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Today's Featured Biography

Janet Weyers

Life has been busy since June 1984. It's been an interesting journey with many twists, turns and unexpected paths. The past 10 years have really defined who I am right now which is nothing I would have imagined. Here's a snapshot.

When Jewel, my lovely 7 year old German Shepherd mix who is now at the Rainbow Bridge, and I stepped into our first agility class the fall of 1998 I was thinking I'll just give this a try. I mean really, who would have thought I would run around a field with my dog. I don't even like sports!

In May of 1999 we entered our first agility trial in Granby, MA, taking a crate, a chair and my Aunt Rose along for the ride. I was still thinking ¡§I¡¦ll just give this a try.¡¨ Eleven years later I¡¦m still just giving it a try. I never would have imagined that this sport would become such a large part of my life.

Agility has certainly changed from that fateful day in 1999 when Jewel and I stood there looking out at 30¡¨ jumps in the huge ring for the first time. I¡¦ll never forget the butterflies in my stomach or how my hands shook as I removed her pink leash!
Now I have a plan for when I¡¦ll be adding that next puppy to the family and the next one after that. I have a coach, my good friend Chris Parker of Speedoggie Performance Dog Training (www.speedoggie.com), who has been training me and my dogs since 2003, who allows me to travel with her to trials and who supports me in so many ways.

I study mental management techniques, sports psychology, animal behavior, core strengthening exercises, foundation work, relationship skills, clicker training, classroom management and more. I walk around with my video camera, surveyor¡¦s wheel, clicker, targets, baggies, notebooks, training plans and pockets of kibble ¡V even in my ¡§work clothes¡¨. Appropriate dinner conversation includes talk about yards per second, lineage, puppies, which dog pooped when, random reinforcement schedules and variations in performance. I use terms like FM and WWCPD and ARG and people know what I mean.

I travel about 40 plus weekends a year competing in three venues of agility: AKC (www.akc.org), USDAA (www.usdaa.com), DOCNA (www.docna.com). At any time I may be running between 1 and 4 of my canine partners trying to qualify for some regional or national event. In 2007 I became a DOCNA judge for this sport. I¡¦ve hosted sanctioned NADAC and DOCNA dog agility trials over the past 7 years.

My current dogs are:
Bogart - the black/white BC currently retired from competition. He¡¦s now the best co-pilot in the world, riding shot-gun on many long Sunday night drive home ¡V God I feel so old sometimesƒº.
Yakn Ber Torch ¡§Torch¡¨- the red/white BC who is still teaching me how to play this sport as he tears up course after course
Speedoggie I¡¦m on Fire ¡§Flicker¡¨ ¡V the blue merle Rock Star/Princess BC who was my first Speedoggie and my current star.
Speedoggie Power Strip ¡§Tease¡¨ ¡V the up and coming second generation Speedoggie who someday will make her mark in this sport.

In addition to agility we¡¦ve trained in obedience, rally, herding and flyball but agility is our first love. Yes, all dog sports ¡V who¡¦d have thought that hey?

I have been teaching dog agility and other human/dog sports since 2001. Flying High Agility, LLC, my own business, was born in 2003. My focus, after attending my first two Speedoggie skills camps and discovering the incredible value there, is building a solid foundation for agility training and all canine relationships and the importance of developing a positive relationship with your canine partner.

Still an avid learner I actively attend workshops, seminars and private lessons with my own dogs.

In my non-dog life - you know that real person grown up life we're supposed to have - I work in development. Yes, you guessed it; I¡¦m a ¡§professional beggar¡¨. I spend my days telling people about the work of non-profits and getting them to give me money. What fun!

Torch and Flicker are Delta Society Pet Partners. They accompany me to work on a regular basis and spend time with the children. They both simply adore the work and may be found listening to the kids read aloud, playing Candy Land, (Flicker is a fierce player) offering Math Challenges and Spelling Bees. They even play basketball. Did you know a Border Collie can deflate a basketball in 15 seconds flat?

Of course the kids love to play vet with the dogs, look in their mouths and check out their teeth and feet. And, both dogs do their share of agility demos, often weaving and jumping with 25 to 40 kids who line up in a local park one after another.

I hold a MA in international marketing and business communication.

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