ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mrs. Frier-Murza has long been dedicated to seeing that owners appreciate the talents of their terriers and Dachshunds. A pioneer in the earthdog movement, she first began hunting with terriers in 1971. Jo Ann attended her first American Working Terrier Association trial in 1972, a year after it was founded, and promptly fell in love with the sport. Since then she has earned titles with Border and Bedlington Terriers, Miniature Wirehaired Dachshunds, and a Smooth Fox Terrier.

Jo Ann has worked tirelessly promoting the sport of den trials. Since 1976, she has hosted innumerable trials. In 1993, and again in 2003, she was asked to work with the AKC advisory panel which developed and updated the earthdog testing program. Jo Ann's Village Green Farm Earthdog Center is the site of many events, and her training, practice, and nationwide seminars are popular. She is the founder of the New Jersey Beanfield Earthdogs Club and has been multiple officer and president of the American Working Terrier Association and the Border Terrier Club of America, as well as an active member of the Dachshund Club of America, the Garden State All Terrier Club, the Princeton Dog Training Club and the Allgemeiner Schutzhund Club. Her dogs have competed in the show ring, obedience trials, field trials, earthdog and schutzhund events. In 2009, Jo Ann was a finalist nominee for the AKC's Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance Events and was awarded the AKCs Outstanding Sportsman Award by the Border Terrier Club of America in 2010. She was designated "Special Counselor" for her inspiration through instruction and example to the Hunting Terrier Club of Puerto Rico.  She has judged earthdog events in the US and Canada and will judge in Australia late in 2010. Jo Ann was the first recipient of the American Working Terrier Association's Veteran Earthworker award for achieving field working certificates with ten different dogs.

Jo Ann holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology and a Master's Degree in Forest Zoology and Animal Behavior. She is also a Certified Public Manager and a graduate of the Ocean County Police Academy. Jo Ann and her husband, Stephen, live in New Jersey.  She enjoys keeping poultry and small livestock and maintains an interest in martial arts after earning a black belt in 1998.