Debbie Spence, Owner & Agility Instructor
Experience
Debbie has been involved with dogs since the early 1980’s, training and competing first in obedience and then discovering agility in 1989 and becoming addicted to this new sport. In 1996, Debbie opened her own agility school, PAWSitive Agility Working School (PAWS), where she has established a notably successful training program that has enabled her students to enhance their bond with their dogs while enjoying the challenges of training and competing in the exciting sport of dog agility.
Training
Debbie has attended numerous agility seminars over the years, learning from nationally-known competitors such as Sharon Nelson, Katherine Leggett, Nancy Gyes, Dave Blackshaw, Stuart Mah, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, Susan Garrett, Anthony Clark, Tracy Sklenar, Greg Derrett, Lee Gibson, and Ola Kordas. After attending two of his seminars many years ago, Debbie adopted Greg Derrett’s “System of Handling” (described in a series of articles in Clean Run Magazine in 2003), returning to her agility training school and re-teaching most of the handling and training techniques that were being used at the time. Greg’s system was quite simple, and the results were impressive, both for Debbie’s own dogs and her students’ dogs. With the ever-changing challenges in agility courses over the years, Debbie has expanded her training techniques to incorporate skills that continue to allow the handler to negotiate today’s courses most efficiently.
Agility Success
Debbie’s own dogs currently include two Border Collies (Braedan and Ryker) and two Shelties (Kelby and Caper).
Braedan was born in November 2009 and started his agility adventure immediately, attending a puppy agility workshop with Greg Derrett at the age of just 10 weeks. Braedan earned USDAA’s prestigious Platinum ADCH and Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as three MACHs in AKC. He retired from agility at the age of 12 and now enjoys wandering the agility fields and begging for treats from those who come to classes at PAWS.
Ryker, born in March 2014, competes at the Masters level in AKC and USDAA and at the Champion level in UKI. Ryker earned USDAA’s Gold Performance ADCH in May 2023 and is working towards his Platinum Performance ADCH. In UKI, he’s earned his Champion of Speedstakes 2 and International Agility Champion Bronze titles.
Debbie’s Sheltie, Kelby, was born in September 2017, and has turned out to be a great agility partner. Kelby has already earned his Bronze ADCH in USDAA and both his International Agility Champion and Champion of Speedstakes titles in UKI. Kelby also competes in lure coursing and FastCAT.
The most recent addition to the Spence family is Caper, another Sheltie. Born in January 2023, Caper is just starting his agility career and is also showing in conformation.
Debbie’s Previous Agility Dogs
As a 10-week-old pup being fostered by Border Collie Rescue of Texas, Senna came to live with Debbie in early 2003. Competing at the highest levels of agility competition, Senna has earned his Platinum ADCH, Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award, and Bronze Performance ADCH in USDAA. In AKC, he earned his MACH 3 and then moved to Preferred where he earned his PACH in February 2014.
Cameron, a Sheltie acquired from one of her students in 2004 at the age of 3 1/2, suffered from major fear issues that had to be overcome. After gaining confidence, Cameron successfully competed in agility competition and earned his USDAA ADCH & Performance ADCH and AKC MACH 3 titles. Cameron retired from competition in September 2014, just short of his 13th birthday.
Other dogs Debbie has owned and trained in agility include Boomer (Sheltie), Tristan (Border Collie), Catcher (Border Collie), and Kallie (Border Collie).
Besides competing with her own dogs, Debbie also runs some of her students’ dogs on occasion. She also earned a MACH 2 on a Scottish Terrier when his owner passed away from cancer and asked that Raster continue training and at PAWS.
Peggy Friauf, Agility Instructor
Peggy has been teaching riding (horses) for over 30 years. At the age of 11, she taught her dog to jump using trash cans and rake handles because her parents wouldn’t let her have a horse.
While at a major horse show with clients, Peggy saw an agility demonstration and found herself spending as much time watching the agility as she did the horse show. In 1999, she took her first agility lesson with her Jack Russell Terrier, and in 2001, Dozer earned his first title. In 2004, Peggy started training with PAWS and is currently training her 3rd, 4th & 5th agility dogs (a Jack Russell Terrier and 2 Border Collies). She’s also been helping Debbie teach both beginners and regular agility classes since 2008.
Peggy says agility is a sport she really enjoys, as is helping to enrich people’s interactions with their animals.
Barb Bristol, Agility Instructor
Barb has been interested in dog training since childhood, when a neighbor hired her to teach his dog to walk on a leash. She has been training and showing dogs (Great Danes, Labrador Retrievers, a Collie, and several mixed breeds) in obedience since 1983, but Barb fell in love with agility in 1998 when she started training with Debbie and PAWS. She is now training and trialing her 6th Great Dane with Debbie. Barb regularly attends training seminars to keep up with the latest training theories. She believes that agility is not only a fun sport and not only a great way to build a dog’s confidence and improve physical condition, but it’s also a fantastic way to build an incredible bond between dog and owner.
Leann Zimmerman, Agility Instructor
While Leann has had dogs her entire life, she had never really trained one until she rescued her all-American, Scout, in 2011. She knew she wanted to train Scout and, through an obedience class, found out about agility. Leann thought agility would be a great way to strengthen her bond with her new dog, so she quickly enrolled him in an agility class at a nearby facility.
About a year into their training, Leann & Scout were at their first agility fun match, and it was there Leann realized she knew very little about agility. A group of people at the fun match noticed Leann’s struggles and directed her to PAWS. Leann set up a private lesson with Debbie with the idea in the back of her mind that she might be wasting her time and money trying to do agility with Scout. Much to her surprise, Debbie told Leann that Scout would make a great agility dog. And so the journey began. Leann found she had to relearn most of what she thought she knew, but she loved the emphasis on positive training (which is not how she was initially taught), and she & Scout entered their first trial within six months. Scout initially suffered from ring stress and would often seem uninterested in working with Leann, but all the PAWS instructors offered great advice and encouragement. Through the positive training, patience, and perseverance, Leann & Scout became a team, and both have been changed by agility. They compete in USDAA and at the Master level in AKC.
Leann is excited to share her experience with the students at PAWS with the hope that, through agility, more and more dog owners can strengthen the bond they share with their dogs.
Michelle Addison, Agility Instructor
Michelle has had dogs all her life but never did more than basic obedience with them until she got her German Shepherd, Lady. Initially, Lady was just going to be her running partner, but Michelle noticed how agile Lady was when they were out on their runs, so she began to look for agility classes. Michelle & Lady started training at a place in Lewisville but, when that closed down, they were referred to PAWS and started training with Debbie in January 2017. With the support and experience of the PAWS instructors, Michelle & Lady quickly advanced in agility. They compete in the Masters level in USDAA and AKC, and they’ve just started in UKI. Michelle fell so much in love with the sport that she now has her first Border Collie named Brooks! He’s just started his agility career.
Michelle is an elementary school teacher during the day and enjoys using her teaching skills to help others succeed in reaching their agility goals.
Nancy Strack, Obedience Instructor 
After Nancy retired her dogs from agility, she took the opportunity to teach the Clicker Obedience Class at PAWS. She discovered that teaching Clicker Obedience was much more rewarding for her. Through the wide variety of seminars and conferences she attended, Nancy developed a passion for learning animal behavior. Not only has the information she learned helped her own dogs, but she continues to educate others on the latest trends as well.
