My husband, Bruce, and I got our first dog in 1990. Rykker was a Belgian Tervuren. At 8 weeks old, he was a very outgoing boy and a fast learner. We started conformation and obedience training with him. After 6 months, we got another Belgian boy we named Jordi. Bruce and I were at the County Fair that summer and saw an agility demonstration put on by Nancy Gyes. We talked to Nancy afterwards and we started agility classes with both dogs. Rykker loved it, Jordi not so much. But after a few classes we were hooked. Bruce started making equipment for our yard so we could practice between classes. We also started teaching beginner class after we moved to more land and found no classes in our area.
In 1994, we decided I needed an agility dog, so a friend recommended an Aussie breeder and we had pick of the litter when they hit the ground. We chose a gorgeous Black Tri boy we named JonLuke. He loved agility from the first time I started training him. He had the need for speed and there was no slowing him down. On a whim, I took him to NADAC Championships in Arizona in 1997 and he took 3rd place in the 24” division. I was also involved in ASCA agility and JonLuke won the High in Trial Novice Agility Dog at Nationals in Red Bluff in 1997. (Before they had their Agility Finals).
We acquired another Blue Merle aussie puppy from a good friend a year later, we named him Miles. He was my goof ball. He loved lure coursing and protecting our property and playing frisbee. Agility, not so much.
Our agility classes were growing with leaps and bounds and we bought an old horse facility with a covered arena in 1998 and quit our day jobs to teach full time. Well, I quit, Bruce retired at age 60. Our training facility, Starfleet Agility, was influenced by the NADAC venue and we taught our classes based on the skills required to be successful in NADAC. Which meant distance, accuracy and speed. I had the opportunity to travel with Becky Woodruff to Japan and teach agility skills to student teachers at a dog training school. It was an amazing adventure.
We lost our Tervurens at young ages due to health issues, which was devasting to us both. Bruce decided he needed another agility partner so he got two blue merle aussie boys from a very good friend and breeder. He named them Chakotay and Tuvok. (Yes, we are Star Trek fans!)
Bruce decided he wanted to learn to run a small dog, so Sharon Nelson gave him a young corgi, we named Q. Q turned out to be quite the lawn torpedo and went on to win the 1998 Pre-Elite 8” division at NADAC Champs. He placed many times at Champs during his career. He earned multiple NATCHes and Versatility NATCHes during his lifetime. I lost Q in 2011, just 4 months after Bruce died of Cancer in July. It was a tough year.
When I lost JonLuke at 10years old due to PLE, Sharon Nelson gave me my first Border Collie pup in 2005. Volt was a 6 month old black tri and eager to learn. He loved to run and loved distance work. He was a sweet boy and loved playing agility with me. I competed many times in the Stakes divisions at NADAC Champs, placing many times. He had earned multiple NATCHes and Versatility NATCHes during his lifetime. We lost him at 14 in 2018 due to old age.
After running and training Volt, I knew I was hooked on Border Collies. Since I was down to one dog. I rescued a little red Border Collie from Performance Dog Rescue in 2014. I called him Scotty (Beam Me Up, Scotty). He is a big clown and makes me laugh every day. He loves agility and distance work. He has 8 NATCHes, 5 Versatility NATCHes, and 2 ALL Around NATCHes at age 6. He took 3rd in Starterstakes division at NADAC Champs in 2018. In 2019, he was 3rd place in Silverstakes.
Jeannie Biggers offered to let me pick one of Chili’s pups, so I picked another boy. I named him Java Bean. Java loves agility, his hollie roller and is quite the handsome boy. He competed at his first NADAC Champs in 2018 and earned 3rd place in the World Competition. He competed in Champs in Starterstakes this year for the first time and made the podium with a 3rd place.
