Our Instructors
Michelle
I live and breathe agility! There is nothing in my life that doesn’t revolve around agility and I am so blessed to be married to the most patient man in the world. He listens to me talk non-stop about my big agility plans and always helps my dreams of the next level come true!
In the 15+ years I have been with Flashing Canines I have had the opportunity to teach all levels of classes from puppy to advanced. No two dogs can be trained exactly the same and I love the challenge of finding that spot when the handler and dog click and find the love in this sport that I have had for so long.
My favourite moments in teaching are my students who start the sport for something to do with their dog and end up in the competition ring! I love the exhilaration of stepping to the line with my dogs and I love passing that passion along to my students! And ribbons are a lot of fun!
I am a Masters Judge for AAC. I love watching my students run my courses and succeed, making the sport even more fun!
I have had the delight to train very different dogs from my Cocker Spaniel, Daisy, to my two Cavaliers, Ava and Blossom, my Springer Spaniel, Storm, my Border Collie Cross Scarlet and my Border Collie Delilah! Each of my dogs need specific things from me in training! I love heading off for road trips with my daughter Alexis to work with amazing trainers all over and continue to fill our “tool box” with new handling for our dogs that we can pass along!
I also enjoy many other dog sports. My dogs are active in flyball, scent, barn hunt, disc, NASDA, Parkour, and dock diving, and we dabble in herding, treibball, and trick training.
2024 was an exciting year for us!
AAC AB/NWT Regionals- Scarlet 1st 12’ DD Vet (her second year in a row)
Delilah 2nd 24” Regular
We then went on an adventure to Maxville Ontario for AAC Nationals, Scarlet was 2nd in the 12” DD Vet and Delilah 2nd in the 24” Regular!
And to top off the excitement Delilah earned a win on spot for the 2025 IFCS Team Canada going to Switzerland! We are so excited for this adventure!
The BEST part of agility and any sport you play with your dog is the bond you create! I know what my girls are thinking at all times and they can read me like a book! I wouldn’t trade that bond for anything in the world!
I look forward to many more years playing with my girls! My favourite part of agility is being able to have the time spent with my daughters Alexis and Isabella and our wonderful 4-legged family.
Daisy: (American Cocker Spaniel)
AAC Agility - ADC, AADC, SGDC
Ava: (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel)
AAC Agility -MADC, MSCDC, ExJ Bronze, ExS Bronze
Blossom: (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel)
AAC Agility- ADC, SGDC, AADC (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel)
Storm: (Springer Spaniel)
AAC Agility- all titles leading up to -ATChC, ExS Bronze, ExJ Bronze
Scarlet: (Border Aussie cross)
AAC (Agility) all titles leading up to - ATChC, Bronze, ExSTBronze, ExJBronze, ExSBronze, ExGBronze, VBA, VBX, MChDC, MTRDC, ExTB, ExScBronze, MSCDC, Silver, ExJSilver,ExStSilver, ExSSilver ExGSilver, VSA , Gold, ExStGold, ExJGold
Herding- HIC
Do More with your Dog (Tricks) NTD, ITD, ATD, ETD
NADD (Dock) DJ, DS, DJA, DSA,
Fun Leagues
Medicine Hat Disc League- DiscGility Bronze and Silver
Delilah: (Border Collie)
AAC (Agility) ADC, SGDC, AADC, AGDC, MSDC MJDC MGDC, MADC, ATChC, MTRDC, Bronze, ExGB, ExJB, MScDC, ExSnB, ExStB, ExJB, VBA, VBX
2023 AB/NWT 3rd place Regionals
2024AB/NWT 2nd place Regionals
2024 AAC Nationals 2nd place
2025 Team Canada
CKC (agility) - Ag.N
Do More With Your Dog (Tricks) NTD, NTD-M, ITD, ITD-M, ATD, ATD-M, ETD, ETD-M
BHA (Barn Hunt) RATN
SDDA - SD-S, SD-A
NADD (Dock) DS , DSA , DM, HDJ
NATE: (Treiball) TE-NBO, TE-NUH
Herding HIC
Parkour: PKD-N , PKD- I, PKD-E, PKD-S
Fun leagues
MHK9Disc : 200, Bronze DiscGility, SilverDiscGility, GoldDiscgility
Draco Legacy (Scent) DSDL-NC, DSDL- NI, DSDL-NEx, DSDL-NV, DSDL-NCH, DSDL-NChall, DSDL-AI, DSDL-AC, DSDL-AE, DSDL-AV, DSDL-ACH
Alexis
I started agility when I was 5 , my first dog I got to run was our cavalier Ava and she taught me so much! Then over the years, I have had to opportunity to run many dogs and I have been able to work with many great handlers over the years and have learned so much from them. I am always grateful when handlers much more experienced then me ask me to run their dogs! I am lucky to have a great agility family who has always been behind me
I enjoy assisting and teaching classes with my mom and getting to meet all the owners and their dogs, it is great to watch them start to work together as a team!
