About me

Leonard "Buzz" Cecil, was born of American parents near Swindon, England in 1952. The family moved first back to Tacoma (WA), and then settled in San Francisco. He then went on to the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music where he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelors of Music Education and taught elementary band for 7 years in the Cincinnati area. He then left  -for one year- (that plan worked out well) in 1977 to study Baroque Trumpet at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis der Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, Switzerland. He's been living in Switzerland ever since. In 1980 he was hired by the Musik-Schule (Prep. Dept.) of the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, first as a trumpet teacher, then ensemble conductor and later as conducting teacher, also at the Conservatory division. In 1995 he founded the Basel Trombone Quartet.  Doing an about face in 2001, he was hired as "mostly Mac" System Engineer at the College for Industrial Design and Media Art in Aarau, Switzerland but moved on in 2008 to a similar position at the Ethnological Seminar at the University of Zürich. As if that weren't enough, after completing his Bachelors of Music Ed in 1974 and teaching in Cincinnati/Basel, he gave up the trumpet, got a Graduate Conducting Diploma from the University of Calgary (1988-1990) and earned in 1996 a Teaching Diploma for Trombone and Euphonium from the Konservatorium der Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel

Buzz grew up with dogs, albeit training way back then played no real role, more than teaching a sometimes "sit". In 1999 the family adopted Luna, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog mix. "Modern" gentler (so-called “balanced”) methods were just getting started then, so rewards and praise were mixed with the leash pops, loud, louder and loudest commands and alpha rolls. Luna was, in spite of all that, a super dog, but left much too early at age 8 1/2.

Then came Vela, his first pure-bred (all others had been rescues) - a Flat-Coated Retriever. Vela is a beauty but because of her character, she forced Buzz to seek other methods. He stumbled across Clicker Training as a great “new” start. Buzz did his version of Canine Freestyle with Vela (started with help from Claudia Moser) while his wife did Dummy work with Vela. Buzz & Vela later moved on to IPO/Schutzhund, trained in dog-friendly manner. Vela is now, since 18. July, 2021, waiting patiently at the Rainbow Bridge. She left us at the ripe old age of 13.5 years.

Thanks to Vela, he expanded his already broad-based dog-knowledge through studies for the Certificate Canine Behavior Science and Technology (CBST) from James O’Heare’s Companion Animal Sciences Institute - certificate completed in 2012. This is a combination program covering  dog training and behavior modification. In 2012 he also completed the first ever Swiss Clicker Trainer certification course under Claudia Moser and Simone Fasel. In March 2013 he completed the Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) 5-day Instructors’ Course in Schwäbisch Hall (D). Attendee at the first european Clicker Expo, October 2014 Bromley Cross, Lancashire (UK). He's a Certified Trick Dog Instructor (CTDI) and a Trick Dog Champion, both programs run by Kyra Sundance, Do More With Your Dog. During this time he however became less and less a "Clicker Trainer", keeping it though in his general toolkit, but instead expanded his knowledge to include other non-violent dog-friendly training methods - this after realising, that Skinner doesn't/didn't have a lock on learning, that there are MANY other different so-called "learning theories" out there (see the Articles sections here).

As mentors: Claudia Moser and Heike Westedt. Seminars/Lessons with Claudia Moser, Christine Szakacs, Hetty van Hassel, Dr. Ute Blaschke-Berthold, Heike Westedt, Mirjam Cordt, Susi Roger, Sabine Neumann, Grisha Stewart, Dr. Adam Miklosi, Dr. Ray Coppinger, Chirag Patel, Jane Killion, Emily Larlham, Manuela Zaitz, Dr. Susan Friedman (LLA course in Austria), Dr. Daniel Mills, Kay Laurence, Malena DeMartini-Price, Karen Wild, Sarah Whitehead, Gerd Schreiber, Ken Ramirez, Cecilie Koste, Dr. Claudia Fugazza, Markus Mohr, Shade Whitesel, Thomas Riepe, Dr. Patricia McConnell, and others.

Buzz is also an Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA) which came in handy during his time as an IT geek at the colleges/institutes in Aarau and Zürich until his retirement in 2014. Since his retirement he could be found underway with Vela (until she passed on) near home or with his camper (Reisemobil), puttering about throughout Europe.

And now, Buzz's "new" 4-legged companion is Jares, a (at the time of this writing, April 2022) 10 year old Galgo Español (Spanish Wind Hound). Jares is like no other dog Buzz has ever had. A total Daddy's dog, Jares is though also his own dog. He doesn't so much as "obey", as much as he'll consider your request and act upon it (or not) at his leisure. On the other hand, as a Daddy's dog, he's also a Velcro dog, so a "recall" in the classic sense is totally unnecessary. He'll come when he wants to, but actually pretty much as reliably as any Retriever - just in a different style.



"You can live without a dog, but what's the point?"