Clean Run Magazine - June 2007 - 18

COURTESY OF CAROLE EVANS On Course with Carole Evans By Martha Faulk MF: What sparked your interest in training Irish Setters? CE: I had always been interested in Irish Setters because I grew up around them in Rochester, New York. My dad used them for hunting pheasants. After I came to Colorado to go to college, I rescued an Irish Setter named Flanigan O’Finnegan to be a companion to another Irish I had. Flanigan was about four years old when he was found as a stray in a New Mexico desert. He had a lot of problems, and I thought obedience would be good for him. His earned his CD in 1995 and that was the ﬁrst title I had ever put on a dog. Although I had a degree in animal science and had been working as a pet food representative, it was while I was working a booth at a dog show that I decided I wanted to become a dog trainer. I called a local training facility, and they said I needed to put a CDX on a dog before I could become an instructor. In 1997, Flanigan earned his CDX, and I joined the trainers’ program at the facility. MF: Did anyone ever tell you that Irish Setters are hard to train? woman who was trying to get rid of a Chihuahua came up to me and handed me little George, who was then about two. I said to her, “I’ve always thought about owning a Chihuahua,” and so George came home with me. I took him to obedience classes, and my instructor at the time suggested that agility training would help him with conﬁdence issues. George, who is now almost 15, earned his UD and his OA and AXJ. I enjoyed doing agility with him more than obedience, though, because he is a grumpy soul, and I was always a tad worried he might bite the judge during the stand-for-exam exercise. MF: What dogs other than your Irish Setter have you put MACHs on? CE: Monty, my retired 14-year-old Papillon, was my ﬁrst MACH dog. He was about seven when his ﬁrst owner died, so I took him as a re-home. He had an obedience foundation only, but I thought he’d be good at agility because he’s a real high-energy, high-drive dog. He loved an audience and got his MACH at age 11. He was very enthusiastic about running at big trials, including the AKC Nationals in 2002 and 2003. And then there’s Johnny, who also has his MACH, who is a rescue Canaan Dog. I found him at age two at a humane society where he was running out of time. I never had any difﬁcult training issues with him. MF: Do you train your Irish Setters any differently from the way you train the Papillons and Johnny? CE: Yes. My worst experience came when I was going through a frustrating time training Flanigan in obedience. A well-known obedience trainer said to me, “Well, look what you are working with!” I was dumbfounded, but that remark made me even more dedicated to pursuing my goal of getting an obedience title on him. MF: You’ve had success with a variety of breeds in agility, from small to tall. What is it that interests you in particular dogs? CE: In all cases, I was thinking about adding another dog to the household when something came up—a good dog in need of a home—but I guess I have a breed preference for Irish Setters and Papillons. In addition to my own dogs, I’m trialing my mom’s 9-year-old Papillon, Bonnie, who has her MX and MXJ. MF: Who was your ﬁrst agility dog? CE: The Irish seem to really enjoy being silly. Teagan likes to leap up in the air and spin in circles. I’ve taught him the Bounce command to get him to do that behavior. The breed standard for Irish describes them as “having a rollicking personality.” I try to tap into that personality trait by being very playful with them. Teagan is as happy to work for play as he is to work for food. Teagan got his ﬁrst MACH at age four and his second one a year later. He was the second MACH2 Irish Setter, and so far, he’s the only Irish Setter with both a MACH2 and a UDX. There seem to be more Irish doing obedience than agility, but I wish more would do agility. Clean Run | June 07 CE: My ﬁrst agility dog was actually a rescue Chihuahua, whom I still have. One day in 1994 when I was at a local pet fair, a 18

Clean Run Magazine - June 2007

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