Every year I like to choose a couple students that most exemplify the canine sports complex Training philosophy. This year was particularly hard to make this choice. So many students, canine and human, achieved so much this year and I am very proud of each and every one of you. After much thought, i was able to narrow it down to 2 teams. First, long time student Stacy Nicastro and Mya, her lab mix. Stacy and Mya have been training with me for several years, almost since the opening of Canine Sports Complex. Mya is Stacy's first agility dog. Stacy brought Mya to me with lots of stress and fear issues. When Stacy started competing in NADAC and CPE with Mya, it seemed like the team would never qualify. Mya had every issue in the book: fear, Zoomies, lack of focus... You name it. But Stacy never once got stressed or angry with her dog. She entered the ring every time with a smile on her face and lots of encouragement for Mya. Slowly the 2 started to improve and really blend as an agility team. Mya is running fast and accuratley. And Stacy looks like a seasoned handler. Her handling skills are dead on and the team is becoming a force to reccon with. I wanted to recognize Stacy and Mya because so often we watch in awe at the fast, driven dog that qualifies run after run after run. The handlers that work so hard to motivate frightened or slower dogs go unnoticed because they are not flashy. But these are the real dogs, and these are the real trainers. The next time you see stacy and mya at a trial, pay attention to the joy on stacy's face, and the spring in mya's stride. This is what agility is all about.

The second team I chose, are newer to the center. Lynn Buetler, runs Jack, a little black staffy bull mix. Jack has got the speed, strength and drive to be competing with the best team out there. But fear and a little bit of doggy ADHD made working with Jack a particular challenge. Jack quickly mastered jumping, tunnels and contacts, but getting him to sequence seemed near impossible. Jack stressed when people entered the training center. jack stressed big time when any other dog was in the building. But at the end of each of Lynn's 8 week sessions, when most other handlers would have given up on their dog, Lynn would tell me, "I have to master this, Jack and I have to get this." And, boy are they starting to come together as a team. Lynn and Jack participate in 2 weekly classes to increase the amount of exposure Jack gets to other people and dogs. And Jack is running small courses, quickly and accurately. They have even begun to participate in fun matches in which they excell. And on top of all this Lynn is becoming an excellent handler. The team is not quite ready for competition.. But once they are ....they will be hard to beat.

Finally, I have decided to give out one special handler of the year award. Jane Cameron and her Feist Jack participated in their 2nd ever CPE trial this past weekend. Now anyone who knows this little dog, also knows he was born to run agility. He has it in his blood. But this is a handler award, and though without Jack, there is no team, it is Jane I want to recognize. Jane did not pick up agility handling quite as easily as Jack picked up agility. But when I watched the team run this past weekend, I saw a handler that listened to every thing I have told her over the past months; That not only learned how to handle her team mate on a course, but does it correctly, smoothly and accurately. Every arm was where it should be, every step was in the right direction, and because of this Jane handled Jack to 2 CPE titles.

Congratulations, again to Stacy and Mya, Lynn and Jack and Jane and Jack. These 3 teams exemplify what Canine Sports Complex is all about!!!