My Weird and Wonderful Dog CV

I have an interesting Dog CV; I often get asked how or why I am involved with such and such dog club. First of all, my mentors taught me to give back to the Fancy, they didn’t say only give back to your breed or local club only, they taught me to give back to the Fancy.

In or around 1994 or 1995 is when I first learned about dog sports and dog clubs. I took my crazy GSP Siegfried to an obedience class at Rio Grande Obedience Dog Club (RGODC) and really enjoyed the people at the club. Being a big Mystery novel fan, I soon found the mystery series by Susan Conant and Laurien Berenson and decided I wanted to train and show dogs.

My dad had battled cancer for a long time, and he had told me to find something I love and do it. I had shown ponies and horses as a kid and I loved the human/animal bond, but I couldn’t keep a pony in my yard, so dogs it was, although crazy GSPs were probably more work than a pony.

So, dogs it became. I had enjoyed the folks at RGODC and soon joined the club. I went on to be a multi term President and Director of the club as well as chairing Obedience, Rally and Agility matches and trials. I got to judge matches and teach puppy classes and had a wonder start to my dog education.

I also joined the Tracking Club of El Paso where I held numerous positions and assisted with Tracking Test. Tracking in the SW desert is amazing to watch.

As much as I enjoyed the companion sports, I really wanted to do confirmation and have a Champion Show Dog. So, I went to an All-Breed show and stalked the person I had seen showing German Shorthaired Pointers and introduced myself. That introduction led to my joining both local GSP specialty clubs the El Paso Del Norte GSPC and the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Las Cruces. I joined just at the right time as the El Paso club was hosting the GSPCA nationals and I got to hit the ground running and learned a lot. In additional to learning about the National Specialty show, I went on to learn about specialties and supported entries, assisted with Hunt Tests and Field Trials, and served multiple terms on both club’s Board of Directors.

My new confirmation friends encouraged me to learn about dog shows by stewarding at all-breed shows. I joined the New Mexico Stewards Association and became a professional steward.

I learned so much from all these great dog clubs that when it came time to find my first show dog, I had enough credentials that my eventual mentors took a chance on a newbie and sent a fabulous puppy all the way across the country to a new show home. As a proud owner of not just my pet GSPs but now of a show puppy I also joined the GSPCA the parent club for the German Shorthaired Pointer. I finished my beautiful Windy completely Owner Handled and bred my first litter which produced my lovely Wicca who was the 2003 GSPCA Best in Sweepstakes (entry of 99).

Now that I had a show dog my mentors encouraged me to join the local all-breed club. I tried and tried and tried. I didn’t realize at the time that many AKC All-Breed clubs were often little fiefdoms and both the El Paso Kennel Club and Mesilla Valley Kennel Club (in Las Cruces, NM) were just such clubs. They were both run by the same people and their friends and refused to allow anyone to join. Both but on 2 All-Breed shows a year and did nothing else for the dog communities they represented. That really annoyed me and in 2005 I sent out 100s of letters to all the area dog fanciers I could find with the idea of forming a new All-Breed club that would support the area fanciers and do more than just put on a dog show for our friends. Onate Trail Dog Fanciers (OTDFA now El Paso Dog Fanciers) was born from that letter writing campaign.

Telling me I can’t do something is a good way to get me to do it and after the AKC said no, we could not have another AKC dog club in the region I and the members of the club set about proving the AKC wrong and our efforts eventually forced the closure of both EPKC and MVKC. Eventually it was discovered that MVKC had not been dissolved correctly and the Lifetime members of that club who were still in the area were able to resurrect it and the two cities now both had a working kennel club. As President and Founder of OTDFA I was happy to lead the membership through the AKC accreditation stage all the way through licensing and approval to hold an All-Breed Dog Club. As part of OTDFA I had the opportunity to judge confirmation matches, run handling classes, teach good manners classes through UTEP’s continuing education classes at the University and put on Responsible Dog ownership events throughout the city of El Paso, TX.

It was during this time I became a Canine Good Citizen evaluator and it also during this time that my breed focused shifted from the GSP to Cardigan Welsh Corgi. I got my first CWC, Stoney in 2000 and joined the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America (CWCCA). I also met my best friends because of corgis.

As a member of the CWCCA I have served on various committees and in 2012 I began the 1st of 3 terms as an officer/BOD member of the parent club. Additionally, as a member of the CWCCA my dogs and I have represented the breed at both the Meet the Breed in NYC during Westminster KC week and at the AKC National Championship in Orlando Florida. In 2019 I was honored to receive the AKC Outstanding Sportsmanship Award from the CWCCA.

In 2006 I was invited by a dear friend to join her in Northern California to help out a friend who was the Show Chair of Richmond Dog Fanciers (RDF). RDF had moved to new show grounds in Dixon, CA and the club was in need of some help. My friend volunteered me! Off I went to Northern California, and I have been going ever since. Things have changed with RDF as I am now serving as the Club President. I know it is weird that I don’t live in California, yet I am the President of an All-Breed Dog Club there. RDF is what is known as a proprietary club, one of the few that remain in the AKC that are clubs owned by private individuals and as such don’t have the same membership demographic requirements as other AKC clubs, so our membership is spread out around the country, and we come together to put on one of the friendliest shows around. And just to add one other odd thing to my dog resume for the last 2 years I have been a member of the Associated Rottweiler Fanciers of Northern California and currently sit on their Board of Directors. I know weird, but helping the fancy, not just my breed and no I have never owned a Rottweiler.

2013 brought a lot of change to my world. My job packed me, my mom and the dogs and moved us to Atlanta, Georgia. It has been a transition moving from a place where there 8 show weekends a year within an 8-hour drive to a place where I can throw a rock and hit a dog event. It has given the dogs and I lot of opportunities. Unbeknownst to me my new house was less than 2 miles from the Atlanta Obedience Club’s training building and of course the first club I joined in Georgia was AOC. In the last 10 years I have served multiple terms as President (currently serving in that role) and as a BOD member, I have chaired or been Secretary for Obedience, Scentwork, Tracking and FastCat trials and tests. I am the club Scentwork Trial Secretary. I have taught AKC StarPuppy classes, beginning manner’s classes, Scentwork classes and run confirmation handling practices. We have done public outreach and hosted Responsible Dog Owner’s Day activities. In 2019 AOC awarded me the AKC Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.

Here in Georgia I have also served as an officer and board member of the Georgia Canine Coalition, an organization that works to protect the rights of dog owners in the state. I was honored to represent AOC at the Capitol when Governor Nathan Deal declared May 1st as National Purebred Dog Day in Georgia.

I have also had the opportunity to belong to both the Lawrenceville Kennel Club and the Atlanta Kennel Club. All-Breed clubs are often strange beings and at the times of my membership neither of the clubs fit into my lifestyle. So currently my only membership in an All-Breed is Richmond Dog Fanciers.

So, in additional to all of the above, I am a CGC Evaluator, Trick Dog Evaluator, ATT Evaluator, FitDog1 Instructor and Farm Dog Judge. My dogs are registered with Barnhunt and Bailey was the first Cardigan Welsh Corgi to earn a Senior Barnhunt title and Sienna our late Brussels Griffon was the first in the breed to earn any Barnhunt title. The dogs are also registered with NASDA, and I will be the trial Secretary for the upcoming local NASDA trial in December.

I am thankful for all the trust that has been given to me over the years and I hope I can continue to contribute and make a difference in the dog world.

Needless to say, I keep busy with all the things, and I try to make myself available to help those new to dog events and typically I try to not only talk the talk but I walk the walk or as they say, “I have the receipts”.