Our Instructors

Anne  and her husband Tim bought Best Friends in Aug of 2021; after what could only be called  'fate' made her long time dream come true.

Anne has been involved in the sport for 20+ years. At the beginning, she had to learn how to handle her exuberant & reactive Aussie, Boomer.  Because of his struggles, Anne found herself diving into every clicker class, dog book, & dog behavior workshop she could find. with some of the greats like Bob Bailey, and went to behavior conferences like NT ORCA and Karen Pryor’s Clicker Expo. 

As an instructor, Anne's philosophy is that it is all about teamwork, balance & FUN. She enjoys teaching foundation exercises to puppies or older dogs that need clarity on particular skills. She coaches more experienced handlers to improve through better obstacle performance, more efficient handling and proper reward timing & placement.

Anne  and her husband share their lives with 5 dogs,   

Hemi (2010 - ) Aussie - ADCH 

Carlin  (2012 - ) Border Rat - ADCH 

Buddy (2016 - ) BC & Aussie Mix

Seeley (2016 - ) Border Collie

Lievee (2021 - ) Border Collie 

Away from agility, Anne spends her time kayaking, reading mystery novels,  & learning more about photography! 

Donna is a registered nurse and native Texan who saw agility on TV and thought that might be a fun pastime.  She started training at Best Friends Fun Farm in 2002 with her then two-year old Golden Retriever Sonora (2000-2013) and was immediately addicted. 

Kayla (2001-2015), a rescue Golden joined the family in 2003 and quickly showed Donna that agility was awesome earning numerous titles in AKC, USDAA, ASCA and NADAC and Championships in both AKC and USDAA. A highlight was winning Preferred National Agility Champion at the 2013 Golden Retriever National Specialty. 

Over the years, Donna added more Golden love to her family: Ruger (2008-2022) Jager (2013-happily retired and keeping the yard free of rabbits), Sig (2016) who still competes and baby Kimber (2022) is just beginning her agility career,

Donna, a Registered Nurse-now retired, began teaching at Best Friend in 2005 and loves to teach new skills and help students develop their relationship with their dogs. Whether it is a newcomer or experienced team, she works to help develop the relationship between the handler and dog.  She believes agility should be fun for both.

When not doing agility, Donna enjoys dock diving scent work and relaxing at home with husband Bill and all the pups. 

Susan Shipp has been training dogs since the early 1980’s. She started training agility with her Flat-Coated Retriever, Reilly, in 2001 and has not looked back since then. Susan lives in Plano with her husband Bill, Quinn, a Border collie and Mystic, a Flat-Coated Retriever. 

Susan spent years training and showing in obedience and agility. She made the change to marker-based, positive reinforcement training over 30 years ago. Susan believes that training is important to ensure the dog is a great family member and lifelong companion. Training should be enjoyed by both the dog and handler as it helps to strength the bond between the two.

Many years ago, Susan taught basic obedience and competed in obedience and Rally with her dogs. More recently, she is an agility instructor working with handlers and their dogs at all agility levels. She enjoys working with beginners and seeing their journey as they learn to play agility with their dog. 

Quinn and Mystic are Susan’s current dogs. Quinn is an active Border collie always learning and moving quickly in everything she does. Quinn’s eagerness to work keeps Susan growing her skills as an agility handler and instructor. Mystic is a Flat-coated Retriever. She has just begun her competitive agility career. She is gaining confidence and speed with practice and is develop teamwork with Susan.

Susan’s and her dogs have earned many titles including a MACH and ADCH, but her goal is to have fun with her dogs and help other handlers to have fun with their dogs.

 Christi grew up, and still lives, in Garland, and started dog training in the late 1980’s with her family’s mixed breed dogs that were rescued from various shelters. English Setters, though, have ruled her heart and home since 1999. She and Allie, her second English Setter, started agility in 2001 as an outlet for Allie’s extreme energy, and the addiction began.

After successfully working two of her own dogs, Ranger and Tucker, through dog reactivity to be able to enjoy agility, Christi is all about empowering her dogs, and the dogs she teaches, with confidence. She believes that giving a dog a voice and listening to what they’re saying through body language, eye contact, and behavior is a vital part of building a partnership with her agility dog. Confidence is built through trust, and trust is built through clear, two-way communication with your canine partner.

The Setters have also taught Christi the value of thinking outside the box when teaching behaviors and when trying to find a reinforcement strategy that works for each dog. Conner taught her how to use what your dog wants to get what you want all while making him think it’s what he wants. While some dogs may live for a great tug session, a fun game of fetch with a ball, a yummy treat, or even just a Cheerio, others (Ryker) want to chase water thrown from a bucket, (Tucker) chase a cat toy on a stick, or (Conner) go sniff an enticing scent on the ground.

Christi currently shares her home with English Setters, Conner and Ryker. Conner is her retired competition dog who earned lots of titles in agility, and even rally, before health issues forced an early retirement at age 6. After retiring from agility, he continued learning tricks and obedience to earn his Beginner Novice Obedience and Trick Dog Advanced titles. Ryker is her young dog and they are just starting their competition journey together. He also has Rally Novice and Trick Dog Advanced titles, and is over halfway to a Senior Championship in Dock Diving.  

In her spare time, Christi bakes dog training treats to sell at local agility trials, enjoys baking human goodies, is an avid Texas Rangers fan, and loves to read. When time permits, she also bakes gingerbread houses in the Fall and has even placed at local gingerbread competitions.

Terri has been training and competing with dogs since the 1980s, working with breeds such as Ridgebacks, an Aussie, and Border Collies. She has competed in various dog sports, including obedience, conformation, agility, lure coursing, scent work, and TV work, and has also trained service dogs.

Terri's Ridgebacks were champions and top-ranked in the US. Her Aussie, Roo, competed in agility and obedience and starred in the video "Barney Goes to the Firehouse" and commercials like "The Conspiracy for Entemann’s." Terri's Border Collie, Rush, who stole her heart, earned 3 MACHs and an ADCH in agility, competing in national events until his passing in 2021. Currently, Terri competes with her Border Collie, Pie, and is training a young Border Collie, Jak, who is also exploring herding.

With 30 years of teaching experience in obedience, pet manners, pre-agility, and agility, Terri enjoys helping beginners grow into effective teams with their dogs. She advocates for reward-based training, ensuring it is fun and effective for both dogs and handlers.

Outside of dog training, Terri enjoys crafting, travel, church activities, and decorating. She lives in Sulphur Springs with her husband Peter, their two dogs, a cat, and seven chickens. Their son Aaron is a Sergeant in the US Army stationed in Texas.