AGILITY Instructors
Sarah with 2yr old
Australian Shepard Lyra
Sarah Indano
Sarah Indano has been training dogs professionally since 2017, first training service dog teams with The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ, and more recently working with disc and agility teams at Hounds of Heck. Sarah is an UpDog Head Judge and UpDog Freestyle Head Judge. She competes in disc with two of her dogs and looks forward to debuting in agility with her Australian Shepherd 2yr old Lyra in 2024.
Besides Lyra, Sarah also has Fletcher, male sable GSD 7y/o; Bijou male yellow lab 6 y/o; Paxton male black and tan GSD 5 y/o. Sarah says, "of course I think, they all are just the best!"
As a trainer, Sarah loves to break down skills and build confidence in both dogs and handlers. She strives to make class fun and encourages all of her students to push their skills and understanding by making each lesson accessible and appropriately challenging. Her students appreciate getting not just the “what” and “how” but also the “why” of an exercise.
Sarah Indano has been training dogs professionally since 2017, first training service dog teams with The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ, and more recently working with disc and agility teams at Hounds of Heck. Sarah is an UpDog Head Judge and UpDog Freestyle Head Judge. She competes in disc with two of her dogs and looks forward to debuting in agility with her Australian Shepherd 2yr old Lyra in 2024.
Besides Lyra, Sarah also has Fletcher, male sable GSD 7y/o; Bijou male yellow lab 6 y/o; Paxton male black and tan GSD 5 y/o. Sarah says, "of course I think, they all are just the best!"
As a trainer, Sarah loves to break down skills and build confidence in both dogs and handlers. She strives to make class fun and encourages all of her students to push their skills and understanding by making each lesson accessible and appropriately challenging. Her students appreciate getting not just the “what” and “how” but also the “why” of an exercise.
Jo with Nell and Nitro
Jo Lesko
Jo Lesko has been training and competing in agility since 2002 when she received her first Golden Retriever as a gift and they took their first obedience class. Through the contacts made in that first class she learned about agility and was hooked. That gift has led to a passion that she truly loves to share with her students.
Jo believes that agility from foundation to masters should be about the dog and handler building a strong relationship where play and reward reinforce learning. “Reward, reward, reward” can often be heard echoing through the training hall. Jo also continues to learn and stretch her own abilities, taking seminars and training with some of the best competitors and instructors so that she can not only improve her own handling but share what she learns with her own students as well.
Overcoming training obstacles can always be an Issue and when one of her own dogs proved particularly challenging other sports were introduced as training for focus and attention in a highly charged environment and she has been able to transfer that attention to agility.
Over the past 2 decades Jo has competed with her Goldens and most recently with her Border Collies Nell and Nitro
Jo Lesko has been training and competing in agility since 2002 when she received her first Golden Retriever as a gift and they took their first obedience class. Through the contacts made in that first class she learned about agility and was hooked. That gift has led to a passion that she truly loves to share with her students.
Jo believes that agility from foundation to masters should be about the dog and handler building a strong relationship where play and reward reinforce learning. “Reward, reward, reward” can often be heard echoing through the training hall. Jo also continues to learn and stretch her own abilities, taking seminars and training with some of the best competitors and instructors so that she can not only improve her own handling but share what she learns with her own students as well.
Overcoming training obstacles can always be an Issue and when one of her own dogs proved particularly challenging other sports were introduced as training for focus and attention in a highly charged environment and she has been able to transfer that attention to agility.
Over the past 2 decades Jo has competed with her Goldens and most recently with her Border Collies Nell and Nitro