Some History

Animals have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up riding and showing horses, which surrounded me with horses, dogs, cats, peacocks, llamas, donkeys, etc. My summers where spent on a farm were I did everything from feeding and cleaning, to helping teach the summer camps. Fall weekends were spent readying trail horses, guiding rides, and taking care of the animals at days end. In the middle of all this, I trained, took riding lessons, prepared my horse, and traveled the country competing in Appaloosa shows at regional, national and world levels. Thanks to my parents, I had a great childhood (but I worked for it!).

How I Got Started

My furkids, Powder and Joshua, were my inspiration for becoming a pet care provider. When I worked as a property accountant, I would find myself looking up at my dull grey, windowless, cubicle walls wishing I was someplace else and with animals again. I would come home, miserable from sitting in endless bumper-to-bumper traffic, to see two happy faces, tails wagging (okay 1 tail and 1 'happy butt' - it's an Aussie thing!) and get endless kisses. I realized working and being with animals is what I wanted to do.

Present Time

I still have my horse, he's almost 24 and can be seen in some local shows ridden by a close friend. Currently I am active in NADAC (North American Dog Agility Council), USDAA (United States Dog Agility Assoc.) and AKC (American Kennel Club) Dog Agility. I have trained my Maremma Sheepdog, Powder, and my Australian Shepherd, Joshua, to do agility. Powder thinks it's fun, but only when SHE wants to do the obstacles! It's not easy convincing a 92 pound independent dog to run an agility course! Agility with Joshua is a bit of a different story...it was a very slow start as Josh was unsure of the obstacles and it took a long time before we found his comfort level. But we did it and we were finally ready to compete!

Unfortunately Joshua became very ill early spring of 2003, thus we didn't get to start trialing. Luckily, in June '03 he was diagnosed with E.P.I., or Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. This means his pancreas does not produce digestive/pancreatic enzymes, similar to a diabetic whose pancreas doesn't produce insulin. Without enzyme replacement therapy, he is unable to digestive his food, thus becomes malnourished. Fortunately, he has recovered and we have his disorder under control.  If you have a dog with Pancreatic Insufficiency, a great source of help with this disorder is the k9-EPIGLOBAL Yahoo! Group.

Joshua's Copper Kisses AD OA OAJ OAC OJC OGC TN-N CGC

In October of 2004, I adopted a Border Collie, Mollee. She LOVES agility...unfortunately, I first had to help her overcome many issues including separation anxiety, aggression, sound sensitivity, & storm phobias before competing. I've succeeded with most of her fears (with the much needed help of an exceptional agility trainer), and though some of Mollee's issues will never really go away, we will be able to start trialing this fall.

...And if 3 dogs weren't enough...on January 18, 2006 a bouncing baby Border Collie joined our family! "Way to Me Zeke" aka "Z~Z" is a wonderfully talented puppy from exceptional herding lines. Zeke's future will be in sheep herding and agility.

Additionally I am a foster mom for ARPH (see link on links page). This program is designed to aid sheltered Australian Shepherds in need of homes. When a home is not available, the aussie will live with my husband, my furkids and me until a forever home is found. I'm also a part of AussieCUR, which is a group of people who help transport Aussies to where they need to go.

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