I have loved animals as long as I can remember. I was the kid always bringing home the stray kitten or puppy. I grew up riding horses and showing my rabbits in 4-H club. My first dog was a Boston Bull Terrier named Pepper. As soon as I could talk, I told everyone stories about Pepper. Later on, my family had Tico, a mixed breed that we liked to dress up and do "shows" with. Tico was an amazingly patient dog and didn't seem to mind being subjected to t-shirts and tutus.

I acquired a dog of my own in my college days. Kaya was an English Springer Spaniel and was my constant companion for 13 years. I didn't watch or own a television, and in my spare time I loved to teach Kaya tricks. Kaya even picked the man I would eventually marry. She disliked all my dates until she met Laurence, and for her, it was love at first sight. It didn't take me too long to figure out that if he was good enough for my dog, he was good enough for me. We've been married now for 19 years.

In 1991, I got my first Border Collie puppy. I was fascinated by the breed after reading "Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men: Searching Through Scotland for a Border Collie" by Donald McCaig and searched out a local breeder. Maggie was a blue merle dynamo who would play frisbee for hours on end and still love to cuddle at the end of the day. Shortly thereafter I got her a playmate, another Springer Spaniel named Dixie. I used to take Maggie to sheep herding trials in Pittsboro, NC where I always got a kick out of seeing all the border collies lined-up along the fence - their eyes intensly glued to the dog and the sheep action in the field, while their human companions relaxed in folding chairs as if at a garden party.

At the herding trials, there was always a corner of the property that had a few agility obstacles set out. I never saw anyone actually use the obstacles but recognized them from a news story I had seen. I tried to find someone to help me learn more about the sport, but it was difficult to find agility instructors in the early 1990s.

In 2004, I started looking for another Border Collie puppy and Faye joined our family. This time around I searched for a teacher or facility that would train us in earnest. That is when I found Teamworks Dog Training.

I have always had an interest in dog behavior and in training. Over the years, I had read articles and books on training techniques, dominance theory and pack hierarchy, and then fumbled along, training my dogs with a mixture of what I learned in books and what I could intuitively figure out. Although I always ended up with well behaved dogs, the process was never smooth or systematic.

I started Faye in Puppy classes and quickly became a convert to Positive Reinforcement training. Behaviors that had once taken days and weeks master, now took only minutes or a few hours. Teamworks introduced me to the benefits of clicker training, and when I started utilizing the clicker, it felt as if I had been living in a foreign land for many years, and suddenly woke up one day fluent in the language and able to communicate with the citizens. Faye responded quickly and we progressed through agility training classes and into competition over the next few years.

Through Teamworks, I also became interested in the sport of Flyball. Faye and I took the training classes and joined a local team (GoDogGo Flyball Club) and we compete in events up and down the east coast. My 13 year-old daughter, Savannah, also became interested in dog sports. She competes with an Australian Shepherd named Splash in both flyball and agility events.

In 2007, another Border Collie puppy joined our household. Zen is coming along in his training and has been competing in both flyball and agility since mid-2008.