I live in Washington State and enjoys training her family of dogs. I enjoy rescuing dogs from shelters and so I don't always have pure-breds, but enjoy mixed breeds and the wonderful personality they bring. They will never fit into a "mold" so to say.
I started getting serious in Dog Training with my first mutt - Mandy. Mandy was a Corgy-Pomeranian, and when Mandy was 7yrs old, I decided that she was bored and that Mandy would like a 'job'. So, off to obedience school. We enjoyed it so much, that we just kept going and going. I then looked into assisting classes with the possibility of becoming a teacher.
After a while, Mandy was getting old and David & I had moved states. When 3 months pregnant, I got it into my head that a puppy was needed in the household so in came Toby - a minature Aussie. Toby taught me so much! We had such an incredible adventure he and I. We started in obedience and then tried our hand at herding. I will never forget those sessions. But, at the age of 2, Toby started having seizures and these terrible seizures took all the energy from Toby. He had no "umph" to push the sheep anymore and sadly we had to give this up. We tried agility, but he got terribly spooked by the teeter and after several tries, knew that this was not for him.
Then I found freestyle. I am a retired dancer. Toby was an Aussie who needed to work somehow. This was just the sport for us. We started with a workshop by Ray and Shannon Underwood in 2001 and have not stopped since. We started with WCFO in 2004 with the Whirl in Portland - trying our hand in that organization with two very different verisons of "New York New York" and impressing the judges. Toby was able to succeed in freestyle both with Paws 2 Dance and WCFO, but he went further in WCFO because they have a Handi Dandi division where those with a handicapp (dog or handler) can compete. And in that division, he was understood - he could not move at top speed, he could not do big movement, but he could join with me in full partnership and enjoy the dance.
Since this was a great sport for Toby, of course I had to try it with my younger English Shepherd mix, Miss Genevieve. Our adventure together was different than the one I had with Toby, but ever so wonderful as well. With Genevieve, we went further in Obedience, but only as far as Open because I was very involved in agility and freestyle with her. In agility, we just enjoyed our moving at our top speed, having fun with all the obstacles, and being together out there in the field. In Freestyle - well - she is grace itself. All our routines were special in their own way and we enjoyed each one. I am hoping to get a few videos of our routines up on this blog.
Truffles joins the family and we just have fun. He just enjoys training and I can tell you that he really loves freestyle. But - only if the cookie is not that far away!! My fault there! Totally! But, I have to say that Truffles is the family clown and while we love seeing him in the ring, I just have not spent that necessary time with him when we got him. He is now 11, still enjoys dancing, but up to a point. We train but not as serious as with Pippin.
Pippin - my now 2 year old Border Collie/Pointer/Spaniel and who-knows-what-else puppy. He is the reason of this blog. My "new" adventure. My new learning experience. My new love.
All of my dogs hold a very special place in my heart.
Mandy - now over Rainbow Bridge, with my dad, waiting and enjoying her time with him.
Toby - over Rainbow Bridge as well. My special buddy who I will never forget.
Genevieve - bless her heart - 12 years old - retired from the work - but not from the fun. I keep her active and I let her know that she is still the best. It is fun to watch her teach the young whipper-snap!
Truffles - my little couch-potato clown. Fun to be with, fun to move with, great to hug.
Michette - my Mom's little white fluff-fluff that lives with us. Scared of her own shadow, yet wants to be part of the pack. She works to build confidence. (I like to call her "little Missy").
And now Pippin - he is such a LOVE! And a CUTIE! I have plans for him!
