My dogs:

 

My first agility dog was Aussie.  Yes, that's right I had an aussie named Aussie. So I may not be the most creative mind when it comes to naming my dogs but I do love training dogs and training people to train their dogs!

 

Aussie achieved her first MACH title in October 2008, her MACH2 title in December 2009 and her MACH 3 in April 2011.  We also qualified for and competed in the 2009 AKC National Agility Championship.  I am proud to say that Aussie and I finished 13th out of 242 20" dogs in the State tournament on Friday.  We finished 122nd out of 260 20" dogs in the Championship rounds, achieving my goal of being in the top 50%.  Not bad for her first national competition!  We then competed again in the 2010 AKC National Agility Championship, finishing 68th out of 270 dogs - wow , was I proud of her!  We also qualified again in 2011 and traveled to Lexington, Virginia.  We had another wonderful year with some very tough competition and I was quite proud of our runs.  After the first 2 rounds we were in the top 60 dogs (out of almost 300) but a blooper on my part in our last run dropped us way down.  But, we remained in the top 50% and were clean 2 out of 3 runs.  In 2012 we headed to Reno, Nevada for the 2012 National Championship - our 4th qualifying year!  Aussie did fabulous, again hanging in the top 50%.  Not bad for a 10 1/2 year old!  And the, just when you might think we can't improve because Aussie was 11 1/2 yr old, we headed to Tulsa, OK in 2013 for her 5th national competition.  We came in 28th out of 409 dogs, earning a spot in the Finals and then came in 11th out of 30 dogs in Finals.  So proud of my girl!

 

I am also proud that Aussie ranked in the top 50 Australian Shepherds in AKC for 2008-2010.  She ranked 41st in 2008, 38th in 2009 and 36th in 2010.  She ranked 51st in 2011 and at the ripe "old" age of 11 she still managed to remain in the top 100, 78th to be precise, for 2012.  What a good girl!!

 

After attending her last National Championship in 2014, Aussie retired to back yard life and the new sport of Barn Hunt.  At the age of 14 1/2 she passed away in 2016.

 

My first Border Collie, Fly, began competing in 2009.  She did extremely well and competed at the Master level of AKC.  She also dabbled in USDAA, NADAC and CPE.  She attended the Border Collie Specialty a few times for both agility and herding.  She also attended the CPE Nationals in 2018 .  She and I also began learning to herd sheep together and found it really exciting and fun, so much so that we now have sheep at Dogwood!  Fly loved agility but working sheep was a thrill also.  Fly lived to the wonderful age of 15yr and passed away in 2022.

 

In April 2010 I added another aussie to the household, Superior's Razzle Dazzle aka Dazzle.  He was quite the sassy boy and was a joy to do agility with.  He started competing in 2011 and progressed to the Master level in AKC.  If you didn't see Dazzle's runs you certainly heard them!  He loved to bark!! Sadly, Dazzle died way too early from liver failure.  He went to the Rainbow Bridge in November 2017.

 

In October 2011 I offered to foster a puppy who has become a permanent member of our household.  She is an adorable mix of everything under the sun and an absolute sweetheart.  Her name is Boo.  She had a very strong fear of being touched by strangers when she came to live with me but she now thinks people touching her is a very good thing.  She's become quite the little cuddler.  She decided that agility is not really her thing so she has dabbled in Barn Hunt and Lure Coursing.  Her favorite pasttime is couch time however. :-)

 

In November 2012 yet another pup joined the family.  He is a border collie with the name, Declan.  He fit into the household quite well and has proven to be quite the smart guy.  He also competed at the Master level in AKC agility.  He has done herding lessons as well and really improved in terms of skills and confidence once I added sheep to our backyard.  Due to some back issues Declan no longer does agility, herding or Barn Hunt but he has discovered the wonderful sport of Tracking. We are having fun learning this new sport together!

 

And if that isn't enough, I added another border collie to the household in the Spring of 2016.  His name is Sirna and he is focusing his training on herding sheep.  He has progressed quite nicely and is responsible for daily sheep and duck herding chores.  He lost a leg due to an infection but it hasn't slowed him down a bit. 

 

I added Kidder to my household in 2018.  She is another border collie and is related to Sirna.  She began her agility competition career just as COVID hit so she had quite a bit of time off from competing.  We restarted her competitions in the Summer/Fall of 2021.  Unfortunately in December of 2021 she injured herself while competing.  She participated in rehabilitation, had surgery, and is now rehabbing with the end goal of returning to agility in 2023. 

 

A foster dog, Squirt, was adopted and joined the household in Spring of 2019.  He was a "little old man" at the age of 14 who lost his human unexpectedly.  He adjusted to living here and I didn't have the heart to make him live through another change so he stayed.  He lived happily until 2021 when he passed of old age.

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And finally, I added a puppy to the household the summer of 2022.  I was missing having an agility dog with Kidder injured so the best solution seemed to be a puppy. :-)  As a result, Soar, joined our family.  He is a lively willful little guy who is having fun learning manners, life skills and foundation skills for agility and herding.

 

Five felines tolerate life with this canine clan.  All rescues, they are loving life here in Ohio as much as the dogs!

 

We also share our lives with sheep, chickens, ducks and Barn Hunt rats.  Dogwood is a place of many adventures!!

 

So, there's a little about me.  Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions about me, my training style, my experience, etc.  I do believe in a very positive approach and the priority is always for the dog and handler to be having Fun!

 

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and my dogs.