Our story

In 2007, Julia Lane started Spot On K9 Sports in her backyard in South Elgin, IL. She and her husband had relocated to the Chicago suburbs after Hurricane Katrina flooded their New Orleans home. Julia loved working with shelter and rescue dogs, having four of her own, and wanted to help other people enjoy their dogs more through training and exercise. Her motto continues to be, “A tired dog is a good dog!” She competed in agility and rally with her Dalmatians, Darby and Jolie, and became a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers.

Thanks to her generous veterinarian, Dr. Denise Crittenden, owner of South Town Animal Hospital, Spot On K9 Sports opened an indoor training space in the vet clinic in 2010. Over the years, hundreds of dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds or mixes came for agility, obedience, nose work, and tricks classes. The people came for the fun and new friendships.