Tracy Sklenar has been training dogs and competing in dog agility for over 25 years, and is the only handler in the world who has won medals in international Finals as a coach for 2 different countries AND as a handler with her own dog in both team and individual events. She has also been competing in flyball recently, including running her BorderWhippet in anchor on K9K to win their division finals at CanAm 2024 and running her Papillon on ESPN as part of the NAFA/AKC Flyball Invitational.
She is on the faculty of Agility University (www.agility-u.com), Brain Camp (www.braincampflix.com), Agility MasterClass (www.agilitymasterclass.com), Flyball-U (www.flyball-u.com), teaches in the Clean Run Learning Center, and also travels extensively around the world to teach in-person seminars and compete in agility and flyball.
Outside of handling and training instruction, Tracy loves to focus on the behavior side of dog sport training and competition! She is a founding member of Brain Camp, where neuroscience meets dog sports!
Tracy is known for incorporating science-based techniques into programs for improving motivation, engagement, resilience, skills, mental prep, and all of the elements that dogs and their humans need in order to be successful in the sports ring.
Tracy’s dogs have had very successful careers Regionally, Nationally and Internationally in agility and now she has added Flyball her dogs’ list of accomplishments! Tracy and her dogs have achieved many titles & championships, made many Finalist appearances as well as multiple podium appearances in the U.S., in Canada and in Europe. She has competed as a member of 5 European Open teams and the IFCS World Agility Championships Team, appearing in multiple Finals and winning a Silver and Bronze medal with Export as part of Team USA. More recently, Hot Sauce has appeared in the US Open Speedstakes finals, and Contraband ran anchor on the winning R2 Division team at CanAm.
Her current teammates include Contraband, a 4 year old BorderWhippet who competes in agility and flyball. Depending on the weekend, he can be found winning agility classes in the competitive 20” height class, or laying down 3.5 second runs in flyball. Hot Sauce is a 6 year old terrier mix who was a national finalist in agility in 2022 and has multiple titles in flyball! Nacho is a 10 year old Papillon, who is known as the fastest Papillon ever in flyball, and was recently featured on ESPN in the AKC/NAFA Flyball Invitational. Up-and-comers Elektra (Papillon/Lurcher), Ramen (Whippet), Jitterbug (Crollie), and Plot Twist (WhipperSnapper) are proving to be incredible partners in agility and flyball as well. Voodoo (11 year old Crollie) recently retired after an exciting and successful career in agility.
Tracy has competed successfully in agility with a variety of dogs of all shapes, sizes and temperaments. Export (BCxJRT mix) competed at the highest levels nationally and internationally for almost a decade, including wins and medals in the USA, Canada, and Europe. He closed out his career with a National Championship in the Games Championship at the UKI US Open! During the Covid lockdowns, Voodoo and Crusher were the National Speedstakes Champions in their respective divisions at the virtual UKI Canada Open, with Voodoo repeating his Speedstakes victory at the virtual UKI US Open.
Tracy began agility with 2 mixed breeds and 2 Dalmatians, and also enjoyed fabulous high level careers with Export (Border Jack) and Rebound (Rat Terrier). This range of experience with a variety of breeds and individuals has helped her become an instructor who can help all types of dogs and handlers!
Besides competing with her own dogs, Tracy has also coached teams at all highest levels of competition, including international teams for the USA in 2011, 2012 (IFCS and WAO), 2017, and 2018, as well as for Canada in 2008, 2010, and 2012. These teams were also very successful, ranking high in the Individual medal count and bringing home multiple medals in the Team event.
Tracy’s local, national, and international students from live classes, seminars, and online classes/seminars have achieved great success with a variety of breeds, including World Teams, National Championships, Invitational appearances and wins, championship titles, national finals appearances, top five finishes in their breed, and more! Tracy uses positive reinforcement, motivational games and shaping to build brilliant behaviors while teaching the handlers to be consistent and positive in their handling and dog training.