About Us
My Dog Sports Journey
What do you do when a stray dog enters your life? Give him a fun job that builds your relationship and his confidence!
Maxx appeared in my driveway in Spring 2002. He was probably a Corgi/Australian Cattle Dog mix, about 9 months old, and WAY too smart for whoever dumped him. Two weeks of searching for his owners at the vets, local shelters, and online turned up nobody who was missing him. I later decided it was their loss and “fate” put him in my path to change my life.
Basic obedience class was our first “must do” since he was not housetrained, didn’t know how to walk up stairs, and appeared to never have been in a house. Six weeks later, he knew “all the things” and when the owner of the facility stopped by, she told me I had to bring him to agility class. My response? “What’s that?”
Even with a first-time, uncoordinated, not-very-fast owner (that would be me), he was a natural. Nine months later, in May 2003, he was at his first trial day, where he did four runs, got four blues, and four Qs. I was hooked! I also realized that I needed to figure out how to work with him at a distance, because he was FAST.
NADAC Championships came to Castle Rock in 2004, and we were there competing at our first national event. He got third place! (Despite me getting lost on course for several seconds.) And he brought home five other pretty ribbons that still hang on my office wall.
He started his teaching assistant career in 2005, when I began teaching family obedience and agility foundation classes. He would patiently wait on the table, ready for the moment I called him to demonstrate. He loved our weekend seminars, when he could hang out with me for two whole days, run with multiple students, and teach distance skills. He ended up running with well over 100 students in seminars, classes, and trials.
We had a ton of adventures together, and he never let a day go by without “making” me do some kind of training. He also never missed a national championship until he was 14 and retired. By that time, Pixie was ready to pick up the torch.
He went on to earn over 30 championship titles in three different venues and multiple nationals wins. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but we worked it out together, and he was my heart and soul dog. I lost him two weeks shy of his (approximate) 18th birthday, and I miss him still. However, he taught me a LOT of lessons.
- Relationship is everything. If you build a solid relationship with your dog, they are overjoyed to work with you, even when you are the less talented half of the team.
- Communication is the key to success. Dogs really want to do what you ask, you just have to learn to consistently speak a language they understand.
- It’s not worth doing if it isn’t fun. Almost all agility handlers go through a period where their team is getting pretty good, and the competitive nature turns up. You can either let it take you to a dark place of “serious” training, stress, and negativity, or you can have some serious fun. He taught me to choose the right path.
Maxx is the reason for my mission. Make agility, tricks, and canine conditioning accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical abilities or knowledge. Help people build relationships with their dogs and learn how to communicate in a way their dogs understand. Finally, teach people how to succeed in dog sports while having a ton of fun with their canine companions.
Ready to join me?
Why Maximum Fun Dog Sports?
I’m passionate about training dogs and dog owners.
I’ve been teaching agility, tricks, canine conditioning, and family obedience since 2005, in weekly classes, seminars, or online.
In my quest to help more people, I earned my Certified Trick Dog Instructor, Canine Conditioning and Fitness Coach, Stunt Dog Judge, and Animal Actors Certified Evaluator credentials. I’ve evaluated over 900 trick, conditioning, and stunt dog titles and served on the board of Do More With Your Dog for almost a year.
I have been blessed with some fantastic dogs who have taken me to national agility championships from 2004 through 2018. Two of them earned multiple wins at nationals. When rescue #10 decided agility wasn't his "thing", I decided he would be the "trick dog" instead since he loved it so much. He and the other current pack members have surpassed my expectations and I now have a Trick Dog Grand Champion, a Trick Dog Champion, a Stunt Dog Champion, and all three of my most recent dogs have managed to earn a stack of trick and conditioning titles.
I love teaching people to train their dogs and seeing teams succeed in reaching their goals, no matter what those goals are.
I hope you will join me for your dog training journey.
You can get on the mailing list by filling out the form at the bottom of the page, and you’ll get weekly stories and training tips, discounts on new courses, and advance notice of what’s coming up next.
Meet The Team
The canine team members are just as important as the human half! Their dedication, willingness to play, and ability to learn make creating the teaching videos possible.
Onyx
Born 2017, sighthound/herding mix, cuddler extraordinaire, accomplished trick dog
Rising Midnight Star, ATD-M, CCF3, AtoZ, 20:1, 2K9, SSH, BTC48
Xephyr
Born 2016, sighthound/herding mix, sleeps under the covers, accomplished trick dog
TDCH Wild Wind Xpress, TC1, NSD, ETD-M, CCF3, AtoZ, 20:1, 2K9, SSH, BTC24
Pixie
Born 2010, Border Collie/ Sheltie mix, loves to "work", accomplished agility and trick dog
NATCH-8, Vers-NATCH-5, AA-NATCH, Gold-C-MEX, TDGCH, SDCH Flying Pixie Dust, 5K Lifetime Points, ETD-M, CCF3, TC3, AtoZ, 20:1, 2K9, SSH, BTC24
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