Our Instructors

Laura Fennell

Laura developed an interest in dog agility in 2003, taking her first beginner agility class with her Australian Shepherd Angus. In total, she has trained seven dogs in agility, primarily competing with her Aussies Angus and Lola. Laura’s current agility dogs are Harper Lee, a border collie, and Moxzilla Cthulhu aka Moxie, a Westie mix. Laura began teaching agility first by assisting longtime club training director Mary Marshall with beginner agility classes, and later with intermediate classes. She frequently filled in for these classes and eventually transitioned into instructing them, after Mary retired. Laura also developed and instructed a distance handling class for the club, served for a time as training coordinator, and after a long break, is again serving as training coordinator for the club.

Laura also trains dogs professionally. She is CPDT-KA (certified professional dog trainer-knowledge assessed), an AKC-approved Canine Good Citizen evaluator, and an AKC FIT Dog Instructor. In addition to agility, Laura enjoys trick training, disc dog, and addressing behavior issues. When Laura is not doing stuff with dogs, she is playing minecraft or watching movies with her ten-year-old human, crafting, doing art stuff, or going for a walk outside.

Laura shares her life in South Austin, Texas with son Lincoln, husband JP, her three beloved dogs–Olive, Harper, and Moxzilla Cthulhu–and her two cat roommates–Astrid and Giles.

Maureen Lemke

Maureen started training in agility in 2007 with Mikey and Missy, her two 7-year-old very obedient, medium-sized mixed breed litter mates. They were great at performing obstacles, loved to be in the ring, but saw no reason to rush instead preferring to enjoy the course at a leisurely pace. A judge once said, “Well, your dogs are happy”. As they got too old to compete
(after earning 1 NADAC title each over several years), a variety of friend’s dogs were used to feed Maureen’s agility addiction until she could train more of her own.

Wilson the mini Aussiedoodle arrived on the scene and advanced to the Elite level of competition then decided that weaves in the ring are not something he is willing to continue. He now lives his best life at NADAC trials doing only the courses he loves. Most of Maureen’s training efforts are currently directed to the newest member of the Lemke pack, Widget, a Jack Russell-looking pup.

Maureen currently teaches the Level 3 Novice class and subs for Level 2 Foundational Skills class. Having trained very diverse dogs of her own, she enjoys helping handlers and their dogs learn new skills and improve old ones utilizing the Ts of training, (proper) Timing and Treats (food or toy). Her third and favorite T is Trialing. NADAC trials are her happy place due to the
fun that she, Wilson, and Widget have in the ring and the commradery she enjoys with the many friends she trials with.

Jan Daley

Jan Daley started agility training around 1998 at the suggestion of a pet dog obedience instructor. Her first dog, Mocha, was doing 3 ft vertical jumps from a standstill and the instructor declared, “That dog needs agility.” Jan said, “Agili-what?” And thus began her dive into dog sports.

Jan primarily competes in NADAC and USDAA, but has dabbled in UKI. Her reason for training is to build the bond and trust with her dogs. “All the time, sweat, and tears spent training are worth it when you and your partner come together as a team,” she says. Jan loves watching the novice dogs in competition. “It’s exciting to see the dog gain confidence and to see the teams come together at this stage.”

Jan currently teaches Level 4: Intermediate.

Kim Galusha

Kim has been training dogs since 1978. She competed in obedience until she saw an agility demo at a local park and quickly gave up competitive obedience for the exciting sport of dog agility.  She competed in her first agility trial with her Doberman, Rhetta, in 1994. She has agility trained and competed with 10
of her own dogs – Rosa, Rhetta, Wichita, Ezri, Pogo, Trixi, Stella, Lupe, Stormy and Trek – ranging from 8 pounds to 60 pounds.

Kim competes in USDAA, NADAC, and UKI. Pogo was the highest scoring versatility dog with ZERO faults at NADAC National Championships in 2009.  Lupe (Chihuahua) and Stormy (All Breed) have both placed in the USDAA and NADAC Top Ten over multiple years. Lupe and Stormy competed in the 2022 at
NADAC Championships, UKI US Open and USDAA Cynosports and qualified for finals in all three national competitions. Lupe, one of the highest scoring Chihuahua’s of all time, has earned USDAA Masters Tournament Silver, USDAA Lifetime Achievement Award Bronze, NADAC NATCH #6, UKI International
Agility Champion Award. Stormy has earned USDAA Lifetime Achievement Award Bronze, NADAC NATCH #4, and UKI International Agility Champion Award. At the 2023 USDAA South Central Regionals, Stormy took first in Biathlon. In Steeplechase, Lupe took first place and Stormy took second place and in Grand Prix, Lupe took first place and Stormy took second place.   Pogo and Lupe are both in the NADAC Agility Hall of Fame.

When not on the agility field, you can find Kim and the dogs out searching for the next best hike, swimming spot or beach.

Here is a great article about Kim, Lupe and Stormy – Puppy Rescues Bloom into Agility Stars

Lauren Goldberg

Lauren started in agility with her blue heeler, Truco, in 2010. She has competed in NADAC, AKC and USDAA venues. At the time of his retirement, Truco had earned many titles in each venue, including all his favorite activities – NADAC TNS-E (tunneling), AKC OAJ (jumping) and USDAA SPG (gambling).

Lauren is currently working with her red heeler, Mojo, working to overcome his reactivity through positive training, relaxation and confidence-building techniques. “Baby” Ziva is attending “Level 4: Open” at K9X and classes at HOT Dog Sports.

As the instructor for the “Level 3: Novice” for about 5 years, Lauren encouraged students to improve the timing and frequency of their reinforcements, to not ‘fix’ every mistake, and to communicate precise and timely information to their dog. She has also taught beginner and intermediate level classes.

Lauren has participated in other dog sports training and competitions (including nosework and tracking) and dog events including Barkitecture, the Mighty Texas Dog Walk and Barks for Beers.

Mike Stinson

Mike has been around herding dogs his whole life. He and his wife, Eva have had Australian shepherds and Blue Heelers for over 35 years. He started agility in 2014 as a way to build confidence in Rosie, a very shy dog that they had recently adopted.

They competed primarily in USDAA while in Arizona and have added NADAC and ASCA since moving to Austin.

“My biggest breakthough was when I realized that Rosie didn’t care if we got a Q or not. She just wanted to make me happy. I’ve tried to adopt the same approach.”

Mike currently teaches Level 2: Foundation Skills