Meet Our Trainers
Morgan Dondlinger, Owner
AKC CGC & Trick Dog Evaluator
Canine CPR & First Aid Certified
Dog Photographer
Updog Judge
Morgan has a strong passion for dogs and their training. Professionally she has been caring for and training dogs for five years, starting her career at Leashes and Leads, and most recently as owner and trainer at Courteous K9. Her various roles have included daycare, boarding, training, and being entrusted by her clients to bring their dogs into her home for extended periods with the board and train program. Additionally, she competes in various sports with her dogs, Chevy, Trigger, and Kimber.
Morgan's interest and love for dog sports began when she was 12 with the 4-H dog program she competed in with her dog Tucker. Tucker and Morgan received many honors in obedience, rally, and agility. During their 4-H journey, they had the opportunity to compete and win at the state level multiple times. After she began working at Leashes and Leads, Morgan started taking various classes with Chevy and began competing with him in obedience, rally, and agility, earning various titles and honors.
When not working with client dogs or competing with her dogs, you can often find Morgan out camping, hiking, or paddleboarding. Morgan's dogs enjoy participating in these hobbies as well, whether it's paddle-boarding with her on a lazy summer day or car camping on a late fall night. She often can be found capturing these moments through her passion for photography.
Morgan's passion for photography developed when she was young and always had a camera at hand to capture all of life's best moments. This passion motivated her to start professionally photographing dogs in 2018, leading to the creation of K9 Kliks Photography. She continues to develop her skills and expertise in training and photography through regular seminars and classes with her dogs.
Follow Morgan's pack on Instagram for more photos and updates! @theminnesotaherders
Meet Morgan's Dogs
CD RM DS DDB CGCA CGCU TKA
Chevy is the Aussie that helped to develop Morgan's love and enthusiasm for dog training and sports. Chevy often works with Morgan as her model to help develop her photography skills. He is affectionately known as "Mr. Perfect" among his closest friends. Chevy is a natural in all sports he competes in and has earned titles in agility, disc, dock diving, canine good citizen, and multiple trick titles. Chevy's currently working towards achieving his goal of becoming a rally champion. Chevy loves all people, and Morgan tried to use this love of his and train him to be a therapy dog. Unfortunately, his love of belly rubs got in the way, making him inaccessible to many of those he would be seeing. When not hard at work seeking belly rubs or strutting around the ring, Chevy can often be found on the search for snacks. Chevy considers himself a snack connoisseur by constantly trying new snacks. Feel free to ask him for recommendations for you or your pup! Additionally, Chevy loves to be active and explore new places. He frequently goes on expeditions to various state parks with his mom, where in addition to hiking and camping, he enjoys rolling around in the new environment to really get a feel for it.
CGCA CGCU TKA
Kimber is the most recent addition to the Dondlinger household, having joined in June of 2020. She is Morgan's "pandemic puppy" and queen of the house. She recently began agility training and is starting to get her feet wet with dock diving. Almost immediately after Morgan got Kimber, she developed a love for disc, a sport that she continues to excel at. Kimber's goals for 2021 include starting to compete in dock diving this summer and finishing the year with rally, obedience, and agility.
RN CGCA CGCU TKA
Koda was originally Morgan's mother's dog. When she was no longer able to care for him, Morgan took him in. Originally Morgan planned to train and re-home him; however, he found a special place in her heart! When Koda was ten weeks old, he ran away and was lost in the woods for three weeks. With the help of Minnesota Sheltie Rescue, they were able to capture him; however. As a result, he was very skittish around people. Since taking him in, Morgan has worked to build his confidence around people. Over time Koda has become off-leash reliable allowing him to hike off-leash with his mom and enjoy the many beautiful parks the Midwest has to offer. Additionally, Koda has found joy and confidence in training and competing in barn hunt and rally.
Maddie Koehler, Groomer, Trainer & Class Instructor
AKC CGC & Trick Dog Evaluator
Updog Judge
Maddie joined our team in Fall of 2022 to assist and eventually teach classes. We recently had the opportunity to offer Maddie a full time position to help with daycare as well as add on her own segment of the business; grooming!
Maddie has been attending rally classes since we started offering them. She has always had a love for pets; her parents fostered that love by fostering cats & dogs through her hometown Humane Society.
In 2017 she started her career as a Dog Grooming through a local salon in Winona, and the rest has been history. When she isn't grooming, she is training and trialing in a variety of sports with her dogs Whiskey, Santo, and Peach. In her off time she normally has her nose in a book down by the Mississippi River.
Meet Maddie's Crew
Peach
Santo
Whiskey
Frequently Asked Questions
Coming Soon