Clean Run - November 2016 - 26

On Course with

Ileana Nadal
By Sally Silverman

Trainer: Ileana Nadal
Base: Valrico, Florida
Years competing in agility: 36
Dogs: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
Bogey, age 15; Divot, age 8; Putter,
age 5.
Favorite training treat: String cheese
Most unusual training tool: A
NADAC hoop at the bottom of the
A-frame
Accomplishment about which
she is most proud: Having the first
MACH Boxer
Words of wisdom: "Don't put too
much pressure on your dogs. Let
them mature mentally and physically. Take it slow so they don't get
stressed out."
Last movie watched: X-Men Apocalypse
Last book read: Oh My by George Takei
Funniest agility memory: "At a trial,
while sick with a cold, I drank too
much cough syrup and fell on my face
drunk. My friends will never let me
forget it!"
Sentimental gesture: Each dog has
an agility collar and leash. When he or
she dies, Ileana puts it away.
Hero: JRR Tolkien, creator of Bilbo
Baggins. "I love the world that he
created."
Secret to share: She is into super
heroes and Game of Thrones. She and
her kids are off to Comic-Con shortly
and she is trying to figure out who to
dress up as.
If she weren't doing agility: She'd
like to do freestyle. "I love to dance.
When I was a teenager, I danced every
weekend."
26

The best agility advice that Ileana Nadal
ever got was, "When you are having fun,
everything else will fall into place." And
fun it has been-for more than three
decades. Ileana started agility when it
was brand new in the US, and grew with
it. She has been a student, a teacher, a
competitor, and an organizer of events,
running Boxers, Cavalier King Charles
Spaniels, Tervs, and a Coton de Tulear,
not the most common breeds in the
agility ring. Today she runs her business,
Cool Critters, near Tampa, Florida.

How It Started
Ileana finally talked her parents into
letting her have a dog when she graduated high school. "I told them I would
get a dog, or I would move into my own
place." They acquiesced and she brought
Tiger, a "wild and crazy" Boxer, into
the house. Next time it was the parents
who made the threat: "Take that dog to
training, or else." She enrolled the dog
in an obedience class, and he failed four
times. Finally he graduated. He earned
his CD, placing every time he was in the
ring. "He was a lot of work. I did a lot of
reading and research and have been doing obedience ever since." She has earned
CDs, CDXs, and UDs with several Boxers, Cavaliers, a Terv and a Coton.
Things changed in 1989 when she saw
agility. "I just fell in love with it!" When
the first seminar was held in Florida,
each of the people attending made a
piece of equipment and took it to a
house that had some acreage. "Two students of Bud Kramer were the presenters, and it was NCDA (which became
UKC) equipment. I think I got to make
the teeter." She practiced on the homemade obstacles, including a makeshift
tunnel and A-frame, and on playground
equipment. "No one had real obstacles
so when we went to the trials we were
allowed to familiarize ourselves on the
equipment before running." She com-

peted at the first USDAA "titling" event,
held in Virginia.
As agility became more popular, the
Dog Training Club of Tampa started to
host trials, and Ileana began to teach.
"Florida was a little more backwards
than other places, but we caught on."
Ileana remembers being at a John
Gilbert and Peter Lewis seminar with
Linda Mecklenburg and Susan Garrett
who were also just starting out. "We
were beginners, and brought it from the
ground up."

The Present
Ileana still does obedience with her dogs,
but confesses that she "forgets to work on
it unless I am getting ready for a show."
Agility, on the other hand, she does every
day. "I always lost points in obedience because I was using body language. I loved
the fact that in agility, we could run with
the dogs. It was a lot less stressful and less
competitive. We were happy the dog got
through the course!" She also appreciates
the variety in the agility courses, and the
challenge to memorize them. "And we
can try different things."
Agility is a lot more scientific now, according to Ileana. "We have a step by
step of how to get the dog to understand
what we want him to do. It's easier on
the dogs. For example, we used to want

Clean Run | November 16

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