As a child, I begged for a dog but was denied over and over again because both my father and sister were asthmatics. Being the determined child that I was, I did some research and discovered that since poodles didn't shed, they could be tolerated by people allergic to dogs. On my 10th birthday, my parents surprised me with an apricot/cream standard poodle puppy we named Buffy.

Sometime after receiving my first dog, my mother took me to see "Lassie" and her trainer perform on stage. I immediately went home and started to teach Buffy tricks. When I went to college, I bought a Sheltie puppy at a local dog show and smuggled her into the dorm day in and day out as we weren't allowed to have pets. Her name was Annie. I made a brown corduroy draw bag to stuff her into so we could ride up and down the elevator undetected. Annie became my first obedience dog and went on to earn a UDT title.

We moved to Durham in 1979 with a six-week-old baby, three Shelties and a Border Collie. We became DKC members shortly after that. My husband and I both became obedience instructors and have taught all levels of classes. I was one of the founding members of the agility program around 1998. I have also taught all levels of agility, and I train and compete in obedience and herding.

DKC has been extremely helpful to me in so many ways. First and foremost are all the priceless friendships I have made over the years. In addition, it has been ever so helpful to have DKC classes to help my dogs learn and the building itself as a training resource. I have always been impressed with the wide range of expertise found within the DKC membership and how willing people are to help others. My dogs have done an awesome job of making me look good over the years. They have taken me to high places I never thought I could reach. With them I have earned hundreds of high in trial awards and blue ribbons. The one moment I keep going back to is when Sony earned her third AKC performance championship and became an OTCH, MACH, and HC all at 5 years of age.