I am bringing back my blog on my website. I have been training dogs since 1990 when I started doing obedience, agility and herding. I have had many dogs since then including Australian Shepherds, Border Collies, Jack Russell Terriers, Pyrenean Shepherd and a French Brittany. Over these many years I have gained experience with a lot of different temperaments from the shy and reserved to the exuberant and outgoing. My dogs have come from breeders, friends and rescues. The one thing they all have in common is that they have taught me something about myself, about dog training and about dog behavior. Dogs are as much individuals as humans. I enjoy training dogs to be versatile in their agility skills so I train my dogs to be able to do obstacles and sequences at a distance of 20 or more feet away and I train my dogs to be able to do complex turns and back sides of jumps for international style agility. In the end I compete in the organizations that are most suited to a particular dog. I have had dogs who have enjoyed the challenges of a lot of distance and of collection and turning and I have had dogs who prefer one over the other. In Minnesota we are fortunate enough to 6 different agility organizations and each has its own niche form of agility. I enjoy the challenge of training a dog to be versatile in their skills while still being a consistent and clear handler.
I have competed in USDAA, AKC, UKI, ASCA, NADAC and CPE agility and AKC, ASCA and CDSP obedience, and AKC and ASCA herding. I have earned agility championships in USDAA, AKC, ASCA, UKI, NADAC and CPE on multiple dogs. I have participated in agility national events in USDAA, AKC, ASCA, NADAC and CPE with multiple dogs. I have participated in AKC World Team Tryouts with two different dogs. Currently I am training two Australian Shepherd puppies from the same litter who have very different personalities and I am also training a young Border Collie. I am not trialing very much right now, Disney is recovering from an injury and Trig is enjoying hunting this winter. My other dogs Carmine, Tay, Feisty and Sinco are retired from agility.
