This and That Short Stories About Short Dogs |
| I've been around dogs and dog trainers for a good part of my life. My mother started doing obedience back in the 1970's with her first Siberian Husky. My parents later acquired, through various ways and means, 12 more huskies and soon sled dog training took priority over obedience competitions. In high school, I was known as the kid whose family "had all those wolves living at their house." My mom got back into obedience training in the late '80's and I accompanied her to many obedience trials. I knew obedience was a sport I wanted to compete in but it would be several years before I actually owned my own dog. In 1997, my first Cardigan Corgi, Rugby, came into my life. While Rugby did go on to obtain his CD title, he made it clear to me that obedience was not his sport of choice. I began training and showing him in a variety of other sports, including rally, musical freestyle and agility. In 1999, I added a second Cardigan Corgi, Riley, to my household. Riley is the very definition of "couch potato", a dog who would really prefer to spend his days lounging on his bed instead of being carted off to trials. Nonetheless, I keep dragging him along to various events and he has actually managed to earn titles in a few sports. In 2003, I started training my mom's Border Collie, Sky, in agility. I've enjoyed the challenge that comes with learning how to run both tall and short dogs on an agility course and learning which handling techniques work best with each dog. Though I've only been showing in agility for 16 months, in that time I've put 15 AKC and NADAC agility titles on Rugby, Riley and Sky and have earned qualifying scores towards an additional 6 titles. I truly enjoy the sport of agility and love the feeling that comes after having a great run with one of my dogs. Readers of "Front and Finish" may recognize my name, and those of my dogs, from the "Funny Dog Stories" I have submitted over the past couple of years. My stories usually revolve around the various ways Rugby and Riley have embarrassed me at agility and obedience trials and how they help keep me humble. Despite spending a great deal of time and energy making fun of my boys, I really am proud of what we have accomplished together. Over the past several years, dog training has become a hobby I really enjoy. The best part about being involved in dogs is getting to meet all the generous and supportive people involved in the different sports. I look forward to meeting more folks in the coming months and hope you will feel free to email me (or talk to me at trials) about your ideas and suggestions. |
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