Clean Run Magazine - September 2007 - 20

© KAREN HOCKER PHOTOGRAPHY Lo Baker By Amy Siegel AS: Tell us about how you got started in dog agility. On Course with LB: Back in the late 1980s, my husband George and I had two Golden Retrievers that we showed in the breed ring. We brought them to a local obedience class taught by Brenda Buja. One of the classes had a ﬁeld trip to Brenda’s home to be introduced to agility equipment. I never looked back. No more pantyhose and skirts. AS: How would you describe your handling method? Has it evolved over the years? AS: Tell us about Perk. Where is she from and how did you ﬁnd her? When she isn’t doing agility, what does she like to do? What is ahead for her? LB: I can’t say that my handling method has evolved over the years. What has changed is my training techniques. Because I am not the fastest runner, I teach my dogs independent obstacle performance. I have conﬁdence in my training. I know that my dogs will do the job so I can be free to get to the next area on course. I have always used distance in my handling. Kava, my Australian Cattle Dog, got her Masters Gamblers title before any other title in USDAA Masters. I also do mostly back or rear crosses. I have to thank Chris and Jeff Bolton from England for helping me learn to drive from behind. AS: What are the top three things you teach your dog for agility and why? LB: My Australian Cattle Dog, Kava, ﬁnished her ADCH and MACH and then had an unfortunate accident when her pelvis was fractured while herding sheep. She was out of commission for a long time. During that time, without a dog to play with, I thought about getting a Border Collie. When talking to friends they would be saying things like, “Well she is out of Moss and that one is out of Roy.” I had no idea what they were talking about. But it seemed like they knew every Border Collie out there and every relative. I had no idea where to begin to look. Then I met Blast, owned by Rhonda Carter, and fell in love. I didn’t know any details. I just new I that I liked that Border Collie. Rhonda mentioned that there was a repeat of Blast’s breeding that was due to be born soon. So I wrote to the breeder, Comebye Border Collies in the Chicago area, to get on the list. I didn’t care if I got a boy or girl, black or white, merle or purple. I was blessed in getting Perk! Most of our spare time together is spent hiking in the woods or swimming in the pond. In the winter months, all the dogs love chasing the snowmobile through the miles of trails we have on our land. If time was limited, I would always choose hiking the dogs over agility training. I think it is very important to let dogs be dogs. As far as what is ahead for Perk, all I can hope for is that she stays healthy and has a long, fun career. I can only wish for the best after Kava’s fractured pelvis and our other Cattle Dog Reef ’s agility career coming to an end at the age of ﬁve from lasting neurological effects of Erlichia Equi. AS: At three years old, Perk seems to have accomplished more than many dogs will in a lifetime. Tell us about competing with Perk in 2006, the highs and the lows (if there were any). LB: As puppies, I like to build drive and enthusiasm with lots of toy tugging and game playing, but at the same time teach self-control. I work on games that help to create a trusting relationship. I like to teach the importance of proper jumping and keeping the bars up. We were blessed with our ﬁrst Cattle Dog, Kava. She was a natural jumper and then we got our second Cattle Dog, Reef. She seemed to think it was more fun to go through the jumps. With our BC Perk, I was fortunate to work with Nancy Guyotte from New Hampshire. She is a horsewoman who was short-listed to the Olympic Equestrian team. Although she never worked with dogs before, she certainly has a discerning eye and was able to steer us in the right direction. Then, of course, distance training; if Perk learned to run only as fast as I do, I knew we would be in trouble. By using placement of reinforcement, I was able to teach her to go on and stay on task while being far away from me. 20 LB: I knew that Perk was something very special but I guess the ﬁrst time it really hit me was at the Northeast Regional in June 2005. I had just started showing her two weeks before at 20 months old. She ended up placing 3rd in Round 1 of Steeplechase of a class of Clean Run | September 07

Clean Run Magazine - September 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - September 2007