My family got our first dog when I was 9 years old.  She was a miniature schnauzer named Penny.  She had 2 litters of puppies, and I kept one and named him Max.  Max was a very steady dog.  I knew nothing of obedience training and showing then, but I think Max would have been good at it.

I got my first Labrador Retriever in 1994, Belle Starr.  My neighbor got a puppy at the same time and we both signed up for lessons at the local training club.  On graduation night, another club member demonstrated Directed Jumping with her dog and I was hooked.  I wanted to do that!

I joined the Durham Kennel Club around 2000.  Jane Bergsten had encouraged me to join, as it was a nice place to train and members were friendly. I compete in obedience and agility with my dogs and have also done tracking and rally.

My proudest moment was earning the Tracking Dog title with Belle.  It is hard to describe the feeling when Belle found the glove at the end of the track!  I was trusting her to find it, and she did! 

A close second was earning the UDX with Skye.  The amount of training and maintaining the exercises involved great commitment and dog-handler bond.

The Durham Kennel Club has helped me reach many goals.  I have gotten to know a lot of supportive friends at the club, and I look forward to more fun times with our dogs in the future!