Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

Handler Profile (October 2004) ~ Maria Thiry

Where do you live? Belmont, Brisbane, Qld

Occupation: Personal Assistant

Describe yourself in 25 words or less: Currently the president and chief instructor of BAD and an ADAA trainee judge. Totally addicted to agility and I am always striving to get the best out of my dogs.

Describe you agility vehicle: Toyota Rav4 (couldn’t handle the old ute any longer)

When did you start playing agility, what drew you to the sport? We went to the 2000 Pet Expo and thought that our dogs would enjoy it.

Dogs and their achievements: Roxy AAC MAAD6 and Maggie (no titles, just trying to get around an entire course at this stage)

Where do you train? BAD, ADCQ, PADS, WAAG – pretty much everywhere.

What do you like about agility? I like the fact that it exercises both the dog and the handler and it is also a thinking sport. Also love the fact that the dogs love it.

What is your favourite ADAA event? (Agility/Jumping/Gamblers, etc) and Why? I love Jumpers because contacts are my biggest problem with Roxy and I know that I can relax and just run in Jumpers.

What was the most important piece of advice that you have been given about agility? I have taken advice from a lot of different people and it has all helped me to get Roxy where she is today but the most important piece of advice is from my husband Gordon who is constantly reminding me that we aren’t playing for sheep stations. Apparently I take it all a bit too seriously sometimes.

What was the most difficult training problem that you have overcome? For me with Roxy it was the A-Frame (she would jump off sometimes before she touched the colour) and I retrained her to stop at the bottom. She now gets her A-Frame 95% of the time it is just a matter of whether she stops as she is meant to. With Maggie has come quite a lot of problems with the biggest one being that she is a freak out dog and I need to do a lot of work making her feel comfortable in different places. I just have to remember – Reward, reward, reward with her.

What is your most memorable moment in agility? Uralla 2003 when Roxy won the Midi Individual Challenge – she also went clear in 9 out of 10 events at Uralla, which felt like a really big thing as well.

What will your next dog be and when do you think you will get it? Since I have only just got Maggie it probably won’t be for a while but I am thinking about getting a Coolie (not sure on spelling) next.

What is your favourite training game and how do you play it? I actually don’t have a favourite training game as such but I love doing shaping exercises with Maggie as I love watching her try and work out what I want her to do.

What is your next goal in agility? With Roxy it is to do well at Uralla this year and with Maggie it is to get her fully focussed on agility as if it is her favourite thing.

Any other interesting information about you that you would like to share with the members: I used to be a professional dancer and also an aerobics instructor, which is I guess another reason I like agility as it is a bit like doing a routine with your dog.
 

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