true "course" experience.
Jane is our founder and first instructor, but we will be teaming up with some top-level instructors to offer a whole range of courses on varied topics in the near future!
A New Way Of Learning
Our followers are always asking for more - more topics, more details, more learning! So we started Madcap University.
The University Platform allows us to do some things that We can't do in a video or book alone. We can now incorporate video, e-books, articles, studies, links and audio files into one course that's organized and easy to navigate, giving you a true "course" experience.
Jane is our founder and first instructor, but we will be teaming up with some top-level instructors to offer a whole range of courses on varied topics in the near future!
Puppy Culture In Numbers
Over 150,000 Books Sold
Over 100,000 DVDs Sold
Over 40,000 Streams Online
Over 80,000 Followers
Over 150,000 Books Sold
Over 100,000 DVDs Sold
Over 40,000 Streams Online
