Lacy Browning - Agility Instructor

 Lacy Browning has been teaching obedience classes in Austin, Texas for 18 years and began teaching agility classes eight years ago. She has been a member of Capitol Dog Training Club of Austin since 1991. Lacy has served as President, Vice-President, Secretary, Trial Director, and Director of Publicity. She was editor of the Canine Communique newsletter for nine years.

    Lacy shares her life with a husband, David, and seven dogs: four American Eskimos, one Golden Retriever, and two Dachshunds. Lacy and her dogs currently compete in obedience, rally, agility, and Freestyle dancing. She also has tracking, hunting, and water rescue titles. She also has two RE titles, one MACH, one MAD and many other agility titles on different dogs. Lacy has put obedience titles on nine dogs, all different breeds. She also performs with her Golden Retriever, Pie CDX, RE, WETT, BWFD, and her toy American Eskimo Dog, MACH MAD Elf, doing tricks at children's birthday parties and local events. Lacy and her dogs have participated in dog drill teams, square dances, and two of her dogs have even been in commercials. Pie and Lacy were featured on KXAN’s “Out on the Porch” on a “Dancing Dog” segment.

    Lacy developed and taught a fun, game-oriented, team approach to dog training classes for the University of Texas. This class pitted four dogs/people on each team, with four teams competing in a trick-oriented training environment. This class became one of the most popular non-credited classes UT offered, with a waiting list for classes.
   
Lacy also developed and wrote an on-line dog training class for Barnes and Noble that was eventually sold to Netscape Learning Center.  She often had over 2,000 people taking the course from all over the world. She was responsible for answering training questions via on-line. She is also a published author of several dog training magazine articles.
Lacy is a past recipient of the prestigious Kennel Ration Metal for Good Sportsmanship Award for the State of Texas (one person in each State is awarded this honor each year). Lacy will be competing at the United States Dog Agility Association Cynosport Championships in October. 

Dawn Prentiss, CPDT-KA - Agility Instructor
    Dawn Prentiss has been training dogs full time since 2001. She moved to Austin from Brooklyn, NY in July 2011. In Brooklyn, Dawn taught up to ten group classes per week, including puppy, basic obedience and agility and conducted private behavioral consultations. Dawn’s approach to training whether it be for basic manners, agility or problem solving is an individual approach. She understands that what might work for one team, might not work for another. She strives for individual success even when teaching in a group situation.

    Dawn got involved in agility in 2004, when she got her Sheltand Sheepdog, Whisper. After three long years of foundation, Whisper was finally ready to compete. Their agility career has taken a lot of twists and turns but their love for the sport has kept them in the game. Dawn chronicled the her first year of agility training and raising Whisper in New York City in her article “It’s Not Easy Being Green” published in Clean Run in January 2007. Whisper has earned the following agility titles, MX, MXJ, AD. Whisper is seven years old and they hope to begin competing again this fall.

    In 2009, Dawn adopted Border Collie, Shasta. Shasta came up the ranks in agility very quickly and earned her OA and OAJ in less than a year of working together.

Dawn is a long time student of Katie Trachte and shares a similar teaching style. Dawn loves to teach foundation agility and believes that’s where the fun starts. It’s where the dogs and owners get hooked and where they discover the fun and the bond between dog and handler develops. She uses her individualistic approach in teaching agility, striving for each team to come away with success at their individual level. She enjoys seeing her students both canine and human, leaving class with a smile on their faces.

Marcela Morales - Assistant Instructor

  Marcela has been a student of Katie's since June 2011. 

 

Pam O'Day (formally Pam O'Day Trachte) is a nationally recognized AKC Agility Judge and trainer.

   For more information on Pam O'Day please visit http://www.go-dogs-go.com/. Pam is an approved and trained instructor HyCaliber K9s and teaches classes in Katie’s home state, Connecticut.

    Pam is always busy competing in agility as well as judging throughout the United States. Pam is also an agility measuring official, VMO, for AKC. Pam spent years competing in sailing both nationally and internationally.  She was a member of the team that won the North American Woman's Sailing Championship, The Adams Cup, in 1971.  She competed in the Soling World Championships in Denmark placing 7th as well as the 420 World Championships in Sweden.  She was a member of University of Virginia Crew Team competing in an 8.  Pam's sailing and crew background helped her immensely in her transition to the competitive world of dogs!

    Competing with owner handled and trained dogs, Pam was first drawn to breed, successfully showing her dogs at National Specialties and finishing BOS at Westminster. Over the next few years she added numerous American/Canadian obedience and tracking titles to her already championed dogs. Pam has completed 77 titles on her dogs. With Ch. Tacara’s Soubrette Soignes UDX, OA, NAC, HIC, O-BAR she competed in seven Gaines Regionals and Gaines Classics in classes through Super dog division always placing in the top 11.
    Having this solid foundation of training it was easy for Pam to channel her efforts into the great new sport of agility and quickly become successful, titling dogs in AKC and USDAA agility. Her 13 year old is a CH, MX, MXJ AXP, AJP and has three times qualified at the AKC Nationals. Pam's 8 year old sheltie, Quest, is  MACH 2 Intrepid's Quest of Denahur.  She is retired due to an FCE, fibrocartilagious embolism, that paralyzed her on her right side.  She recovered due to the wonderful care of Debbie Saunders and Bud Allen. She recovered enough to be able to compete after the injury.  
   
    Pam continues to teach competitive obedience and agility giving her a combined total of more than 30 years of experience. These years have confirmed Pam’s belief in her approach to creating the positive working relationship between dog and owner. A relationship which is so important to a successful and happy team.
   
    Pam's daughter Katie was a member of the 2004 AKC World Agility Team with MACH Himark's Intrepid Wrangler "Jeep", a bi-black sheltie. Katie is a member of the United States team coached by Nancy Gyes, and she has competed at European Open Championships (and been a finalist) in 2008, 2009 and 2010.