Meet the owners of K9 Sports Centre

Although we had dogs when I was a kid, they were playmates not trained beyond don’t mess in the house.  I was living on PEI when I got my own dog & there were no training establishments in 1979 so I bought a book & trained my Minpin basic manners & a few cute tricks.

My first competition dog was Freya, a wonderfully attentive Dobe that loved to work but hated the dumbbell, so we stopped when we reached that level. When I started training in this area in 1985 there were few opportunities to train or show. I stood in line for an hour & a half to register for classes. 

My first show was a huge one in downtown Montreal. I was alone & terrified - just my Freya & me. We’re really fortunate that there are so many opportunities to trial within a short drive of us now & a lot more support. 

Take advantage of the many opportunities we have in this area & have fun with your dog. If you’re not both having fun, what’s the point?  Over the following decades I competed & titled with my Dobes in agility, obedience, rally, sprint, chase ability and scent detection. 

I’ve also worked with my own Irish Wolfhound, mixed breed, Rotties and Cardigan Welsh Corgis to title in the same sports as well as Barn Hunt with my Cardi Darragh. Just to spice things up I competed with a friend’s English Cocker Spaniel in agility & actually took her Cairn Terrier off leash for her Rally Advanced title. 

Moxie is a great dog to work with but she sure gave my heart a jump when someone squeaked a toy while we were in the ring!  I also act as a sighted guide for a friend who has trialled (& titled) 2 guide dogs in obedience & rally as well as a couple of Sibes. Trying to get someone else around a rally course is an education in itself. 

My favourite memory is a tie between the time Isis got 2 perfect RAE legs in the same day with some brilliant work & the time she took almost 5 minutes to get an advanced rally NQ. She actually stopped by to put her chin on the steward’s table to “say” “I like sammiches too.” 

They were actually still talking about it 2 months later in Syracuse even though it happened in Carp. Isis got her CD(Pref), RAE, SD-A, CA & happily went wild on the agility field. She won numerous awards in scent for top amateur but I think Chase was her favourite. Letting it rip around the field after the “bunnies”.  My favourite for Loki is a tie between his first trial recall & his first Scent trial. 

In Syracuse obedience he ran up, jumped up twice to lick me in the face & sat beautifully. We are entertaining. His first scent trial Loki took HIT in the first trial held in this area along with best amateur interior, best amateur started (we were all started at that point), best started overall, best amateur exterior. It was an exhilarating day.  My dogs & I have competed in Scent with both SDDA & CKC with titles up to excellent, obedience & rally with CKC & AKC with titles up to RM & CD (COVID suspended our open trials),  and agility with AAC, CKC & AKC with basic titles & lots of zoomies. My Cardi Darragh & I have managed to get points in the conformation ring, but it was Linda who got her her Am/Can Championships. I’m much better at performance sports. 

Darragh finished her RATS title last summer. Absolutely no conflict between that & scent detection BTW.  I’ve taught rally in the past and scent detection for the past few years. I’ve chaired obedience trials & rally matches for CKC & scent detection for CKC & SDDA & organized K9Kup for 6 years as well as working as ring crew for obedience, rally, scent & agility. This fall I was accredited as a CKC scent detection judge, so I’m looking forward to judging in the spring.  

Things I’ve learned: 

•  Be kind to newbies. We were all new once & being snotty to new people may protect your closed “circle” in the short run, but it’s a good way to ensure the slow extinction of your chosen sport. This is true whether you are a competitor, judge or ring crew.  
• Be patient. Everyone is doing the best they can. They do this because they like it. Don’t take that away from them.  
• Be nice (& maybe even thankful). It takes a lot of work to put together a trial. Don’t be the reason they decide it’s not worth the agro. 
• NQs are never wasted if you learn from them. They can help you shape your training regimen. 
• Train the dog you have. Know your breed & how they think & work. All dogs can compete & title but don’t try to make them into something they’re not. Just because you aren’t HIT doesn’t mean you aren’t successful. You make your own triumphs.
• It doesn't matter how much experience you have, there is still value in taking your new dog to classes. New techniques are developed & your dog will profit from training in different locations (generalizing) as well as the socialization aspect of learning to work around other dogs. 
• Volunteer if you really want to understand your sport. You get to see it from a different perspective when you aren’t the one under pressure in the ring & you get to learn from judges. A very valuable experience & one that helps to keep dog sports alive.