Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

Handler Profile (January 2006) ~ Natalie Kirkwood

Where do you live? 2 acres in Camira, Qld

Occupation: Aircraft Technician or Uni student depending on the day of the week.

Describe yourself in 25 words or less: Busy, easy-going, positive, sensitive, Bearded Collie devotee.

Describe your Agility vehicle: I am on to my 5th white ute, so I guess that about sums it up. Got to have room to put wet dogs, then we have no excuse not to stop and let them have one more swim.

When did you start playing Agility and what drew you to the sport? I started dog training when I was thirteen (1988). I was pretty much drawn to agility straight away. My young Border Collie loved it and so began a passion that we both shared.

Dogs and their achievements:

Buddee (1988-2003) MAAD CDX AD  - Border Collie We had some great times and did some innovative things. We certainly learnt a lot and finally earned our MAAD title when he was 11. Buddee taught me to never say never and always keep looking for a better way of doing things. You definitely can teach an old dog new things. The one I remember most was the ADAA Nationals in 1998 because the prize that went with it was a trip to the FCI World Agility Championships in Slovenia – a truly awesome experience.
Skye (1995) AAC MAAD3 ADX JD FDCh  - Border Collie Proof that you can sometimes tame wild spirits. Officially I have had my most success with this dog winning Dog of the Years, Grand Prix’s etc, but it has definitely been on her terms – not an equal relationship, more her accommodating my presence to allow us to negotiate the course. Skye has had many physical mishaps along the way, yet not one on the agility field. Probably our greatest achievement was being able to overcome the knock to her self-confidence when she was mauled as a three year old (400 stitches, etc, etc). Skye has taught me to smile at agility because sometimes that is all that you can do.
Nitro (1996) AAC MAAD2 GD CDX AD JD FD ET Aust.CH  - Border Collie. I have had many small milestones with Nitro, but I have enjoyed everything I have done with him as he always gives me 140% on the effort scale. Nitro earned his SAAD title at 6 years of age; I still remember the day. That achievement had shown me that if you put your mind to it and follow through with action, anything could be achieved. Nitro and I had just completed 3 months of intensive jump grid work to finally get a round the course without knocking a bar. There is no such thing as a quick fix, but most things can be improved with a bit of thought and consistency. Nitro has taught me to appreciate your dog no matter what, cause they love you regardless of how you dress, what you buy them or how long you are at work.
Sonic Boom (2003) AAD JD  - Bearded Collie Fun, Fun, Fun. What more can I say. Any run is just the best time one can have. I am in awe of his physical capabilities and he does love to run. Lots more agility training to come though…what this space as time will tell.

Where do you train your dogs? Agility Dog Club of Queensland, since 1994.

What do you like about Agility? Freedom to do as you wish when working your dog. No leads, no collars, no restrictions on voice or body. Friends with similar priorities in life. It is just about me and the dog, I don’t have to worry about what other people are doing or achieving with their dog for me to have a great time.

When did you start in agility? Probably had my first comp in about 1990, I honestly cannot remember. I know I got one clear round on the first weekend. I could not compete much back then because Buddee was not papered and you had to travel to NSW to officially compete and that was pretty hard without being old enough to drive. I started instructing and holding committee positions since I was 16. I have been with ADAA since it pretty much began joining the ADAA Board at 19.

What is your favourite Agility event? All of my dogs have had training deficiencies with some obstacles over the years, so I really like the games when you can pick and choose your own obstacles, such as Gamblers. I like jumping tests too.

What is the most important piece of advice that you have been given about Agility? Throw away your check chain and use positive based rewards. Pretty much the first day I stepped foot onto the ADCQ training grounds. Have not looked back since. Another good one is “Don’t feed the Grey”, I have not mastered that one yet.

What was the most difficult training problem that you have had to overcome? Too many to mention, but I would say that consider any advice that you are given and if you think it might work for you, give it a decent and consistent go before you say that you have tried it. There are no quick fixes that last, well I have not found them anyway. Agility trophies are for people, fixing a problem should benefit the dog. Dog’s don’t know that they didn’t win the trophy if you don’t let them know. Now wouldn’t life be fun if it was like that for us.

What are your most memorable moments in agility?  I have been blessed to have many and I wish others the same joy.

What will your next dog be and when do you think you will get it? I probably don’t need to answer this, but I will – A Bearded Collie. Not for a while yet though, competing with three dogs is enough for me at the moment. If I am lucky I will share my life with the Borders for a few more years yet.

What is your favourite training game and how do you play it? It varies from dog to dog, but they all like offering tricks for treats. As far as agility goes, they all really like to run jumps that are easy and fast.

What is your next goal in agility? Improve my dog training skills to be more consistent. I have individual goals for each dog, but they are not that exciting.

Any other interesting information about you that you would like to share with the members: I am married to my husband David and he is quite tolerant of agility and the time it takes away from him. He only spits the dummy occasionally.

I carriage drive 2 miniature pinto horses – Shadow and Willow. I enjoy this very much. I also play touch football whenever I can fit it in.

You can read more about my family at:
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~nitroandsonic/

Natalie with Shadow and Willow

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