In this Issue: NEW Members, Spotlight on Members, March Brags.
Agility is like climbing a mountain –
Don’t forget to take time to enjoy the view
New Members
Meet Cathy Pinick and Wilson
Cathy and Wilson have competed in ASCA. Wilson has earned his Open titles in regular, jumpers and gamblers.
Meet Nicole Fischer and her daughter Ava
She has 2 Australian Shepherds. Her primary dog is Fancy who is 5. She has an up and coming, Pax, who just turned 1. Ava primarily focuses on ASCA events.
Agility is Ava’s favorite sport, but she also competes in obedience and rally. Ava and Fancy made ASCA agility finals and went to Texas in November 2021. They won the ASCA Junior Agility Champion for Finals and Nationals.
Meet Jessica Lindelow and her three dogs
Lacey, Pike and Juno. Pike the border collie competes in agility. All 3 herd and go on hikes.
Welcome back old members:
Welcome back Beth Gideon.
L-R: Youke (14), Rhys (5), Camm (10), and Brady (12).
Welcome back Chigusa Sansen
Corsair to the left and Zeke to the right.
Corsair is starting to compete and still haven’t figure out exactly which venues we will settle on, but we have competed in ASCA, UKI and USDAA. Thinking about AKC.
Welcome Back Wanda Simon with Godzilla – Pap, Valkyrie – BC, Banshee – Below: BC Banshee on the left and Valkyrie on the right!!!
Spotlight on Members
Meet Sher Francis and Doris Dyar with Maggie, Koal and Wyatt Earp
RT: Sher and Doris live in the Tacoma area.
RT: Tell us about your dogs.
Doris: We have Maggie a Rat Terrier Mix, although her DNA testing showed her to be mostly Daschund with some Border Collie and Cattle Dog, Koal 8 years (American Cocker Spaniel), Wyatt Earp 6 years (Husky, Cattle Dog, Pointer, BC and more….mostly 100% Party Boy).
RT:How did you get interested in dog agility?
Doris: We were both attending Dog-A-Thon at Steilacoom Dog Park and saw Kari Hammargren doing an agility demo. Furby (our first dog) went through the equipment and Kari leaned over to tell us we should try agility. We signed up for classes with her at Positive Approach. And so it began…..
RT:Are you competing? If so for how long?
Doris:
Furby and I started doing agility trials around 2005. We started with NADAC and that first trial was a hot mess. I remember Janey Wilcox coming up to me and telling me all the good things about the run. I’ll always remember the way it felt to receive that encouragement. Maggie and I have done CPE, NADAC and a little ASCA. We caravanned with Audrey Hoyt to CPE Nationals a few years back and had a blast. Koal has done NADAC and CPE. In 2019 she had knee surgery, then again in 2021. She is now bionic.
Currently we are taking a hiatus from agility at the moment, for personal reasons, but we love to come watch our friends play the game!
RT:What other activities do you do with your dogs?
Doris: Maggie loves learning tricks. She has her AKC Trick Dog Performer Title, but she doesn’t know that. She just loves tricks, especially the treats that go along with learning. We’ve dabbled in Barn Hunt, but she was a bit offended by the smell of the rats and would probably rather chase one.
She is currently doing Nose Work, which is a very good fit for her and has helped to increase her confidence. Last but not least, she’s a Certified Therapy Dog whose jam is reading with kids. When she’s taking a moment to chill, you can find Maggie soaking up the sunshine.
Koal (aka Ninja Girl) has played Barn Hunt and loves the game, rocketing up to Senior level quickly. She LOVES to swim (but she never wants to potty in the rain).
Wyatt Earp dabbled in Barn Hunt, but he preferred visiting horses in nearby stalls. He also likes to swim, once he remembers he’s really good at it. He’d consider Dock Diving if he didn’t have to jump off a dock. Recently, he tried out Shed Hunting and liked it, so that may be something he pursues.
RT:Do you have any particular interests you would like to share?
Doris: I enjoy gardening in my spare time. Sher enjoys kayaking. We both love to camp and go to the beach.
Sher is retiring 4/15/2022!!
RT: What do you like about being a RAT Club member?
Doris: We enjoy hearing about Team’s journeys, visiting with friends and petting all the dogs!
RT:What RAT Activities have you helped with? Membership? Working at Trials, Demos etc.
Doris:. Doris: Sunshine and currently RAT Secretary. Sher and I have both helped with Hospitality and enjoy setting up photo ops at the trial for people and their dogs. If we are visiting a trial and help is needed, give us a shout!
Maggie looking over all her awards!
RT: What funny things do your dogs do?
Doris: Koal loves to sing to certain songs and the others will join in. Her favorite artists to date are Maroon 5 and Katie Perry. Oh, and the theme song to Golden Girls. Wyatt loves to steal clean socks and love on them. He can also be found back in bed after eating breakfast. That boy loves to sleep in. Maggie likes to spy on the neighbors through the slats of our fence. Her nickname is Gladys Kravitz.
RT: What do you like best about your dog(s)?
Doris: Everything!
RAT BRAG BOARD March-April
March 2022 Brags
Melinda and Bonnie:
Weekend brag: I did not flub The Gamble. 🙂
Kirstin Mansker and Abby
Abby and I went to our first trial a couple weeks ago (CPE) and had a lot of fun. We also went to ASCA this weekend for our second trial and did great:)
Kathy Pinick
This weekend was my first trial as a RAT member. It was fun putting names to some of the faces I’ve seen over the last couple of years. We picked up 3 elite Q’s at the ASCA trial at Argus. But I must say, my most memorable moment was seeing my dog, Wilson, not hesitate at the dog walk.
FINALLY! Whew! Congratulations to all of your accomplishments and milestones.
Corey Thorpe
My weekend brag is that my soul dog Snap and I earned our CS-ATE at the Longview CPE trial.
Melinda and Bonnie
This was a jam-packed weekend and folks were fanned out across the state playing agility and other dog sports. It was so nice to see smiling faces! From Big Fancy Ribbons to start line stays, I know there were lots of achievements. Reading weekend brags makes me happy on Mondays, so I hope you’ll share yours with the group.
Weekend brag: I did not flub The Gamble. 🙂
Sally and April
My brag is that in spite of the fact that April was insanely crazy after 2 weeks of trying to keep her quiet after surgery, we had a nice start-line stay on her 2nd and 3rd runs at the NADAC trial, her dogwalk contacts were perfect, and we even managed 1 novice Q in gamblers!
Vickie Hurley and The Raven’s Run Pack
The Raven’s Run pack went north to the NADAC trial in Mt. Vernon this weekend (March 18-19). Raven and I did a bunch of clean runs that didn’t make time — probably because we are both getting old. Either that or because Raven is so disgusted after years of my inept handling that she doesn’t see any reason to hurry. We still had fun running together. Bridgie, on the other paw, has been trialing for less than a year. She is eager to fill up that ribbon rack. Sweet, insecure little Bridget swept through two perfect Novice Jumpers runs — with distance. The two Q’s she scored gave her enough for her Novice Jumpers Outstanding title. She followed that with a couple of clean, brisk Novice Weavers runs that earned her a Novice Weavers title. She hesitated a little on Novice Grounders, round 1 and didn’t make time, but she used her speed paws on round two and took home a qualifying ribbon. The BEST thing that came of those six runs was when someone came up to me afterward and said, “When she was running, Bridgie was SMILING.” The picture is Raven and Bridget hanging out in the doggie bathroom area last spring, but the view was much the same last weekend.
