Katie
arrived on my doorstep at 7½ weeks of age. She
was a gift from a friend who owns her mother – a
dog who I had always liked and admired for her intelligence
and loyalty. (These same qualities are definitely present
in her daughter.) My other dog Holly was a bit jealous
for the first couple of weeks, but they soon became firm
friends, with Katie encouraging the elderly Holly to be
more active.
As I hadn’t had a young dog for many years I decided
that it would be a good idea to take Katie to obedience
training. I didn’t mind giving up a Sunday morning
for 3 – 6 months whilst I taught her to heel, sit
and stay. Little did I think that I would still be here
4 years later!
People ask me about Katie’s breeding. That’s
a hard one. I usually say that her mother has some Staffy
and Bull Terrier plus something else and her father is
supposed to be a Staffy cross. However, she is the size
of a Kelpie and looks more like a Jack Russell on steroids,
so I have a feeling that the Kelpie across the road may
have paid a visit. She certainly exhibits some Kelpie
characteristics.
Katie
took to classes very well and with the little bits of
homework we did, she quickly moved up the levels in obedience.
Katie is a very active and intelligent dog and I felt
that she needed more to stimulate her, so we joined the
tricks class on a Thursday evening. Here she got to make
friends with Sooty who became her ‘best friend’
and also ‘hunky’ Jackson who she would throw
herself at with adoration (and still does to this day).
I keep telling her that she needs to play hard-to-get,
but she won’t listen… Katie loves tricks and
is always eager to perform. On a number of occasions she
has participated in demonstrations at schools, shows,
etc. for the club. I feel that tricks training has also
been very beneficial for our obedience as it has taught
Katie to really focus on me.
Agility also looked really fun and interesting, so we
tried that too – and became hooked. Katie loves
it and we have been training now for at least 2½
years, looking forward to each session. When we started,
it was just to have fun rather than compete. After some
persuasion however, I decided to enter Katie in a NADAC
Agility trial which is not quite as intense as the more
official VCA Agility trials. She actually qualified in
two events and even got a first place! That was October
2006 and since then we have done a number of NADAC trials
and at the last Ballarat one she even got Novice Highest
in Trial.
A
few of the instructors had been telling me over quite
a period of time that Katie would be more than capable
of competing in VCA trials, in both agility and obedience,
so finally last year I joined the VCA and registered Katie
as an Associate Dog. Our first Agility Trial was our Ballarat
trial last October. Katie did brilliantly, qualifying
in three out of four events, with a first place in Novice
Jumping and a first and a second place in Novice Agility.
She also took home the trophy for Fastest Ballarat dog
in Agility.
In November 2007, we participated in our first Obedience
Trial which was also held at Ballarat. Katie did brilliantly
in her heeling etc. and the cheer squad on the sidelines
was very hopeful, but unfortunately she was disqualified
because she lay down in her sit-stays. We have worked
on our stays since then.
In
the year since we started competing in VCA, Katie has
achieved her Agility Dog and Jumping Dog titles as well
as her Community Companion Dog obedience title and in
the last couple of weeks also her Companion Dog title.
She is now competing at Excellent level in agility and
jumping and will probably start Open obedience competitions
in a few months. She also competed at the Agility Nationals
in August where she got two qualifying Excellent Agility
runs and even made it to the finals.
Katie is the first dog I have trained past class 1 level
of obedience. With the great instructors at Ballarat,
I have learnt a huge amount and had a great time doing
it. The best thing however is seeing Katie having a great
time and whist I certainly hope to continue competing,
the main thing is that she is enjoying herself, not whether
or not we win.
- Ellen
