Rita Johnson & Jonus (Gotta Go JoJo)
Winners of Senior Darl Final
I started doing agility in 1990 with a little mini x called Gemma, we did it as a hobby, never getting a win as in those days you only got open classes for mini's!
We did manage a couple of wins in pairs though, the last win coming 3 weeks before i lost her tragically and very suddenly to liver cancer. It took me 2 - 3 years before i felt ready to get another dog and went to the N.C.D.L to get another mini bitch - and came home with a collie dog!! called Jonus.
He was an explosion on legs who loved people more than anything else, so, the first year of training was spent catching him everytime he was let off the lead as he just had to go and say 'hello' to everyone!! We think he might of been chucked out of a car as it took me a year to get him to get into the car on his own, i had to carry him into it to start with, and spent many hours just sitting with him, even now, if we swap a vehicle i have to re-train him. He was picked up on the streets of Reading so we don't know any history.Jo was a difficult dog to train, as every exercise was finished with him seeing how much of me he could get into his mouth!! Also, being a very 'herdy' dog he went under alot of jumps too. I took him to his first show late in the season and just managed to keep him in the ring - a huge achievement! The next 3 shows were spent seeing how many jumps he could go under! and the last show he won out of starters!!
The following year we were just getting to grips with it when he did a hamstring and was off for the rest of the season.
At the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005 jo started to go under lots of jumps, sometimes as many as 3 in one class, we went back to basics at training but nothing worked, we finally found it was always on a left turn when my body was still and group training stressed him, so, change of body language and taking him out of group training to train myself and hey presto! ten 2nd places and six 1st places later he was a different dog! I didn't think anything could beat last year but this year he has had top 5 placings in senior, qualified for two olympia semi - finals, coming 2nd both days in the warm up class and qualifying for Olympia as well, a dream of mine for so many years, never thought we had a hope in senior!!!
And qualifying for the D.A.R.L finals as well, and only knowing we had won that when our names were called out!
He is a very special boy who has taught me so much about agility, but, is a quirky devil at home who needs alot of understanding which i think we cope with very well.
PADDY ( PADDY POWER)
I first heard about Paddy from my friend and then trainer Sue Frazier, she had heard of a collie that needed re-homing. I went to have a look at him as he was only 20 minutes away - wow - totally unruley, loud and big!!His owners hadn't got the time for him, he was 1 year old and didn't know how to sit. He also had a huge scar running from his hip down to his toes on one side as, 3 months earlier he escaped out of his garden and went straight under a car and got trapped by the wheel. After spending a night at the vets he was sent home as a miracle with no injuries, and one week later all his skin fell off his leg - the exhaust badly burnt him. I told Sue he would be too much for me and she persuaded me to go with her to have another look. Within 5 minutes she had him sitting to command so knew he was very intelligent, so i had him checked over by my physio who gave the leg the all clear so i brought him home, which was the same night my partner moved in with his 3 collies!! On Paddys' 2nd night he did a 3-hour clicker training session and started obedience training every week, and did a 'heelwork to music' demonstration at the end of the 12 weeks!
He was so easy to train for agility (compared to Jo!!) and was in the ring after 4 months.
He has been competing for a year now, he is a pole roller so doesn't have many clears, and he has just won into senior. He is very strong around the rings so i tend not to queue with him yet, but i hope, in time, he will get easier. Paddy is a genuinely nice guy who makes out he is a big headcase, but he is really quite scared of life.