Over the summer I was given the opportunity to teach a JH class and it was so fun to watch the students in my class bond and have fun playing with their dogs!
I was fortunate enough to get my own border collie when I was 6 and have so much fun working with her, I am now training my new puppy and having so much more knowledge is great for both of us! I can't wait for what our future holds!
During the quiet time of the last few months I have had the opportunity to do a few online workshops to improve my dogs jump and weave skills, as well Indygo earned her Expert Trick Title and her Herding Instinct Test! Clover earned her Novice Trick title and we are taking some barn hunt lessons to see if Clover and Indy will enjoy it!
Junior Handler Titles: ADC, AADC, SGDC, AGDC, MADC, MSDC, MJDC, MGDC, ATCHC
Clover: ADC, AGDC, MSDC, MJDC, MGDC, ExS Bronze, ExJ Bronze - NTD - RATI, RATN, RATO (Border Collie)
Indygo: ADC, SGDC, AADC, AGDC, MADC, MSDC, MGDC - HIC - NTD, IDC, ETD (Border Collie x Australian Shephard)
Laura
I started playing agility in 2008. I started taking classes with the Flashing Canines because I didn't have the first clue about training my new Border Terrier puppy (Sophie), but it was clear from day 1 that she was smarter than me and needed a job. At that time I had no intention of competing or any of that stuff .... but it didn't take long for me to catch the BUG! I went to my first trial to volunteer and observe and I got talked into playing ... we have been going hard ever since! Now my life revolves around my dogs and dog sports. I have also tried my hand at Earth Dog, Barn Hunt, Scent Detection, and Sprinters. We love them all!
I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people in training dogs and my newest passion is sharing my love of agility and dog training with others! I love to see people and their dogs make connections, and I love learning from my students! My one piece of advice is to stay connected and have fun with your dogs!
Sophie and I have achieved all of her titles up to and including her ATCH. She has competed at Regionals and Nationals. At Nationals in 2015, she placed 8th. She is now Semi-retired.
My newest Border Terrier Dug has just begun his agility career which has been stifled by COVID, but he is loving it. So far we have one Jumper Q, but we are on our way!
Marla
Hi, I’m Marla I have been playing agility since 2013. I started agility to help my Boxer Zora use up some of her energy. Even though Zora loved to play we struggled with her following instructions. Over time we learned how to work together to be a better team.
I fell in love with the game as it helped me to build a bond with Zora that lasted her whole life. Zora retired with her Starter titles & was working towards her Advanced titles.
I started assisting & then teaching classes during this time and decided to add another dog to the family. Xylee is a Boxer Cross who came from Winnipeg Boxer Rescue as a puppy. Xylee loves to do anything I ask so training her has been a pleasure. She is 6 years old and is in Masters levels for everything but is retiring due to an injury. We got to participate in AB/NWT Regionals 2024 where Xylee placed 6th in her division.
To help me keep learning & her working we are doing scent work with DSDL & competing in NASDA.
I also have Nyxie she is a year-old Rat Terrier who is pushing me out of the nice comfort zone that I had with Xylee. She is starting her basics in agility, but Nyxie has made me look for new ways to train her. We have struggled to build our bond & that has led to struggles in other areas. I have taken seminars in other sports and from different trainers to help us. We are getting to the point where it feels like we are becoming a team. This is exciting as sometimes I wasn’t sure we would be a team.
As Nyxie is just a year old, we are just starting her sports journey but she has tried a lot so far to find her passion. We have done scent work with DSDL, barn hunt with MH Barn Hunt, trick titles with Do More with Your Dog, and GRC Dogsports. We are working on her agility foundations & starting classes but her favourite so far is NASDA Trailing & Locating. She has her TL1 title and is working towards her TL1 Excellence Title & TL2.
I’m looking forward to many more years of dog sports with my girls. We hope to be able to help others learn to build a bond with their dogs & love the sport of agility. I believe that we might not always get the dog we want but we always get the dog we need.