We have dedicated this page and those linked on the
left to our students and their dogs. Each month we will showcase one of
our current students and their dog below. Check back regularly to see if
it may be you!
Pictures of our agility and obedience classes, our students who are competing, and those who have accomplished major milestones with their dogs can be
found on the linked pages to the left.
Enjoy!
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Student of the Month
Katie Flatt and her dog
Callie
In March of 2007, Callie was just two years old and
into everything. Katie couldn't keep her still. She
was over the
couch,
under the table, around the room and jumping anything in her way. So Katie
thought agility might be perfect for her. They signed up for a beginner
class. Callie did very well and really seemed to enjoy it, so Katie
signed up for more classes. As time passed, Callie not only enjoyed
agility, but became very good at the sport. After about a year of
training, Katie decided to enter a
trial just to see how they would do. Callie qualified in every run and
got all first place ribbons! Trial after trial they continued to qualify
and bring home the blue. Katie would joke half heartedly about having a
MACH Westie, never dreaming that her dream would one day come true.
In agility, titles are earned by running a course in the allotted amount of time with a minimal number of errors. Three qualifying runs are needed for the Novice, Open, and Excellent levels. The forth level, Masters, requires 10 qualifying runs to earn a title. After reaching the masters level, a championship is earned when dog and handler qualify in both standard and jumpers courses in the same day (a double queue) 20 different times, and run an accumulated total of 750 seconds under course time.
Katie and Callie earned this championship title, MACH, on November 17th, 2011 at the trials in Concord. It was a thrilling experience for both Katie and her friends watching that last run, holding their breath, hoping the bars would stay up and Callie would stay in the poles. After that last jump, the crowd roared and Katie grabbed a bar and ran a celebration run around the course while Callie wondered what was going on since she knew that they should be going back to her crate for a treat.
Katie and Callie are the first DogHaven students to earn their MACH. We are very proud of them and wish them further success in their agility career!
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